People visting the Wazirpur monument

The Wazirpur Group of Monuments is a monument complex in a very little park with a total of eight structures. A pleasant surprise hidden away in Sector 5 of R.K.Puram, Delhi. There are two wall mosques, five tombs, set in a row and a baoli, or step-well. All of these structures date back to the period of the Lodi Sultans of Delhi, who ruled in the latter half of the 15th century, up to 1526, when Babur came storming into India and ousted them, setting up the Mughal dynasty. As you enter the complex one can see the bastion-like end turret of the larger wall mosque. This wall mosque is a long one, solid-looking and built of what's known as 'random rubble masonry': rubble, with large chunks of rough-cut squarish stone embedded in it. The only decorative elements here are shallow arched niches let into the wall.

At right angles to this wall mosque are the five tombs. Three of these are small and pretty nondescript. Inside these tombs one can also see the remains of what must once have been some nice ornamentation. Most of the tombs were built of random rubble masonry coated with plaster, and the decoration consisted of 'incised' plaster: a lump of wet plaster is slathered onto a prepared surface, and while it's still wet, worked into intricate patterns -- circular medallions, bands of calligraphy, and so on. Some of these, the occasional one even intact or with signs of the paint originally used to further enhance the incised plaster, can be seen in the tombs. The two larger tombs dominate the complex. These have been recently restored, with some of the incised plaster on the doorways now looking bright and new.

Facing the tombs is the baoli or step-well, a well approached by descending a flight of wide steps. On both ends of the stairs are thick walls into which cells were traditionally made. This baoli has cells too, but shallow ones: they're wide enough only for one to sit on. A ledge runs along the outside of the cells, right to the end of the baoli, into a covered chamber which overlooks a well -- long since silted up. Above ground, the baoli has an interesting feature: two domed turrets at either end of the chamber overlooking the well. From the turrets, two stone-built water channels lead out a short way. Beyond the baoli is the smaller of the wall mosques which is plastered black with age and graffiti-riddled by visitors who've scratched their names here and there, it still has a charm about it.

Source: http://www.igougo.com

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