Old darwaza's new life

On an architectural landmark

- Mayank Austen Soofi

During sunny noons, the cobwebbed strands veiling the door-latch would glisten like silken gossamers. The door itself lay padlocked, its wooden surface laden with decades of grime. Whatever, for a long time, the arched doorway has been evoking a disappearing style of residential architecture. (Although it must be said that the hustling-bustling locals rarely pause to admire the beautiful doorway, an everyday sight to them).

Nestled within the historic enclave of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, the darwaza is adorned on both sides by an arched taak, itself a disappearing architectural element. The central Delhi locality in fact bears a good number of monuments that are significant to Delhi's architectural history. The locality's cramped alleys themselves used to showcase the finer aesthetics of the city's architectural past.