Just Tripping!: November 2023

Malcha Mahal - 2018

Feroz Shah Tughlaq was the original builder of Delhi. Later he would inspire Ansals and DLF to venture into real estate development. Apart from constructing assorted cities, tombs, repairing Suraj Kund, repairing and adding penthouses to Qutb Minar, desilting Hauz Khas, he also built a series of Kushk-i-Shikar or Hunting Lodges in Delhi’s ridge area.

Malcha Mahal, originally a Hunting Lodge, built in 14th Century by Feroze Shah Tughlaq, Central Ridge, New Delhi

The Melancholy of Malcha Mahal

The hunting lodge within the Teen Murti Museum premises, is built on a high platform and is simple in design suited for a day’s excursion. Pir Ghaib in Northen Ridge has surprising design elements with a steep stairway up its spine. Some people think it might have been used as an observatory. Had it been built at Teen Murti it would have created a pleasant mingling of medieval and modern planetariums at arm’s length. Bhuli Bhatiyari in the north of central ridge almost looks like a fortress with interestingly shaped battered ramparts and a tall gateway. This was probably built for a weekend getaway with the buddies sharing stories how they managed to save their miserable lives after being lost in the jungles of Odisha.

Inspired by Sam Miller (Sam walks in spiral routes across Delhi in his book ‘Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity’) you make your third foray into the Central Ridge to locate the still evasive Malcha Mahal (it seems it is easier to spot Bigfoot) now vacant after the death of the descendants of Awadh Nawabs. So what, if they pulled a big hoax.

Of all the hunting lodges, Malcha Mahal seems most likely to be a residence for a leisurely stay in the monsoons. You could swear you saw remains of a possible outer defensive wall on the approach to the mahal. There is a ruined, possibly annexe for guards and attendants to the South. Thick vegetation seems to have swallowed the structure. The perimeter is not easy to explore as you circle around finally entering from the west gate.

The structure is typically Tughlaq – rubble masonry, some surviving plaster with little decoration, and double column pillars. Inside there are interconnected rooms with several stairways in different directions leading to the roof. It means guests in each room had their own private access to the roof for game observation. Some sort of conservation seems to be going on in some parts. The surprising feature not seen before in Delhi are the two sweeping curving stairways (reminds you of Hindi movies rich heroines’ mansions with Pran walking down in robes smoking a pipe) on each side of the main east facing entrance. You counted at least five stairways. The other stairs are simple and straight and narrow that most tombs have.

So here you have Tughlaq with his guests with their own private rooms and stairs who have come into the dense forests of Delhi for some kicking back. Delhi then probably had more variety of wild animals than the monkeys with red butts, dogs and the jackals you saw here for the first time.

We have all heard of the stories of the eccentric Begum who had moved here over three decades ago with half dozen fierce hounds and proclamations warning trespassers of dire consequences. Over the last many years, Begum Wilayat Mahal died in 1993 allegedly by swallowing crushed diamonds, followed by the death of the Princess Shakina and recently of the Prince Ali Raza aka Cyrus in 2017. Their story was tragic and they died exiled, ridiculed, hungry, forgotten and relieved of all their belongings and trappings that would befit the descendants of the glorious Nawabs of Awadh.

Begum family photos from Internet

Entering the structure does give a spooky feeling. Most tombs, forts, palaces that you visit have far from pleasant past. But all that was in distant past with the present effectively disinfecting the gory past. But here it is more personal. This is a till recently lived-in monument where the derived inmates had died tragically recently. Walking through the ransacked dwelling with emptied trunks, broken almirahs, bare cots, empty chairs, upturned carpets, clothes turned into rags; it does feel uncomfortable. Yes, it would not be easy coming here alone. The company of the friends and joking among ourselves helps lift the despair and hopelessness that hangs heavy here - something that you felt at Thibaw Palace in Ratnagiri.

And that is how the story of Delhi has played out over centuries

The mood lifts considerably as we climb the roof. The roof is a grassland and bush country. And it offers some of the most awesome views of New Delhi with the dome of Rashtrapati Bhawan, Cathedral Church of the Redemption and the huge tricolour flag fluttering over Connaught Place visible beyond the greenery of the ridge in the hazy air.

On the grassy roof of Malcha Mahal

Malcha Mahal - the vibe is spooky, the views out of the world, wild jackal sighting, and then cops pay you visit - a wholesome monument visit

You have a feeling you are overdrawing on the Begum’s benevolence. She wants you to leave now. By now the Delhi Earth Station with those spooky satellite dishes knows of your presence. They don’t like visitors either. The nice judge at Delhi’s HC has asked the government to relocate the station and rehabilitate the already diminishing ridge.

You make your way to your vehicle and as expected cops show up. You keep having these ugly experiences with guards, assorted idiots and cops at monuments. The cop experience at Bhuli Bhatiyari complex few years ago is better forgotten. You do not want any more kerfuffle. You smile and show them your favourite Delhi tree book that you always carry. The cops who have been dragged into the forest to look for three suspicious characters now look visibly disappointed on seeing these stupid tree spotters. Time to say the Begum goodbye for now.