There is one reason we have chosen this particular hotel, it is close to Lodi Garden. We can even walk to it. And Lodi Garden was one of the highlights for birding in Delhi in addition to being free and also having archaeological attractions and it is safe too, we hope. After breakfast we start walking towards it, while it is only about twenty minutes we cannot escape the tuk-tuk drivers trying to get us to board and other scammers being friendly along the way then telling us the gardens are closed but we should go with them for shopping until it opens. It makes it really difficult to trust anyone, an issue we never had in other countries.
Along the way we pass through the Khan Market, it is not open yet really and the stores don’t look that interesting either. So we decide not to return later as we intended and continue on towards the garden.
Arriving at Lodi Garden it is open, so yeah the person we met on the way was a scammer. And then it is time to find the archaeological sites, from which Lodi’s Tomb the garden namesake is buried and the many birds we hope to see like the red-naped Ibis.
And the Indian Spot-billed Ducks, a lifer for us, cormorants, moorhens as well as many many pigeons and rose-ringed parakeets, lots of birds for us to see and discover.
Then we arrive at Lodi’s Tomb the first of the archaeological attractions in the park. Sikander Lodi was the sultan of Delhi and the second ruler of the Lodi dynasty and his tomb was built by his son Ibrahim Lodi in the style of Muhammad Shah tomb which is nearby. The tomb is surrounded by a wall guarded by an impressive gate. We are not the only foreigners here which is lucky as the focus of the gardeners and caretakers is not only on us, trying to extract some money, but on multiple targets.
We are let in into the tomb which is quite interesting even though we understand quickly that it is a ploy to get a tip. The caretaker stands at the entrance trying to extract money so we decide to explore the tomb as long as we can to wait for the other visitors to exit and be accosted and we can slip unnoticed, a bastardly plan I guess.
It is not difficult to linger in the tomb as it has some nice details and decorations and pigeons, lots of pigeons. While humans cannot enter the tomb usually pigeons can easily do that via the windows and find the ledges and decorations very attractive for roosting.
And then the first group exits and they are accosted so out we go. But still we do not escape as after finishing with them the caretaker runs after us trying to make us to tip him so we almost run away to explore the walls from the outside. So the plan worked…kinda.
And then it is back towards the center of the garden where most of the archaeological attractions are. In fact this whole section was known as the Khairpur village before it became part of Delhi. On the way we find our first Small Indian Mongoose, cool, and a Red-Wattled Lapwing that is a lifer but will become a common sight the next days.
There are a few more tombs in the center of the park with Shish Gumbad being the first one we encounter. It is quite an impressive one and it can be entered without any issues with caretakers for once. There are about ten tombs inside but even now it is unclear who was buried here.
There are also quite a few parakeets here and while looking through them we notice that one of them is different. Looking more carefully we determine it is an Alexandrine parakeet, a lifer and something we were looking for for some time. Luckily we checked the differences vs rose-ringed parakeets the day before so we are certain what it is, neat!
Next is Bada Gumbad, the Big Dome, which is a bit of a special case. No tombs were found here so it is not clear if this is tomb or not but the complex also includes a mosque so it might have been something different from a tomb, who knows.
We explore the complex and there are some beautiful details especially on the ceilings and in the mosque section.
The mosque itself is quite scenic and we explore it carefully before continuing on towards the last historical attraction in the garden.
The last tomb in Lodi Garden is the Tomb of Muhammad Shah one of the Delhi Sultans from the Sayyid dynasty, which predated the Lodi dynasty for which the garden was named. Nearby is a group of people doing yoga, all foreigners as far as we can discern.
There are more birds to see as we explore the garden including Black Kites and Peafowl and even though they are common they are always welcome to see.
There are some nice sculptures in the park with the theme being lions mostly, a bit weird as we would expected tigers or similar?
The last major attraction is the Bonsai National Garden. It is not that large but free to enter and there is no one else inside so we enjoy the many bonsai exhibited here.
We then start towards the exit where we entered passing again by the Bada Gumbad Complex and seeing another side of the complex. Here we are also harrassed by a woman for change, quite annoying.
And then before exiting we see the most special bird of them all, even though we were not aware at that point, an Ashy Drongo. We initially think it is a common Black Drongo but further research confirmed it is an Ashy one, quite unexpected but great. And then we return to the hotel as we have to meet with our driver to go to Humayun’s Tomb, an Unesco World Heritage site and our second goal for the day.
