Tughlaqabad- Deserted History
The
last time we came to Delhi our driver Sanju Bhaiyya told us that
Tughlaqabad Fort was just stones and rubble. We decided not to waste our
time staring at inanimate stones and instead use it for more productive
purposes like marveling at beauty of more polished and maintained
structures.Tughlaqabad was history- unwanted and deserted.
No one at the Tughlaqabad metro station seemed to even know of the existence of the fort. When rickshaw walas swarmed us like flies, alarmed, we gave a second thought to our decision. Powered by our instincts, however we chose to move on.
No one at the Tughlaqabad metro station seemed to even know of the existence of the fort. When rickshaw walas swarmed us like flies, alarmed, we gave a second thought to our decision. Powered by our instincts, however we chose to move on.
Abandoned and unattended, 7 kilometres into our journey, we saw the ruins of the fort welcoming it's rare visitors.
Built by Ghiyaduddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty in 1321 ,the fort which originally covered 7 kilometres is now nothing more than disconnected stone ruins. But even in these ruins, overgrown by dusty trees, lies an enchanting magic. They stand tall amidst the test of time as the only witness to all the events, from the victories and turmoils of the Sultanate to the building of new India, including
the construction of the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road that cuts through one of its passages.The goosebumps that you get when you know that you are walking through those very same pathways and alleys that might have been bustling with life 700 years back is surreal. And to be part of the enchanting experience is worth a lifetime.
When almost everyone in this country, including the government, seems oblivious of the rich heritage of the place, the best thing that perhaps we can do as forerunners of our history is to at least visit this magical place, touch it's age old stones which may have a million stories to narrate and say to those stones the least we can say now- may at least your history not be erased from textbooks until it fades from our collective memories forever.
Built by Ghiyaduddin Tughlaq, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty in 1321 ,the fort which originally covered 7 kilometres is now nothing more than disconnected stone ruins. But even in these ruins, overgrown by dusty trees, lies an enchanting magic. They stand tall amidst the test of time as the only witness to all the events, from the victories and turmoils of the Sultanate to the building of new India, including
the construction of the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road that cuts through one of its passages.The goosebumps that you get when you know that you are walking through those very same pathways and alleys that might have been bustling with life 700 years back is surreal. And to be part of the enchanting experience is worth a lifetime.
When almost everyone in this country, including the government, seems oblivious of the rich heritage of the place, the best thing that perhaps we can do as forerunners of our history is to at least visit this magical place, touch it's age old stones which may have a million stories to narrate and say to those stones the least we can say now- may at least your history not be erased from textbooks until it fades from our collective memories forever.
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