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Chandni chowk |
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| Chandni Chowk, or
'Moonlight Square' is the most famous and historic street of
Delhi, built around 300 years ago when the walled city of Shahjahanabad
was established in the 17th century. The 'Trafalgar Square'
of Delhi, Chandni Chowk is widely
known for its century old heritage and meeting point of different
cultures and traditions over the centuries. At present the street
is a busy thoroughfare with its traditional framework of several
'Kuchas and Katras' (alleys) housing traditional Havelis, innumerable
places of worship, popular specialized markets and century-old
eating joints, known for their specialties not only in the capital
but worldwide. |
| In a way the street reflects the national unity,
secularism and diversity of India as it houses many important
places of worship of major religions of the world. From Jain
temple (Jainism) to Gauri Shankar temple (Hinduism) to Gurdwara
Sisganj (Sikhism) and from Baptist Church (Christianity) to
Sunehri Masjid and Fatehpuri Masjid (Islam), the street has
many other small places of worship and that too within the two
kilometers stretch of the street. The street takes a new color
and festive atmosphere every time with the enthusiastic involvement
of all the people of the area during the celebration of main
festivals of different religions. It again unites the whole
country and performs its original function of processional route
on Republic Day when the grand parade passes through this historic
street. |
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| Jahanara Begum, the eldest daughter of the Mughal
Emperor Shah Jahan laid this historic street with a sarai, beautiful
gardens and other palatial buildings surrounding it. The street
of Chandni Chowk originally stretched
from Lahore Gate of Red Fort to Fatehpuri Masjid, and was divided
into four parts. The first part was known as Urdu bazaar, which
extended from the present Jain temple to Dariba Kalan. The second
part stretched from Dariba Kalan to Kotwali (next to Gurdwara
Sisganj) and was known as Phool Mandi (flower market) and later
Tripolia. From Kotwali till the present Town Hall, the area
was the third part of the street and was known as Jouhari bazaar
(Jewelers' market) or Ashrafi bazaar. The fourth part was known
as Chandni Chowk, which extended
from Jouhari bazaar till the Fatehpuri Masjid. There was an
octagonal pool in this part of the street where the water of
the pool reflected the moonlight and flowed into the canal that
ran through the whole street. Thus the whole street came to
be known as Chandni Chowk or Moonlight
Square. Lined with row of banyan and papal trees on the both
sides, the canal was known as Faiz Nahar and brought water from
Najafgarh pond till the pavilions, gardens and palaces of Red
Fort that served the purpose of drinking as well as irrigation.
During the British regime, the street underwent major changes
as they filled the canal, constructing a 110 feet high clock
tower at the site of the pool (the tower fell in 1951) and extended
the area of the market. |
| Since the street has been laid, Chandni
Chowk has been witness to several important events of
history, being at the heart of Delhi. It saw the grand processions
of Mughal emperors in their royal glory; the tyranny of later
fanatic emperors like Aurangzeb who ordered the handcuffing
of his elder brother Dara Shikoh and killing of Guru Tegh Bahadur
and his disciples; the Persian invader Nadir Shah's brutal killing
and looting of citizens of the walled city; the invasion and
merciless plundering of the city and especially the street by
Ahmad Shah Abdali and later by the Marathas, Rohillas and Jats;
the hanging of many nationalists by the British near Kotwali
after the 1857 war and their continuing tyranny; the National
movement under important nationalist leaders and India finally
becoming Republic on 26th January 1950. |
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