The tomb of Lodi dynasty founder lies neglected in isolated lanes of Chirag Delhi

The neglected tomb of Bahlol Lodhi in Chirag Delhi faces decay and misuse, with local drinking and dumping threatening its historical significance.

New Delhi

The compound is in a dilapidated condition. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

Inside the lanes of Chirag Delhi, broken graves, new constructions enveloping the space and a hub of open drinking paint a picture of utter neglect of a monument protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)—the tomb of Bahlol Lodhi or Buhlul Lodi, the founder of the Lodi dynasty. The only sign of the historical monument is a desolate ASI signboard at one corner of the compound.

The tomb, located right behind the Chirag-e-Delhi dargah, has also turned into a dumping ground, with little to no sign of upkeep, HT found during a site visit on Thursday.

Asif Khan Dehlvi of Delhi Karavaan, a platform that organises heritage walks across the city, said, “I am very well acquainted with the area and this was not the case a couple decades back. The locals used to respect the history of the place and the tomb used to share a common backdoor with the Chirag-e-Delhi dargah as well. But as time went by, the dargah closed the door and the tomb became even more isolated, leading to misuse by young locals who regularly drink there and cause nuisance.”

According to information from ASI’s book, “Delhi and Its Neighbourhood”, published in 2001, “The village of Chiragh-Delhi, on Malviya Nagar-Kalkaji road, grew up slowly around the tomb of Nasiru’d-Din Mahmud entitled Raushan Chiragh-i-Dihli (’illuminated lamp of Delhi’), disciple of Hazrat Nizamu’d-Din whom he succeeded as the head of the Chisti sect....”

“.....(the tomb) consists of a square chamber, with three arched openings on each side and surmounted by five domes, the central one being larger than the other. The arches are decorated with Quranic inscriptions and medallions in their spandrels,” the book reads.

HT found that there was a lack of easily readable information, denoting its historical importance. The lone ASI signboard, located in a corner, read, “...This monument has been declared to be of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological sites and Remains Act 1958...Whoever destroys, removes, injures, alters, defaces, imperils or misuses this monument, shall be punishable with imprisonment....”

However, the structure has been destroyed and completely defaced, with construction material and sewage water seeping into the premises as well.

A local resident, closely associated with the dargah, who did not wish to be named, said, “People from ASI have come and cleaned the premises up but it goes back to how it was in a couple of days. A lot of local kids do illegal substances on the premises of the tomb and they even misbehave with the other locals passing by. It has become a nuisance and they do not even care about the rich history that the tomb represents.”

The resident confirmed that the door shared by the dargah and the tomb had been permanently closed about a decade ago, following which the neglect towards the tomb increased. “The tomb is not officially within the compound of the dargah, it is just that people who came to the dargah would sometimes visit the tomb out of respect. But when incidents of dumping went up, despite the elders at the dargah asking locals to cooperate, it was decided that it would be better to close the door,’ the resident said.

Rajkumar Patel, superintending archaeologist, ASI (Delhi Circle), said, “We acknowledge that more sensitisation and awareness regarding the monument is required. Despite our best attempts, we have not received much cooperation from the locals who keep dumping litter on the premises of the tomb. We have assigned a dedicated team that has been trying to clean out the compound on a daily basis.”

“While no major restoration work is required on the structure, the boundary wall has been compromised with illegal constructions. We are attempting to include this as a priority project for the next financial year,” Patel said.