Old Delhi to me will always remain a very big and busy Indian Bazaar, despite the nostalgia that it may evoke, the culinary delights that it may offer and the old world charm that it exudes. Not many may notice, but it has a very secular trail of spiritual places hidden in it, almost echoing the secular nature of the business that flourishes here. This walk took me down the shrines of Jains, Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus that are in the vicinity of each other, each at least a few centuries old, each one living and providing the spiritual stop to its devotees and co-existing with its counterparts.
Jain Temples: There are two Jain temples in old
Digambar Jain Lal temple is more conspicuously located on the main road, bang opposite the red fort gate. The temple has a simple ground floor, with the temple office, a huge bookstore and a mediation center which seems to have been recently built. The meditation center is nice and inviting, but there were big mousse all over the place, making it difficult to sit there and it is impossible to even think of closing your eyes for meditation. The stairs take you to the first floor which houses the idols of various Jain teerthankars, the painted walls and ceilings in rich colors and embellished in gold. In fact the first impression that the temple gives you is that of a Buddhist temple which are usually done in bold gold and rich red. The idols are in precious stones, marbles and few of them in silver and plated with 24 karat gold. The outside of temple is like a usual temple that you see everywhere in
A part of Digambar Jain temple houses the bird hospital, established in 1929, which they say is one of its kinds in the world. There are many hospitals that treat domesticated animals and cattle, but not the ones dedicated to birds. The usual patients at this hospital are the birds that get hurt by getting stuck in fans, get cut by the flying kites or by the stones thrown on them. If you look at the ceilings in the temple and in the hospital you would see that the fans are put in a cage so that birds do not get stuck in them. There were rabbits, peacocks, parrots, pigeons and many other types of birds. Being a Jain hospital, only vegetarian birds are treated here. The ones under treatment are kept in individual cages and the ones who are slightly better are kept in large cages where they can fly. On the above floor there are treated birds, and the ones which are completely treated are set free every Sunday. The roof of the hospital is full of water and food containers for birds. From here you get a top view of the area, red fort looks nice. The attendants and the doctor there are quite friendly and would take you around and show you the birds and would take any questions that you may have with a smile.
Shwetambar Jain temple was big surprise for me in this walk. It looks like a small temple hidden in the bylanes of Kinari Bazaar. The Naughara lane which has this temple also has a few old Havelis with traditionally done facades. At the end of the lane on the right hand side you would see a small entrance to the temple where you would be asked to leave off all leather items and wash your hands before you go up and see temple. At the ground floor the place may look like a not a well maintained place, with books in one room and a collection of lot of artifacts kept randomly in another big one. But as you take the narrow and steep marble steps to the first floor, you are definitely in for a big surprise. It’s an incredibly beautiful temple with white marble painted in vibrant colors, gold being the most prominent one. Most of the paintings are old, but they are being restored now with the stone colors and gold. The ceilings are so intricate and rich that you can look at them for quite some time. There are murals and there is depiction of dancing girls with musicians with all the kinds of musical instruments. The walls all around have been recently done with reverse glass paintings depicting the life and times of Lord Mahavir. An aged priest, who is taking care of the temple for last 45 years will explain you all the idols and the stories with a lot of affection, which is very nice given the age of professionals that we live in. He explained his daily routine and how he takes care of the precious idols and the paintings that may go off if not cleaned properly. You have to see the temple to believe it beauty. Of all the monuments in old
Gauri Shankar temple is next to the Digambar Jain temple, and the construction of this temple is quite recent. It is an ancient but small temple, built during the days of Shahjahan, when the road outside it used to be a river. The small shrine is now being expanded constantly, with marble pillars, marble floors, idols of almost all representative Hindu deities and extensively carved doors. The idols are beautiful and you would admire them. The story of Appa Gangadhar Rao, who got this temple in prize from a king, is the only known history of this temple.
Gurudwara Sheeshganj is an important one in the history of Sikhs. This is the place Guru Teg Bahadur attained martyrdom in 1675. This is the place where he took his final bath, did his last prayer and was executed below a tree which is now preserved within the premises of the gurudwara. The historic spot is located below the spot where Guru granth sahib is now kept and is read everyday. The well can also be seen and though the well is closed, the volunteers will give you the water from the well, which is believed to have healing powers. Not sure how much of this is true, but I believe it is the faith of the devotees which makes it special. The huge community kitchen in the gurudwara feeds thousands every day. It is always a pleasure to visit the gurudwara community kitchens and see people working there with lot of seva bhav or the emotion of serving. The feeling is to serve the God by serving his people. Community service is something unique to the Sikh faith and is worth emulating. Gurudwaras are always run by people volunteering their services and not by paid services. The bookshop in Gurudwara offers literature on Sikhism. I picked up two books with a hope to read and understand this religion that I have always admired, a little better. They also allow you to take pictures anywhere inside the gurrudwara, unlike temples and mosques which do not, and I do not understand why? If you have time, sit there for sometime and listen to the Gurbani, and observe the serenity with which it is sung. Simply divine!
Just opposite the Sheeshganj, across the fountain chowk, which is also am important place for Sikh history, there is
In the lane next to Sikh museum is a small Kali temple, which was closed when we went, but it is also said to be from the same period as the whole area. Adjacent to the Sheeshganj is Sunahari Masjid, a small non-descript monument, you can give it a miss, but for the fact that this is the place from where one of the worst massacres in the history was led by Nadir Shah. It is said that more than 30 thousand civilians were killed in the massacre, some estimated put the figure to about 150,000 killings in as single day. We could not find anyone who could explain anything else about this place.
While walking on the streets for this trail, look around and notice the old buildings, the SBI building is also a heritage building. When you see McDonalds and Café Coffee day housed in these heritage buildings, you suddenly see the past and present existing within each other. Notice the protruding balconies on the first floors of the buildings. Look for the old sign of famous ghantewala shop saying Ghantewala Shahi Halwai on top floor of the current day shop. For the food stop, there are famous Paranthas at Paranthe wali gali and opposite the Gauri Shankar temple at Manohar Dhaba you can sample the Japani Samosa, which is nothing but a small stuffed patty, made to look like a wonton. Talk of innovation in this place that holds so many heritages in its arms. Walk through the lane where garlands are being made out of fresh flowers and you would suddenly feel the flowers in the air, a sudden smoothening of the nerves with the fragrance all around.
This is one of those trails that you can always do, weather you live in


