Past erased: once were mosques,now a mess of encroachment

NOW
Though the mosque was in a fairly good condition even at the time INTACH compiled its list in 1998,there was a threat of it being built over by residents of the adjoining plot who had by then encroached into. A row of new apartments have come up along the plot — Newsline,in fact,could not even make out which house has come up on the plot where the mosque stood. Old residents of the locality say there were 300 small mosques in Mehrauli not long ago,of which only about 50 or so survive. None of the locals were aware of the heritage wall mosque,calling it “might have been just another of the many mosques here”.

MOSQUE at intersection of Mehrauli-Badarpur Road and Aurobindo Marg
THEN
This Lodhi-period mosque was owned by the Wakf Board and was in a “fair” condition when the INTACH team last visited it in 1998 while compiling their list of heritage buildings in the Capital. The highlights of this structure were its seven mihrabs on the west wall with short return walls on the north and south. The central mihrab was emphasised by its greater height.

NOW
The mosque is now called Masjid Haji Ali Jan and the Imam claims that his family has been living here for generations. When Newsline asked him about the construction,the Imam was ruffled: “So many people have come here asking whether this is illegal construction and we are also fighting a court case. I have permission from the court for all the new construction — this is my land and you can go and report to any authority.”

Heritage conservationists maintain that this mosque falls on the viewing corridor of the Qutub Minar,and once looked beautiful with the Qutub towering behind it.

SERIES CONCLUDED