RED FORT, DELHI, INDIA.
Constructed in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital, Shahjahanabad. The Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone.It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1857.
JAMA MASJID ENTRANCE, DELHI, INDIA.
It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656 at a cost of 1 million rupees, and was inaugurated by an imam from Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan. The mosque was completed in 1656 AD with three great gates, four towers and two 40 m high minarets, constructed of strips of red sandstone and white marble. This is one of the three great gates.
GRAND THEFT ELECTRO, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
An efficient malpractice of stealing electricity. A huge gap between demand of hundreds of shops nestled in the by lanes of the market, and the supply from the Electricity Board becomes the bedrock of electricity theft in broad daylight. These are illegal power connections by plugging into official power lines by local residents and shop owners.
COBBLER'S PLATFORM, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
A snapshot of a cobbler's workspace amidst the crowded market. Laid below are his tools of the trade and a certain customer's wares. He had gone off to have a cup of tea, when I managed to sneak in this image.
GALLIYAN, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
Galliyan, a slang word used in Hindi to describe the myriad complex maze like structure of crisscrossing by lanes. Usually described as lanes or pathways in densely populated areas. This is an example of one such lane. Dark and winding, housing umpteen number of shops and residences.
CYCLE RICKSHAW, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
A tricycle mode of manually pulled transport, used to carry passengers and cargo. A extremely popular mode of transport in northern parts of India still. Not a wise choice for longer distances but ferrying people and goods across short distances like crowded markets as these is perfect. A lot of these are slowly inching towards oblivion due to the emergence of E-rickshaw.
OLD FAMOUS JALEBI WALA, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
A story of a shop spanning 150 years. An iconic structure in the heart of this market and the city it lives in. The Old Famous Jalebi Wala in Chandni Chowk is famous for hot, soft and juicy jalebis. Prepared in pure ghee, the smell of these sweet morsels wafting in the air brings in customers in droves. The story of this shop has a very close association with the Partition of 1947. Read more about this here:
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/DEzbma0pPcf97HIDFILSPO/The-story-of-a-famous-jalebi.html
GURUDWARA SISGANJ SAHIB, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
First constructed in 1783 by Baghel Singh to commemorate the martyrdom site, of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. It marks the site where the ninth Sikh Guru was beheaded on the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb on 11 November 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam.Before his body could be quartered and exposed to public view, it was stolen under the cover of darkness by one of his disciples, Lakhi Shah Vanjara.
GUAVA HAWKER, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
A local guava seller weighs his wares to sell to his customer. Here he is seen balancing the scales.
GURUDWARA DOMES, CHANDNI CHOWK, DELHI, INDIA.
The gold gilded domes of the Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib at sunset.
