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Hauz-i-Shamsi |
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| At the southern end of Mehrauli, after crossing
the congested bazaar, you will see a large tank, the Hauz-i-Shamsi,
built by King Shamsud-Din Iltutmish of the Slave Dynasty in
1230. The water of the tank is considered sacred because of
its association with famous saints and fakirs who visited the
tank in the years after its construction. Moreover, according
to legend the idea of constructing a tank was given to Iltutmish
by the Prophet himself, when he appeared in his dream. The Prophet
not only gave the idea but also suggested the site suitable
for constructing a tank. The very next morning the site suggested
by the Prophet had the impression of one of the hoofs of the
Prophet's horse and thus Iltutmish decided to excavate the tank
around the impression of the hoof. |
| The tank was constructed on a large scale, and
it is spread over 20000 square meters. The tank is so big that
even the popular Moorish traveler Ibn-Batuta has mentioned and
praised its vastness in his writings. The major source of water
of this reservoir was rainwater. Apart from the tank, Iltutmish
also built a red sandstone domed pavilion, which is now located
near the southwestern corner of the tank. However, it is said
that this pavilion resting on twelve pillars was built in the
center of the tank and was only reached by boats when the tank
was full. |
| At present, a green park has been laid out around
Hauz-i-Shamsi. In recent developments, plans have been suggested
to beautify Hauz-i-Shamsi and use it for harvesting ground water
to solve the area's water shortage problem. However, for this
its artificial reservoir and the bed that has dried up needs
to be revived. |
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