Monuments turn into madrasas

Kala Mahal,also known as Kamli Shah Ka Takya,was built almost 500 years ago,but now is a patchwork of modern brickwork clumsily slapped on plaster,and has been modified as per the convenience of the encroachers.

The Kala Mahal is one of the several heritage structures in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park that have fallen prey to encroachers. The Park has around 100 archaeological sites and remains,and archaeologists claim many have been lost to ‘insensitive and irreparable change’.

The departments concerned with the protection of these heritage sites,meanwhile,have been busy at work — exchanging letters between them. The Department of Archaeology is trying to conserve some of the monuments and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) owns land in the area.

Heritage under attack

The mosque at Kala Mahal now has rooms,four tiled-lavatories,a courtyard,a garage and boundary walls. It is also home to children from across the country who are here to study at the madrasa run out of the heritage site.

At a short distance is Baghichi ki Masjid,a Lodi-period mosque,which INTACH lists as “a large,well-built mosque in a fair state of preservation”. The monument is considered of significant archaeological value because of its kangura-type battlement guldastas (spires),arched niches and the Quranic inscriptions in the spandrels of the arches.

The masjid has,however,undergone its share of ‘renovation’. A new structure with latticed windows,washrooms and a dormitory has almost wiped out the original look of the mosque. A madrasa has been instituted here as well.

“We hold classes here and in several other mosques in this area. In each of these madrasas,children are provided with accommodation in the mosque itself as they have come from states like Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat,” said a man who claimed to be a tutor in the madrasa.

A Lodi-period wall mosque,next to Baghichi ki Masjid,also has a maulana and others living in it. Regular prayers are offered at the site. A corrugated tin-shed has been erected on the wall mosque,with a bookshelf,beds and a clothes-line next to it.

The Mughal-period Qadimi Mosque,next to the Qadimi cemetery,has over 30 children from UP and Bihar who study and live in the madrasa running out of the monument.

“I have been studying here for three years. We wash our own clothes,do our own chores,and study too,” said Mohammad Sarfaraz from Mewat.

Similarly,the Lodi-period Neem Wali Masjid has a madrasa operating inside it. Maulana Zakir Husain told Newsline that regular prayers are offered and children study in the mosque.

Though Newsline was denied access to the mosque,the newly constructed walls and washrooms could be easily spotted as they stood out amid the ruins.

Officials’ version

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had tied up with the Department of Archaeology in 2008 to conserve and notify 92 monuments,a large number of which are in this park. The Wakf Board,however,raised objections when the Archaeology department initiated the preliminary notification process. The Board claimed that some of the heritage structures,particularly the mosques,were its property. The hearings on the ownership status are yet to take place.

Conservationists working in the area have repeatedly raised the alarm about the changes being made to the structures,some of which have been whitewashed and renovated with green plastic paint,resulting in serious damage to the inscriptions on the walls.

The DDA and the Department of Archaeology claim that they have hit a roadblock with no support to demolish or evacuate the encroached structures.

“We had written to several officials in the BSES Rajdhani to stop electricity supply at these monuments. How can you provide electricity at disputed property? There has been no response so far from them,” said a DDA official. “We have written to our Land department too,but no one wants to carry out a demolition drive,especially at the mosques.”