Sunday, March 06, 2022

The Tombs of Bade Khan and Chote Kahn

 I planned to step out at around 4:00 pm, but had an awesome mid-afternoon nap with a dream that I did not document. 

I woke up at 5:15 pm, rushed outside the house to the ATM which debited 2k but gave me no cash after irritatingly making the noise of vending the cash... twice. Anyway, I just googled "monument" on Google maps and picked a nearby cluster of three. 

Went to a place that was peppered with tombs of royalty from the Lodi dynasty. They are the Gunbads of Bade Khan, Chote Khan, Kale Khan and Darya Khan. On Google Maps, the names are Bade Khan Ka Gumbad, Chote Khan Tomb, Kale Khan Ka Makbara, and Darya Khan's Tomb. 

Kale Khan, who was a courtier to Bahlol Lodi according to the inscription and died in 1481 ad. It is situated right on the road, where the rickhaw driver dropped me off, despite me wanting to go to the pair of tombs in the gully-gully. 


There was a labourer sleeping in one corner, one couple on the front steps, another on the side, and two dudes in the back rolling up who were scared of me. I pulled down my hoodie and smiled and they relaxed. Not much going on in here. It's surrounded by apartments. 

I walked inwards to the pair of tombs known of Bada Khan and Chota Khan, which reminds me of Mama-Bhanja in the hills near Thane, back home. It was a disorienting walk between residential complexes, with the IVF design school and Star Juice Centre which seemed a popular hangout for local kids. Headed inside the tomb complex then. First thing I noticed was there were three groups of tiktokers shooting videos. One mom was following her kid doing kid things with her camera. Another group of kids were running circles around the tomb. A pair of guys were walking in slow steady circles. There was a watchman, and another pair of guys sitting on the stairs, and on the back, a lone nepali guy talking on the phone. 

I started taking photos and the watchman noticed me, as well as my phone. So a very funny thing happened. I was taking photos of the interiors of Chote Khan, which was full of construction and restoration equipment. The watchman tells me to take the photos of the other one as it is more interesting. I say there are tiktokers there. We walk towards it, and I just circle around it seeing that the girls are still doing some dance and recording, not wanting to disturb them. When I come back around, the watchman is driving the girls away! 😅


I feel bad, but there is nothing I can do about it. He drove them away just for my convenience, and because I was an older guy and they were younger girls. TBH I got what I wanted at the same time, so felt simultaneously good as well. I was still kind to the poor fellow, and took a bunch of photos of the tomb interiors. He was impressed with it, and asked if it was an iPhone, I said no, it was the Samsung S22 Ultra. He thought that a flash was triggered even when it didn't. This is a photo from my iPhone, may post the ones from the Samsung device later. 

Anyway, I thanked him and left, past the juice centre towards the Darya Khan monument. That one is closed off, surrounded by a park. There are three structures with some ruins in the middle that looks like it could be a Nandi bull or a sphinx, but it is actually a partially collapsed rectangular base, with only the pillars and part of the dome standing. This one is in a dilapidated state, and access to the monuments was closed off when I went. There is no vantage point from the surrounding garden to get a clear view, let alone a clear photo. 

Instead I explored the veritably huge NBCC condominium complex, which had really nice three dimensional designs on the sides of its buildings. 

 

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