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Delhi · Mysteries & legends

Djinns, bloody gates and a lost sultana

Delhi has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times that its ruins seem to have a life of their own. On this route we walk from the ruins of Firozabad, where letters are left for the djinns every Thursday, to the Jama Masjid. Along the way we pass a gate with a bloody reputation, the tomb of a saint "of the wilderness" and a grave that may not belong to the person it claims. At every stop we carefully separate what is documented from what is told.

  • 5 stops
  • 2.9 km
  • 2 h
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Ruined pyramid of arches topped by Ashoka's pillar at Feroz Shah Kotla

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Feroz Shah KotlaThe ruins of a 14th-century sultan, an Ashokan pillar nobody could read for centuries and letters addressed to the djinns.
  2. 2 Khooni Darwaza, the Bloody GateA 16th-century gate whose name only appears in 1857, when a British officer shot three Mughal princes here.
  3. 3 Turkman GateOld Delhi's southern gate is named after a Sufi saint who lived here when all this was wilderness.
  4. 4 Tomb of Razia SultanA tiny courtyard in a back lane may hold the only woman who ever reigned as sultan of Delhi.
  5. 5 Jama Masjid: relics and a legendary cupThe mosque is named after a mythical cup that showed the whole world, and it keeps relics attributed to the Prophet.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Djinns, bloody gates and a lost sultana

The djinns of Delhi

A living, surprising devotion that anthropologists have studied in the ruins of Feroz Shah Kotla.

Record and tradition

We always separate what's proven from what's told, so you can enjoy the mystery without mistaking it for history.

The Delhi the guidebooks skip

Alleys, gates and tombs that hardly any visitor seeks out, a few steps from the great monuments.

Keep exploring

More routes in Delhi

Back to Delhi
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