Traversing Feroz Shah Kotla through MCD's heritage walk

As the clock struck 8.30am on Saturday, a group of 30 academicians and history enthusiasts gathered near the gate of the Feroz Shah Kotla to take in the history and architecture of the 14th-century structure.

- Aheli Das

The Kotla's currently partially damaged structure, in its pomp, had at least four layers of gate for fortification. Built primarily with quartzite, the walls, just after the point where the fourth gate once stood tall, still have remnants of a flower design above each arch, although these are currently partially eroded.

"The Feroz Shah Kotla was the primary structure of Ferozabad, built by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in 1354. Ferozabad was his version of Delhi. The flower pattern is a primary architectural design found in Sultanate period structures, right until the early Mughal era," said Sanjeev Kumar Singh, an executive engineer affiliated with the heritage cell of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Over the next hour and a half, Singh transported his audience to centuries ago, with his narrative on the history and splendour of the Feroz Shah Kotla, as a part of the MCD's inaugural heritage walk titled "Safarnama Minar-eZarreen (the account of travel of the golden pillar)".. Under MCD's initiative, such walks will be held every first and third Saturday till March.