Time travel in Delhi
India is one of my favorite countries. I always feel at peace within the architecture, culture, religious monuments and old ruin. It is like sitting in a spiritual sanctuary and it is the complete indulgence for my love for history, which may stem from its lacking in my own country. I had only been to south India before and this was my first time visiting North India. Following a UN workshop, my workmate and I stayed back in New Delhi for just two days. We stayed at a three-star hotel a little far from the main business area and spent one full day sightseeing.
Our first stop in the Indian capital was an artsy village in Hauz Khaz. We came to learn that this area has a history dating back to the 13th century. Hauz Khaz is loosely translated to the royal lake. It has a mosque and is home to the Muslim ruler from the Delhi Sultanate, Sultan Firuz Shah’s tomb, tombs of 14th-century Muslim royalty and a mosque.
Hauz Khaz has grown through the 80s into a residential and business area and now a popular choice among tourists.
By the time we left Hauz Khaz it was almost dawn, making our next stop was the world’s tallest minaret, Qutub Minar, a lot more scenic. The UNESCO world heritage site has withstood a few earthquakes, after reparations, as the locals told us. It is surrounded by a few other monuments as well.
Many Maldivians do not feel the necessity of preserving Maldivian history. In February 2012, vandals completely destroyed pre-Islamic artifacts in the national museum, something I never got to see with my own eyes. The museum director told Minivan News at the time that “99 percent” of the evidence of pre-Islamic history prior to the 12th century was destroyed, including their most significant piece a 1.5-foot wide representation Buddha’s head.
Hauz Khaz and Qutub Minar made me wish we could get back the artifacts we lost in 2012. As a young girl, it made me understand how important preserving our history, it presents a path for intellectuals to research and analyze the past over and over again, for it tells a story like no other, through sight and structure that no man’s simple made-up tale can fabricate.
*If you have any questions or would sightseeing advice about New Delhi, feel free to leave me an email at [email protected]
