The location of Satpula is near Chirag Dilli. During those days, a famous Sufi saint called Roshan Chirag used the water from the lake for performing his rituals. Therefore, the water was considered to be sacred. Now, however, no lake remains.

The Khirki Mosque is situated a few metres away from here. It was built by Feroze Shah Tughlaq’s Wazir or Prime Minister. The mosque is an excellent example of Indo-Islamic architecture. This was made of mortar and lime stone. It was originally covered with plaster, but now it’s worn out. The mosque is known as the Khirki Mosque as it has number of windows (in Hindi khidki) all around it. It has a roof consisting of eight small domes at the centre and a large dome at the front. It has pillars like the shape of the Qutab Minar. They were built in that shape to honour Qutabuddin Aibak’s work.

These monuments have now developed cracks and the walls have fallen down at many places. People litter the place, scribble and draw caricatures on the walls. These are very important monuments which need to be preserved. But people abuse them and do not attach any importance to them. These historical monuments should be properly repaired, maintained and preserved for the coming generations.

I hope this is an eye-opener for the public and the government to take action to protect and preserve the heritage sites of Delhi.
Rohin Vijay Kumar, VIII - A