The Lost Cemetery

Touching History…

A lazy Sunday afternoon, going through the newspapers, I  came across  a photograph which caught my attention-a most beautiful red and blue intricately painted ceiling of a tomb in Delhi….sadly where it exactly was, was not clear from the article.  I sat up. How could I have missed this, having lived in Delhi most of my life and with a father who took painstaking efforts to expose us to our heritage.  I and my brother are one of those lucky ones who have visited most of the sites of historical importance which remain in the seven cities of Delhi. As children, we have run across the city of Tughalaqabad, felt the djinns in the ruins of Feroze Shah Kotla, walked on the ramparts of the Red Fort, looked up in awe at the imposing façade of the Jama Masjid,  climbed the steps of Humayun’s library in the Purana Quila wondering how he could have slipped on these steps to his death , and of course not to forget the fascinating view from the top of the Qutub Minar which was still open for the public to climb and in those days, very far out from the Delhi of the late 70s. I could go on and on. But this is about my search for this elusive ceiling.

Well. We live in the 21^st century and there is the omnipresent google which can find just about anything on this planet (and perhaps on other planets too). Tooth combed through various sites on tombs in Delhi, images of historical monuments and finally found it. It was a part of the Jamali Kamali mosque and tomb located in the Mehrauli Archeological Park.

Now let me tell you a little of the Jamaali Kamali  mosque and tomb. Jamali was the alias of the Sufi saint and poet Shaikh Fazlullah, who was also known as Jalal Khan. He lived in the 16^th century,  right through Sikander Lodi's reign, the famous battle of Panipat in 1526, Babur and died during the lifetime of Humayun. Who Kamali was, is a mystery. The tomb contains two graves, one believed to be that of Jamali and the other of the unknown Kamali.

So I picked up my android mobile and got to work on the google maps. Roped in my cousin sister and son for the discovery of the richly ornamented ceiling one had seen. All three of us, with our google maps in hand started our drive to the Mehrauli Park. Our phones kept telling us the directions and we kept driving straight on the Aurobindo Marg towards the better known Qutub Minar. We reached the Qutub Minar and that is when we got lost, maps et al. Our three devices were showing us three different routes to the Mehrauli Archeological Park !! And to top it all there were no signage.  A helpful policeman (yes there are some) directed us to a narrow lane to the left of the Qutub. It seemed a most unlikely way but we did not have much of a choice. The lane led us to a small gate to a park. Venturing inside, there was a lovely large rose garden immediately before us and a small signage which proclaimed it to be the Mehrauli Archeological Park. Eureka ! We had found it. As we started walking in the massive park we realized there were other entrances to the Park from the main Mehrauli-Gurgaon road which our mobile guide had not deigned to inform us about.

Guided by the red stone pillars which bore the directions to the historical sites in the park, we turned left and started our trudge to the Jamali Kamali mosque. As we reached the entrance to the mosque, another red pillar guide indicated Balban’s tomb to the left.

Tempted, we turned left,  into the thick foliage hiding the ruins of a residential area leading to Balban’s tomb. A couple of prancing goats accompanied us. In my imagination, I could reconstruct the rooms and the courtyards which must have been part of the houses in the area, centuries ago. The rooms were small sized with mehrabs on the walls. Walking through, we saw the 13th century Balban tomb rising majestically before us. Ghiyasthu'd-Din Balban, the last of the major Slave dynasty sultans who died in 1287  was buried here. We had reached the tomb from a height on its  western side. We looked down at the entire layout of the tomb, from the gateway on our right to the tomb on our left. Balban's tomb is a rubble-built square chamber, open to the sky, with arched openings on all its sides. 

To the east of Balban's tomb was a ruined rectangular structure, said to contain the grave of Khan Shahid, Balban's son who had died fighting against the Mongols near Multan in 1285. 

Stop digressing. Lets go back to the Jamali Kamali tomb. We retraced our steps and entered the courtyard of the Jamali Kamali mosque. A serene sight awaited us. A couple of trees swaying in the evening breeze, a dry water body on the right and the red sandstone  mosque in front of us with its arched doorways. The mosque was no longer in use and we could stroll inside.

 An old man was sleeping on one side, comfortable on the chaadar spread on the floor, with not a soul in sight to disturb him. A lone young security guard walked in from somewhere looking suspiciously at us. We tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, focused on our quest of finding the ornamented ceiling. But where was it ? The guard, witness to our perplexity, decided to help us. He guided us to a locked enclosure. From the grilled iron door, we could see a large courtyard open to the sky, with a small locked chamber on one side and a few graves on the other. The helpful guard with an ingratiating smile, unlocked the grilled door and beckoned us inside. 

He opened the locked door of the small chamber and lo and behold, a sight you could not imagine from the non-descript exterior. Upon entering it the eye was immediately caught by the richly ornamented ceiling and walls.

The most beautiful frescos decorated the walls of the tomb. Most of the paintings were in blue with plenty of red accents around them. A few carvings could be seen, which, perhaps were quotes from the Quran and inscriptions of verses from Jamali’s works. 

The ceiling took one’s breath away. The entire roof was painted in symmetrical patterns of blue and red, more like a large open flower facing downwards. Some of the blue and red were as bright as painted yesterday, while some were fading away. 

One could only imagine the spectacular sight the tomb would once have been. Semblances of blue could also be seen on the walls surrounding the courtyard. Sadly most of it was gone, and the walls now bore the graffiti of the tourists who wish to immortalize their visit by etching their names on the walls. 

 I think the monument is best left locked to protect it from the vagaries of nature and mankind, like some precious jewel, not for all to see. The guard was now getting edgy, perhaps looking for a reward for his efforts for opening the jewel to us. We beat a hasty retreat.

 But we were bewitched by the timelessness of this expanse of green, dotted with history. The most surprising was the lack of crowds. Where were the tourists ? Do people not know about it or just don’t care. It definitely was not on the tourist circuit as was the neighboring  Qutub Minar, swarming with people, jostling to get in.

Coming out of the mosque we could not stop ourselves turning towards the Rajaon ki Baoli, again enticed by the direction engraved on another red sandstone pillar. Rajaon Ki Baoli turned out to be a three-storeyed stepwell  believed to have been built by Daulat Khan during the reign of Sikandar Lodi in 1516. I am not sure how it got its name. The entire structure is subterranean, so as you approach the entrance, only the top-most storey is visible. As you go closer the lower storeys are slowly revealed. There are stone galleries on both sides of the baoli, I suppose used for some social interaction in cool environs. 

What was disturbing was the restoration work going on at the baoli. A mason, unlike those of yester years who must have built it, was plastering the wall with cement, slowly destroying the very character of the monument. The difference between the restored walls and the original could not have been more stark.

 

As the sun set, we decided to call it a day. We had seen only a fraction of the history hidden in the park. While the main monuments have been cleared of the foliage,  some of the ruins are yet not accessible. The area had been as recently excavated as 2001, and I am sure much of the treasure still remains to be unearthed. We came back with the ecstasy of touching history and also with a sense of despondency and concern at the serious state of neglect most of these sites were in and the amateurish efforts at conservation of the same. I wonder is it a lack of expertise or sheer callousness towards our heritage.

Post Script: My son who decided to read more on the Jamali-Kamali mosque & tomb, tells me now that it has recently featured as one of the five most haunted places of India in a TV show. Did we feel the spirit? That would be telling……….