On the entrance it says

‏دروازہ مندر سری چتر گپت جی۔ مہاراج

Darwaza Mandir Shri ChitrGupt hi Maharaj

‏منشی بشمبر دیال پیشکار خلف منشی بھوانی پرساد۔

Munshi Bishamber Dayal peshkar khalf ( successor/son of) Munshi Bhawani Parshad

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Waqt guzraan Meher guzar jaata hai

Insaan aata hai aake Mar jaata hai

Hai zinda javed wahi nek anjam

Jo aaun ke kuchh kaam bhi kar jaata hai

Suraj Narayan Meher Dehalvi

The area belonged to Mathurs who have now shifted from there according to Abu Sufiyan who took me there.

We had gone ag a time Darshan was closed.

Waqt waqt ki baat hai

On the entrance it says

‏دروازہ مندر سری چتر گپت جی۔ مہاراج

Darwaza Mandir Shri ChitrGupt hi Maharaj

‏منشی بشمبر دیال پیشکار خلف منشی بھوانی پرساد۔

Munshi Bishamber Dayal peshkar khalf ( successor/son of) Munshi Bhawani Parshad

On top of Donor ‘s List

Waqt guzraan Meher guzar jaata hai

Insaan aata hai aake Mar jaata hai

Hai zinda javed wahi nek anjam

Jo aaun ke kuchh kaam bhi kar jaata hai

Suraj Narayan Meher Dehalvi

The area belonged to Mathurs who have now shifted from there according other parts of Delhi

ShahJahanabad ‘s iconic Digambar Jain Mandir started as Urdu Mandir in a soldier’s tent in Shah Jahan ‘s reign, with 3 murtis from 1436 AD.

Urdu Mandir ( camp temple) in Urdu bazar or place where soldiers camped

Later on some Agarwal Jain merchants built a concrete temple.

The three main idols of Digambar Jain from 1436 are housed in the Sanctum Sanctorum

The area from Lahori Darwaza till here was called Urdu Bazar

When the residents of ShahJahanabad were being exiled he not only stayed but flourished. He was amongst the first few people in the city to own a car and a telephone

His income in 1857 was around 1 lakh rupees a month.

The Haveli is built on three floors and has 128 rooms and is spread on half an acre of land.

The ground floor, originally meant to host grand functions of the family, was rented out in 1971 to shop owners, and has since been used for commercial purposes. Today, in this labyrinth of shops, it takes a few minutes for any visitor to find the entrance to the haveli.

It is one of the few havelis that still survive as residential property in ShahJahanabad.

It is located on the main Chandni Chowk road near Fatehpuri Masjid.

In fact he had even bought Fatehpuri Masjid for Ramzan 19000 from the British in 1857. Later in 1877 the British bought it back and restored to the Muslims.

Let’s enter

Outside the #JamaMasjid in Mughal era there used to be a secular market & place to showcase the arts of the era. These included Dastango, jugglers etc

Notice the beautiful brass doors #JamaMasjid Delhi . The wood can be seen behind

Visitors are awestruck by the grandeur inside the gate itself

And then be prepared for your first look of the wondrous Jahan Numa Mosque #JamaMasjid

Though women can’t stand in between the jamat or congregational prayers ( during jamat they  have to pray in the side galleries) at non jamat times no restrictions. I pray Zohar- the noon prayers.

There are other women praying too and no one was bothering them .

Namaz over I wander in the #JamaMasjid & notice the yellowing marble . In fact from far I had thought the inlay was brass they looked so yellow!

Young boys posing for selfies on the mimbar from where Imam gives Khutba.

Selfie craze seems to have driven us crazy

Though this chandelier is new it’s still magnificent . Would love to know what kind of lantern hung here under Shah Jahan

The central mehrab which denotes the Qibla for the namazi #JamaMasjid

I decide to climb the 40 m high minaret and go to the ticket window . The southern tower is open for visitors.

As I pay he asks me “only one ticket? ” I say “yes.”

“Well single women aren’t allowed ,”I’m told. “Show me where ,”I challenge the boy behind the ticket counter. I ask him  laharo’n can a single woman do that a single boy won’t?”

He’s rattled and quickly issues me the ticket.

Near Gate no 3 there’s a small door which leads upto the Minar top. It’s dark & dingy but comfortable as in we can see well.

These first set of steps open onto the roof of the side gallery of the mosque. One has to walk the length of that to reach the central hall steps

I’m up on the second level, which is eye level with the domes. #JamaMasjid I notice the flat Bangla type roof near main arch. Must read at its architectural necessity

About 50 steps till the Minar. Then another 135 steep circular steps around a round pillar. They are very narrow and for one person at a time and no place to stop and take a breath. Thus very tiring.

I’m panting by the time I reach on top as there’s no place to rest & one can’t stop as not enough space for others to pass by . There are other older people resting on the top of the circular pillar. The youngsters are jumping about.

Breath back its back to breathtaking view from the top. Now there r grills but what must have been quite a view earlier. I can see all the way upto the Qila e Mubarak

Worth every bit of huffing and puffing lungs and groaning knees

Aah the symmetry! Every bit as close to my heart as Shah Jahan. I hate anything not being in proper place and symmetry .

The Mashriqi or Eastern Darwaza from the Minar with a view.

There’s quite a crowd and not enough space for all so I decide not be greedy & head down after few more shots .

Is this medieval graffiti in Arabic and Persian or just scratches?

I descend back to a more modern world

And I’m going down again

And back into the chaos of Matia Mahal

Earlier the walls were made with mud but as monsoons wrought havoc on them they wee made again with rubble and stones.

This wall had 14 Gates and some wicket gates.

Today most of it has fallen, destroyed or plundered for building material.
It exists in some places. One of these is Daryaganj.

The name Daryaganj ( river trading post) refers to “darya” ( “River”), as the river Yamuna flowed just outside the walled city and “ganj” means “marketplace”. Daryaganj is inside the walled city of Shahjahanabad .
The New Darya Ganj market was earlier known as Faiz Bazaar until the partition, when present traders moved into the area

Once Lord Lake came to Delhi and took over the reins of administration from the Mughals a native regiment of Delhi garrison was stationed in Daryaganj , which was later shifted to Ridge area.
The city wall was fortified by the British. In Daryaganj a Mortello Tower was added.

Martello towers, sometimes known simply asMartellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards.

Daryaganj continues to be a major commercial hub of famous for its thriving publishing industry which operate from their offices here.

Having grown up in Moradabad and Aligarh , the art of fine seekh kebabs was something I grew up with.
Melt in the mouth kebabs, crisp yet soft.
Today the seekh kebabs one gets are tough and tasteless -The meat is drowned in spices
The art of the kebabchi  lies in blending it just right so it doesn’t break – to overcome that modern kebabchis  add too much besan or other binding agents.
So Babu Bhai kebabs come as a treat.
He sits in Chitli Qabr area of Old Delhi. One has to walk down from the Karim lane in Matiya  Mahal towards Chitli Qabr and you will find him in a shop in one of the Masjid alcoves.
Earlier he says his father the actual Babu Bhai had a shop underneath the masjid

Shri Digamber Jain Lal Mandir (Hindi: श्री दिगंबर जैन लाल मंदिर Śrī Digambar Jain Lāl Mandir) is the oldest and best-known Jain temple in Delhi, India. It is directly across from the Red Fort in the historical Chandni Chowk area..

When Shah Jahan built the Qila e Mubarak now known as Red Fort or Lal Qila he also invited several Agrawal Jain merchants to come and settle in the city and granted them some land south of the Chandni Chowk around Dariba Gali.
He had many Jain soldiers in his army too.
One of the Jain soldiers kept 3 idols opposite the Fort ‘ s Lahori Gate. These idols were from 1493 AD and all the Jain soldiers worshipped them. The idols were kept in a small tent and because it was a temple belonging to the army camp – Urdu means camp – it was called Urdu Mandir.
( the word Urdu used for a language was only a development post 1857 when the British tried to divide on linguistic lines by using Persian script and Persian used words for Muslims and Sanskritised Hindi and Devnagri script for Hindus. Till then it was Hindavi/ Rekhta/ Hindustani that was the common language for common people. )
Later the Agrawal Jain community acquired the three marble idols and built a temple over it on the same spot as the tent in approximately 1656 AD.

In 1800-1807, Raja Harsukh Rai, the imperial treasurer obtained imperial permission to build a temple with a sikhara in the Agrawal Jain neighborhood of Dharamapura, just south of Chandani Chauk. Thus temple, known for fine carvings, is now known as the Naya Mandir “New Temple”
It’s red walls also gave it the name Lal Mandir.
According to legend Aurangzeb once gave orders that no drums should be beaten here but the sound of drumming continued. Nobody could be seen beating them. The Emperor went himself to satisfy himself that no one was beating them and found it to be true. He immediately gave orders that the temple drums were to be beaten at all times without any restrictions on them.
A new marble shikhar has been built but the three idols are kept in the sanctum sanctum of the old temple.
It’s a highly venerated temple. The main icon is that of Tirthankara Parshva.

Source Maulvi Zafar Hasan and wikipedia )

In 1712 Lala Sukhlal halwai came to Delhi from Jaipur.He first started selking from the footpath then later bought a shop. He  huge bells from its roof. These were like the bells one sees in temples.
Servants would ring it at regular intervals. It is said that when Maharaja Scindia came to help Shah Alam, he set up a court for the Emperor  in Chandini Chowk.  When the Emperor came to attend that court, the sweet shop bells rang loudly to welcome him.
Next to the house, which had the sweet shop was the haveli of Raja Jugal Kishore, whose entrance also had a bell hanging on it.
The halwai became famous as Ghantewala  and when the ladies of the Raja’s family would go any where the kahhar  would refer to their house as ‘ ghante neeche’ ( below the Ghanta).
Ghantewala Halwai would make pista barfi, moti pak,  tirkhunt, bonat  badam, khoya,  nuqti  ke laddu, imarti,  makhan, pheni, andarse  and many other sweets.
But his kalakand,  sohan  halwa, sohan papdi  and nan khatai was very famous.
Trays of sweets would go from here to the palaces of kings, Begums  and Shahzadis.
Delhiwalas  have forgotten the name of the halwai but everyone remembers the name Ghantewala. He was famous all over India.
When a few years later there was an exhibition  in London he was called there.
During weddings a tray covered with green leaves  containing these 7 containers – shirindan, namakdan, mewadan, khoyadan, rabdidan,  malaidan,  and achardan (different varieties of sweets,savouries,dry fruits and milk products ) along with Ghantewala’s Ram puri was a speciality. Now everyone has forgotten these names and customs.
These were days of peace and prosperity  and things were cheap and plentiful.
A short anecdote from these days : One day one of Lala’s acquaintance , named Hansmukh came to the shop. He threw a one paisa coin towards Lala and said, ” Here, Lala take this paisa and give me a piece of pista barfi and return the change.”
Lala took the coin and gave it to his servant saying,  ” Put this on the tram track.”
The servant obeyed the master. After a while the tram passed over the coin, breaking it in two. The servant came and gave the two pieces to his master.
Lala ji put a bit of pista barfi on one piece and giving both to Hansmukh said, ” Here you are. Here’s your barfi and this is your change.”
Unfortunately  like all good things this too has ended and the shop put down shutters last week forever.

( based on Maheshwar  Dayal’s  account)

Shelfmark: WD179
Pencil and wash drawing of a mosque at Delhi by Thomas (1749-1840) and William (1769-1837) Daniell, dated 23 February 1789.
If you see carefully you will see that this sketch from 1789 is very different from today. A lot of the buildings were destroyed by The British post 1857.
The entrance has a small area which has now been given to the birds which flock most old monuments
The Green grass near it attract weary people and provide a place to rest

The history of Nadir Shah by Abdul Karim, says that a rumour had been spread in the city that Emperor Mohammad Shah had assasinated Nadir Shah in the citadel. The Qazilbash or soldiers of Nader Shah were attacked by the citizens of Delhi,and it is said about 3000 were killed. By midnight the report of these happenings reached Nader Shah who at first disbelieved it. The orderlee he sent to enquire was murdered. Then Nader Shah ordered 2000 Jazarchees to occupy the gates of the Fort and fire into the crowd. For a while the disturbance abated but by morning it started again. He rode out of the fort to the Roshanud daulah mosque and ordered that no man dressed as a Hind was to be spared.
“On the morning of 22 March, (1739) Nader mounted his horse and rode from the palace to the Roshan-od-Dowala mosque (the former name of Sunehri Masjid). As he arrived there with his men about him, some people threw stones from balconies and windows around the mosque, and a shot was fired, killing an officer beside him. He had already made up his mind, but this final insult may have added fury to Nader’s frustration. He went to the roof of the mosque and stood by the golden domes, looking out over the houses, shops and roof of the Chandni Chowk district. He ordered that no one should be left alive in any part where any of his soldiers had been killed, and then drew his sword as a signal that the massacre should begin.”
The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant, by Michael Axworthy
From 7am to 4pm Delhi was given up to massacre. Emperor Muhammad Shah alarmed at the reports that reached him and sent a messenger to Nader Shah begging for forgiveness; “the tyrant relented and spared the people of Delhi for the sake of Mohammad Shah.”
Another account says that Mirza Mehdi the physician of Nader Shah was seated on the steps of the mosque when Asif Jah, the PRime Minister of Mohammad Shah came with a petition to beg for mercy and Nader Shah forgave the citizens of Delhi and soldiers immediately sheathed their swords.

These photographs are from Jan 2015 when i visited it.
Today unless you know about ot you will give it a miss and never notice its tarnished golden domes.
This mosque is an oblong of 48 feet by 19 feet; it stands on a masonry platform from the level of the road which it overlooks. There is a grill on its unpretending gateway. 8 narrow steps lead up to the courtyard.

There are 3 arched entrances to the mosque which are normally kept locked. They lead to three rooms.
The three rooms are covered by three gilt domes,the centre dome being larger than those on the side.

When i visited it was covered by a green tarp so I couldn’t capture the domes.

From the internet.
There is encroachment from all sides. The stairs leading up.from the courtyard of the mosque lead upto a warren of rooms which are occupied. I climbed up it thinking I could go upto the roof and landed inside someone’s room instead.
Opposite it is the magnificent Sisganj Gurudwara.
The Kotwali of the Mughal era used to be next to this mosque once upon a time.

An adjoining sehan

Encroachment from all sides

According to Maulvi Zafar Hasan the one in Red Fort had two stone elephants standing at either side of the entrance arch but they dont exist today. These elephants were replaced in 1903 by Lord Curzon as a substitute for the original ones. The original had riders who were said to be the Rajput warriors Jaimal and Patta but it is more probable they were ordinary mahouts. As Aurangzeb did not approve of statues he is said to have had them demolished and nothing was heard of them till 1863 when according to Maulvi Zafar Hasan some 125 fragments of the original statues were found buried in the Red Fort. Three years later the elephant statues were reconstructed and set up in the Queen’s Park.
Note:
The one with elephants is Red Fort Delhi Gate. It wass also called Haathi Gate.

“Delhi Gate, finest in Delhi,” 1908 from Ames Library
(Red Fort Delhi Gate)
New statues were made by Indian workmen under supervision & design of Mr. R W Mackenzie an artist with experience of Indian art. The older ones were so mutilated they could not be restored.

(Red Fort Delhi Gate)
Bernier has described these statues on the side of Delhi Gate.
Alexander Cunningham said that these elephants stood outside Agra Fort and were brought from there to Delhi.

Photograph by Beglar of the original restored elephant from the 1870s. Source British Library (shelfmark 1003/(877)
The emperor used this gate in Red Fort to go to the Jama Masjid for prayer. This gate is similar in design to the Lahore Gate. It is in the south west corner of the Red Fort.
Aurangzeb had the battlements removed and the tops of the walls covered with earth for purposes of defense. He built barbicans in front of Lahore Gate and Delhi Gate. The barbican of the Delhi Gate was entered from the west wall of the Lahore Gate. It is recorded that when Shah Jahan wrote to his son from prison at Agra and said to him of these barbicans, “You have made the Fort a bride and set a veil before her face.” ( Maulvi Zafar Hasan)

Barbican in front of Lahori Gate. Red Fort at Delhi [Lahori Gate]; from ‘Amal-i Salih, by Muhammad Salih Kanbu, 1700’s: British Museum

Note : A barbican is a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defense to a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes.

Today gate in the Shahjahanabad wall stands alone and is fenced in but the guard allowed me to enter.

(Shahjahanabad Delhi Gate)

(Shahjahanabad Delhi Gate)
There is some of the original stone decorations still existing.

(Shahjahanabad Delhi Gate)
There was a homeless man sheltering in one of the niches on the outside walk of the gate

(Shahjahanabad Delhi Gate)
Today’s horsepower and warriors.

A map of Lal Qila from Stephen Carr’s book on Delhi. (The Delhi Gate is on the top in the middle)
Location: middle of the road, at the end of Netaji Subhash Chandra Road (or Netaji Subhash Marg), at the edge of the Daryaganj.

It was apparently created because of a gap between two havelis. The interior of one still exists

Some images from inside the gali

Nearest Metro : Chawri bazar
Location : on Nai Sarak near Chawri Bazar