8 4 area by area nizamuddin to purana 8 5

Purana Qila 3 design. Its prayer hall inside buildings are those by Charles has five elegant arched niches Correa, Achyut Kanvinde and Mathura Rd. Map 6 D2. Tel (011) or set in its western Satish Grover. All the Indian 2435 4260. # sunrise–sunset daily. wall. Marble in shades of red, states have pavilions spread Museum Tel (011) 2435 5387. # white and slate is used for the across the fair’s extensive 10am–5pm. ¢ Friday. & calligraphic inscriptions and grounds, linked by 16 km marks a transition from Lodi (10 miles) of roads. , literally “old to . A exhibitions are held here fort”, stands on an ancient second storey provided space throughout the year and mound. Excavations near its for female courtiers to pray, cover a range of products eastern wall reveal that the while the arched doorway on from textiles, jewellery, auto­ site has been continuously the left wall, framed by ornate mobiles to mining equipment occupied since 1000 BC. It is , was reserved for and food products. Every two also believed to be the place members of the royal family. years the World Book Fair where , the the stands to and the International Pandava capital mentioned in Boating outside Purana Qila the south of the mosque. This Travel and Tourism Show are the epic, the Mahabharata double-storeyed octagonal The single dome surmounting the prayer hall at Khair-ul-Manazil held, drawing international (see p141), once stood. sandstone gate on the western tower of red sandstone was delegates. Within the grounds it was here that , wall called the Bara Darwaza, built by Sher Shah and was Khair-ul-Manazil 4 exhibitions and trade fairs are , a children’s the second Mughal emperor, is one of the three principal used as a library by Humayun organized by the India Trade amusement park, and the began to construct his city, gates of Shergarh. Its double- after he recaptured the fort. Mathura Rd. Map 5 C2. Promotion Organization. The National Science Centre (see Dinpanah (“Asylum of Faith”), storeyed façade, surmounted The tower is topped by an # sunrise–sunset. work of some of India’s most p273). Two theatres, the just four years after his father by and approached octagonal , eminent architects can be Falaknuma and Shakuntalam, established the Mughal by a steep ramp, still supported by eight This mosque, “the most seen here. Raj Rewal has screen a cross-section of dynasty in 152 (see pp52–3). displays traces of tiles pillars and decorated auspicious of houses”, was designed the Hall of Nations Indian and foreign films, However, his reign was short- and carved foliage. with white marble. constructed in 1561 by and Industries and Joseph while the Hamsadhwani lived and, in 1540, he was Humayun’s Gate, Inside, there are ’s influential wet nurse, Allen Stein, the World Trade Auditorium is the venue for dispossessed of his kingdom on the southern remnants of the , and a courtier, Centre. Among other notable various cultural events. by the ambitious Afghan wall, has an decorative plaster- Shiha-bu’d-Din Ahmed Khan. chieftain, Sher Shah Sur inscription bearing Sher work and traces of the An imposing, double-storeyed (r.1540–45). When Sher Shah Shah’s name and the stone shelving where, red sandstone gateway leads took possession of the citadel, date 950 AH (1543–4). presumably, the into a large courtyard ringed he strengthened its forti­ To the north, the Taliqi emperor’s books were by cloisters, two storeys high, fications, added several new Darwaza (the so-called placed. This was also one of which was used as a structures and renamed it “forbidden gate”) the tragic spot . The prayer hall Shergarh. After his death, his has carved reliefs, Chhatri with where, on 24 with its five-arched openings successors were defeated by and across the road decorative tilework January 1556, on is topped by a single dome. Humayun who recaptured his is the red sandstone hearing the Above the central archway, a domains in 1555. Today, of Lal Darwaza, or Sher Shah muezzin’s call, the devout marble inscription mentions the many palaces, barracks Gate, one of the entrances to Humayun hurried to kneel on Maham Anga’s and Shiha- and houses that once existed, the township that grew the stairs, missed his footing bu’d-Din’s names. Inside, the only Sher Shah’s mosque and around the fort. and tumbled to his death. His central is decorated the building said to be the single-domed Qila-i- tomb can be seen from the with bands of blue and green Humayun’s library remain. Kuhna Mosque, built by Sher southern gate. Purana Qila calligraphy. Maham Anga is the once flowed Shah in 1541, is an excellent flourished as the sixth city of buried in with her on the fort’s eastern side and example of a pre-Mughal Delhi (see p107) and traces of son, (see p113), A view of from Purana Qila formed a natural moat: a small walls still stand in the area. who was killed by Akbar. lake to the west facing busy There is a small Museum at Mathura Road is all that the entrance displaying items MATKA PIR remains today. The present excavated from the site. Crafts Museum 5 Rows of matkas (earthenware pots) line the entrance to the entrance, an imposing red shrine of Matka Pir, a Sufi saint. According to legend, a See pp86–7. man and his wife came to the saint to seek his help for the birth of a son. Being poor, they could only offer a humble pot of dal and jaggery. The saint asked them to place the Pragati Maidan 6 pot in the courtyard and leave the rest to God. A year later, their wish fulfilled, they Mathura Rd. Map 6 D1. Tel (011) returned with another 2337 1540. Fax (011) 2337 1492/3. pot, a tradition that has # 10am–5pm daily. & 6 - 0 continued since then. Hamsadhwani, Falaknuma and The pot motif leads all Shakuntalam Tel (011) 2337 1849. the way up the wide National Science Centre Tel (011) marble stairs to the 2337 1893. # 10am–5pm daily. & dargah, standing on a ridge overlooking India’s largest exhibition Mathura Road. The centre, covering nearly 150 saint’s powers still attract The shrine of the Sufi saint, acres (61 ha), Pragati Maidan many pilgrims. Matka Pir Sher Shah’s mosque at Purana Qila is the venue for numerous