Centre for Contemporary Urbanism recently conducted a heritage walk through the main axis of old_Delhi - the Moonlight street and square (Chandni Chowk). This walk has been especially designed for students of architecture and urbanism, focusing on the architectural history and styles along Chandni Chowk and a study of the indigenous urbanism of Shahjahanabad.
20 students from Delhi-NCR joined us on this adventure and they learned about the architecture and culture (which included sampling some old Delhi cuisine) of the place. The most exciting part of the walk were the detours into the bylanes of Katra Neel and Kucha Mahajani - and seeing the layers of history.
Luck was on our side that day as we stumbled upon Retd. LT. Narendra Singh, an 88 year old resident of Old Delhi who was born and brought up here. It was like talking to 'a memory bank' of the city. He shared his experiences of growing up in city and showed us some rare artefacts and maps.
This walk would not have been possible without our brilliant walk leader, Ar. Abhs Jain, another Shahjahanabadi, who took the group on this exciting and educational journey interspersed with interesting facts, lores and tales of the place.