Dadi Poti's Tombs

Lovely

Poti Tomb stands in the Hauz Khas Village, the pair of tombs resemble the Bara Khan and Chhota Khan tombs, and are good examples of the tomb architecture of the period.Hauz Khas Complex in Hauz Khas, South Delhi houses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around an urbanized village with medieval history traced to the 13th century of Delhi Sultanate reign. It was part of Siri, the second medieval city of India of the Delhi Sultanate of Alauddin Khalji Dynasty (1296–1316).

The Dadi-Poti Gumbad in Hauz Khas area of Delhi means the two domes of Gradma-grandaughter. This donnnot belong to any lady and her grandma but the name denotes that the two domes were constructed innnby different kings who lived two generations apart.nnWhen I visited thse domes last week there were no signs of any grave which is normally the primarynnpurpose of creating such tombs. Kings in medieval times famously built such cenotaphs while they were still alive. But later the British typically used them as residences or places of recreation like pool-club or billiards room. Much later these were also used as post-offices and police stations but recently the Archaeological Survey of India or the ASI to them over and made them protected monuments.nnThe larger tomb was made earlier and is believed to be from the era of the Lodi dynasty who lived in the 14 th century and the smaller or grand-daughter dome was created by Tughlaqs who ruled a century later. This is also evident from the plaster that has come off on the older dome while it is still intact on the smaller one.nnI personally like the structure without the plaster since the various hues of the stones makes the tomb look appealing in contrast to the one covered with plaster since it makes it look so monotone and dull.nnThe dome structure appears multistory from outside but is a single hollow space from inside and although the dome appear remarkably similar some subtle differentiating factor exist. For example the smaller dome has sloping walls and has a distinctive lantern on the top.nnGoogle Maps took me to an entrance via a park named as 'friend ship' and no doubt about the incorrect name. People in the Hindi speaking belt feel proud and often remark we broke the back of both the English and also their language. Here they clearly seem to have broken the word friendship into two when naming the park :DnnAfter entering the park, there is a broken fencing wall crossing which I could enter the monument only to discover that there was also a proper entrance to the monument but since it was far from the pin for this place on Google Maps the road did not lead to this place.

A beautiful set of two tombs, currently being renovated by ASI

It is a good place to rest. some time