Lodi Gardens has several entry points and four official gates. At the southern end of it is the tomb of Muhammad Shah Sayyid of the Sayyid dynasty, while at the northern end lies the tomb of Sikandar Lodi of the Lodi dynasty.
Prior to the urban redesigning of Delhi by the British in the early twentieth century, these monuments lay in an area that was part of a village on the banks of the river Yamuna called Khairpur. In 1936, following the formation of New Delhi as an extension of the city, the residents of Khairpur were evacuated and the region was integrated as Lady Willingdon Park, named after the wife of the then-Viceroy of India, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, the Marquess of Willingdon. The tombs were consolidated as a single complex and many native and foreign trees were planted around the monuments while pathways were constructed, giving the place the shape of a park.
Following the independence of India, it was named as Lodi Gardens. In 1968, American modernist architect, Joseph Allen Stein, re-landscaped the complex, adding an artificial lake with a fountain and a glass house for storing plants. Stein’s remodelling gives the complex its present-day shape.
The garden of the Mughal-era Mosque now serves as the Rose Garden which houses a variety of English roses.
In 1996, the India Bonsai Association helped in setting up the National Bonsai Park next to Gate No.1 of Lodi Gardens — a paved section dedicated to the display of a large variety of bonsai trees.
In 2010, all the complex’s monuments were restored by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
There are nine monuments in this garden which we will cover in Part-2 and Part-3
The nearest metro station is Jorbagh on yellow line. The station is around a km from the garden. If you are coming by your own vehicle there is ample parking space near Gate No-1. Entry is free. Nice clean restrooms are there. The garden tends to get crowded on weekends and during evenings. So best time is to go early morning.
To be continued…