Flower Market Mehrauli

Market place bustling with people – walking or engaged in trade or wait for the same or plain confused as to which stall to pick. The Mehrauli flower market which now must be preceded by ‘erstwhile’ is a place bustling with people – customers and sellers, amid the mixed fragrances of a variety of flowers. Some of the impassioned find love by merely clicking pictures.

Flowers in India are a daily need in many households as a part of the offering in worship. Many families maintain a ritual worship of deity’s everyday, flowers hence form an essential part in those ritual. Apart from that, most auspicious ceremony in any community remains incomplete without the inclusion of flowers. Some times as gifts or garlands or plain decorative – natural flowers are never exempted. Therefore, Mehrauli flower market was never in want for patrons. What was more striking was that it played a role in uniting contrast faiths by their holy necessities. People from all castes, creeds or sects came in to trade or to seek flowers either out of joy or profound grief or plain piety. Sack loads of fresh and vibrant flowers lifted moods of all who passed. This beloved market found its way into the hearts of thousands of Delhites who frequent the market.

In every stall, you found sellers hawking behind heaps of flowers, garlands strung from makeshift beams, tied in bunches or packed as bouquets. The reds, the whites, the yellows and the oranges would easily lift up your mood and make your day.

The Grief

As Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board would have it, the darling Mehrauli Flower market along with two other famed flower markets had to be shifted to another site, causing serious resentment among the city dwellers for which the flower market was not just a necessity but also a place of importance. Many among them even tried forming a petition against the arrangement. However, the flower market of Mehrauli is in memory since the past two years.

An extension of the city, Ghazipur, a land filling in the Delhi – UP border region now boasts of a merger of the three foremost flower markets into a single bazaar.

The Ancient History

The name of ‘Mehrauli’ is a derivative of ‘Mihirawali’ – meaning ‘home of Mihir’, after the ruler Mihir Bhoja who founded the city. The historical importance of Mehrauli lies in the fact that it is one of the seven earliest cities that comprise Delhi.

After the defeat of Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Afghan invader Mohammed Ghori, the control of Delhi passed into the hands of the Muslim rulers of the Slave Dynasty who maintained Mehrauli as their capital until 1290.

This place was also referred to as Yoginipura, the presence of a Yogmaya Temple supports this fact. The Yogmaya Temple is said to have been built by the Pandavas.

Architecture

The days of glory of Mehrauli came to an end with the end of Slave Dynasty. However, there still are some relics that bear witness to its glorious past. Some of them are Balban’s tomb, Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb Complex, the Qutub Complex. The tomb of Adham Khan, also known as Bhulbhulaiya, constructed by Emperor Akbar in the memory of his foster brother and general also lies in proximity. These monuments are in their ruins and are in the process of marginal restoration by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The most celebrated specimen of architecture however remains the Qutub Complex containing the Iron Pillar erected by ruler Chandragupta II. The Mehrauli Archaeological Park stretched over an area of 200 acres rests adjacent to the Qutub Complex. This park was redeveloped in the year 1997.

Climate

Climatic conditions of Mehrauli are like what is typical of Delhi. Mehrauli typifies semi-arid climate with a huge difference between summer and winter temperatures. During summer the temperatures rise as high as 46 degrees while those during winters dip as low as 0 degrees – thus characterising extremities in climatic conditions.

Landmarks

Landmarks worth mentioning are the following

1. Gandhak ki Baoli – a step well constructed during the Sikandar Lodhi’s reign in 1506 is located near Mehrauli Post Office.
2. Adham Khan’s Tomb also known as Bhulbhulaiya is located in the proximity
3. Qutub Complex is also close to Mehrauli
4. Yogmaya Temple is situated at a distance of 1 km from Qutub complex.
5. Other landmarks include Kalu Ram Chowk, Bishan Swarup complex, Canara Bank, Central Bank, HDFC Bank, Main Market and Mini Market.

Location

Mehrauli stands as a neighbourhood in South West Delhi. It is geographically close to Gurgaon and in the vicinity of Vasant Kunj. It is at a distance of 17 km from Indira Gandhi International Airport and approximately 18 kms from New Delhi Railway Station. The closest Metro Stations are Qutub Minar and Chhatarpur.

Blast of 2008

On 27th September, two unidentified cycle riders dropped a concealed package that looked like a Tiffin box which resulted in a medium intensity blast that paralysed the Mehrauli Electronics market and flower market seizing three lives and injuring several others. This happened exactly a fortnight after terror attacks on Delhi’s top three market places.