Hidden in the heart of the city, a 275 years old Mughal era Chaupal is left alone to face its end. Once a centre of village activities, now merely a deteriorating building. Built during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II by late Gulab Singh Gurjar in 1742 at Kalka Ghari village. A single storey main Chaupal is in the centre of the large community park. Main entrance to the park is through a Mughal era gateway, built by the same. The entire premise comes under Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
In 1976 DDA allotted the land to Lalit kala Academy for promotion of art activities and they set up their regional centre at this place. Since then complex provides studios, huts and workshops to various artists. Lalit kala Academy named it Kala Kutir. The centre undertakes art activities of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi from this centre. What attracts the artists most is the environment of this place. This complex provides an atmosphere where artists can work with liberty and give shape to their creativity.
This place also host several exhibitions of art work. And what would be better than this to setup an exhibition: – A medieval era structure built in Indo-Islamic style, based in the core of bustling city with plenty of green space and tranquil environment. Everything is perfect. But behind this perfection there is negligence of our society, negligence in terms of maintenance of historical building. Besides having this much of cultural significance these two medieval structures – gateway and the Chaupal are in pretty bad condition. Among both, the Chaupal is in worst condition. Plasters are gone, pillars are half broken, huge cracks in roof etc. These structures are not repaired since decades. And main reason behind this is our mentality. We only focus on maintenance of those monuments, which are related with great historical event or monuments marvellous in terms of architecture.
We just can’t undermine any monument based on the comparative study with other monuments of the same time period. We forget the very basic thing that every structure has its own history. They have their own story to narrate, which is connected with the fabrics of their life cycle, and that is equally relevant for the people associated with it.
About the place
- Village Chaupal, Kalka Ghari Village,(near Kalkaji temple) New Delhi
- Population above 1 lakh (Mostly Gurjar community)
- Nearest Metro – Kalkaji Mandir metro station (Voilet and Meganta Line)