When I first came to live in Delhi in 2016, I was sceptical of continuing here for long. Because, big cities were never a thing for me. I always liked the easy going life of a small city/ town. But a good work opportunity convinced me to give it a try. Yes, it proved to be a good decision. Apart from the satisfying work that we do, it’s the place where we are located that has played an important role in me enjoying life in Delhi. A little place with heritage monuments, a lovely lake, forest and gardens all around, nice boutiques and art galleries, and, of course my office. This is Hauz Khas Village -a place I’m in love with. In the middle of a busy city, Hauz Khas Village is a green oasis.
{If you want to know Delhi better, here’s an article for you: How to explore Delhi}
The First Impression:
However, it was not love at first sight though. I had heard good reviews of Hauz Khas Village from some friends earlier, especially about a particular popular bar/ cafe – Hauz Khas Social. But when I came here for the first time on a winter morning, it felt a little weird with narrow lanes and too much bar-vibes. However, when I started moving around the place exploring various aspects of the village, I started liking it.
Moreover, the charm of the place was bound to catch up with an art and heritage lover like me. Plus, when I came to live here, it was winter-spring season, the best time at the village. Hence, the first few months made such an impact on me that I started loving life in Delhi in general.
Fascinating history of Hauz Khas Village
The story of Hauz Khas Village is no less than a roller-coaster ride in history. Once abandoned by its founders, it went into oblivion for long. But in recent times, it has risen to eminence again, and has become one of Delhi’s must-visit places.
The glory days:
The first sultan of the Khalji dynasty, Alauddin Khalji constructed a huge tank called Hauz-i-Alai to supply water to the new capital he was building at the nearby Siri fort (3rd city of Delhi). In a later period, Firozshah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty renovated the tank and built a number of structures around it. The prominent ones are a madrasa, a mosque, several pavilions and his own tomb. The tank is now called Hauz Khas (In Persian, Hauz means tank and Khas means royal), or the Royal Tank. In those days, it was a place of importance for educational, spiritual and recreational purposes.
In the post-independence era:
Mr. Hari Singh, a septuagenarian retired Airforce man, who was born in Hauz Khas Village in 1944, reminisces in his childhood memories (1950s). He remembers how the entire area around the village from Yousuf Sarai to Mehrauli constituted only farmland. And there was no forest/ tree-cover that is seen today. As a child he would run around the fields with his friends with gay abandon. There were only a few families in Hauz Khas Village, and most of them were from the same lineage.
However, things started changing in the late 1950s and 1960s, when the government acquired land for the national capital. Afterwards, they demarcated certain areas with boundaries for no-construction. Trees grew in these areas, some with effort, some naturally. This effort has made Hauz Khas Village (and south and central Delhi) such a green place today!
In those days, even the popular lake was silted, and people did farming there. A small village pond was there beside the monument. It was only in the early 1980s, with efforts from the local government, the lake got a facelift. After re-excavation, it was filled with water and major beautification was carried out around the lake for public recreational purposes.
Present day:
In 1987, when Bina Ramani converted a cow-shed into a chic fashion boutique, HKV transformed into a hip commercial location from a quaint little village. Shortly afterwards, the 1990s saw increasing commercial activities with an upmarket restaurant- Bistro coming up in the village.
Today the ruins of the structures stand witness to the great past of Delhi- its second city around Qutub Minar and the third city around Siri fort. To know more about the fascinating history of Delhi, here’s a link: history of Delhi.
The view of Hauz Khas (tank/lake) from the ruins of the triple-tomb mosque (see below) is beautiful, especially during sunset. Firoz Shah’s tomb (in the middle of an L-shaped corridor) is flanked by two wings of the madrasa.
Soaking in the historic vibes:
When I first came to live in Hauz Khas Village, the entry to the historic monument was free. So, every weekend in winter and spring, I used to love sitting for long hours in the corridors of the monument facing the lake reading a book. Somehow, historic ruins attract me, and I just like soaking in the historic vibes they exude.
{If you love history, heritage and old monuments, check out: Hampi ||| Stepwells of India}
Hauz Khas Village's Universal Appeal
Hauz Khas Village (HKV) is anything but a village! The first thing I noticed here was its universal appeal. People from all walks of life and of all age groups visit this lovely place throughout the week for tourism, work, party, shopping, or just to hangout.
Travelers who are interested in history and heritage come to see the ruins of the 13th century monument complex. Families visit mostly on weekends to relax in its expansive gardens, visit the deer park and stroll around the lake. Young couples throng the lake side, corners of the monuments and lawns.
Fashion seekers have a lot of boutique stores to shop at. A number of good Art galleries attract art lovers. And in recent times, a large number of pubs and bars have come up. This has created a party environment, especially during late nights.
So, HKV remains busy throughout the day every day, but especially during the weekends.
Not everyone is aware of this beauty though!
In spite of all its amazing features, not everyone who visits HKV is aware of all the aspects of the place. Typically, most Delhiites visit Hauz Khas Village for party and hanging out with friends. I have met quite a number of people in Delhi who have actually been here many a times, but haven’t explored the monuments or the lake side. What a pity! Hence, through this article, I intend to throw light on all the things that make Hauz Khas Village such an amazing little place.
A natural beauty hotspot
Gorgeous sunset at the lake:
Of everything that Hauz Khas Village has to offer, the lake side is my favorite place. I go for an enjoyable walk around the lake (1 km periphery) every evening. It’s a sight to behold when the sun sets behind the lake every evening. No better way to a healthy and joyful living! If you are a sunset lover, and live in Delhi (with limited opportunity for witnessing a sunset), this is your go-to place.
{If you love sunsets in cities, check out another city where I loved the sunset: Florence}
Every evening just after the sunset, thousands of bats come out of the trees around the lake. It’s fascinating to watch them cover the entire evening sky over the lake, and then disappear in a matter of ten to fifteen minutes!
{Love lakes? Read more: Lake city Udaipur ||| Nainital}
Thick green cover:
Unusual for a city, Hauz Khas Village has a thick green cover with forests on all sides. There is a big park by the lake, and a rose garden that comes into life in the spring. Carefully done landscaping lends the gardens and lawns a beautiful look. We spend many of our lazy weekend afternoons there sleeping in the lawn basking in the warm sunshine, or reading a book, or playing badminton.
Some days, we choose to walk in the forest trail around Hauz Khas Village. The canopy cover is so thick that even in summer, you wouldn’t feel the heat. Imagine this in the middle of a busy crowded metropolitan city like Delhi! And very interestingly, even within the forested areas, you will come across monuments from yesteryears!
Flowers:
I am a big time flower-lover. Every year in the spring season, Hauz Khas Village becomes a pot pouri of flowers. The village looks like celebrating a festival of colours. There are large number of Silk Cotton trees (Bombax Ceiba) around the village.
At one particular patch of the village, there are nearly a hundred of these trees. During spring, the red flowers that fall from these trees over the green grass beneath, make the place look fascinating! Even summers are colourful with yellow golden showers/ Amaltas (Cassia Fistula) and red Gulmohars (Delonix Regia) flowers coming up.
Wildlife:
If you are an animal/ bird lover, Hauz Khas Village is a paradise for you. Just beside the lake, there is a deer park with hundreds of deer. A small rabbit-enclosure is at the entrance to the deer park from HKV gate. Besides, the lake side is abuzz with monkeys (some of them really naughty; be careful), and peacocks.
If you are a duck lover, come in the morning or evening; hundreds of white ducks swim across the lake looking for food. Especially in the winter-spring season, hundreds of migratory birds, mostly varieties of ducks visit the lake. It’s enjoyable to watch local morning walkers feed the fish in the lake every day.
A hub of art and craft
One aspect of Hauz Khas Village that not everyone knows is that it’s a paradise for art, craft and creativity connaisseurs. Though I could never afford an original piece of art, I do love exploring the various art galleries in the village. However, a form of art that comes for free is graffiti, which one can explore in good measure around the village.
Art galleries:
A classy place that Hauz Khas Village is, it boasts of a number of fine art galleries. Among the prominent ones are “The Village Gallery”, “Arts of the Earth”, “Gallerie Ruki”, “Creativity Art Gallery”, “Rang Art Gallery”, “PK Banaras Art Gallery”, and “Lokayata Art Gallery”. Art lovers would find these galleries very interesting.
Graffiti art:
In a secluded corner of the village, huge walls are painted with graffiti art. Among others, a lot of credit goes to Okuda, a Spanish artist, and M City from Poland. Check out more: graffiti in Hauz Khas Village. Apart from their works, there are smaller mural paintings here and there; you need a keen eye to explore them.
Great shopping options in Hauz Khas Village
Haute couture:
When Bina Ramani had her fashion boutique here, she attracted a few other reputed designers as well. Though she has moved from Hauz Khas Village since long, a number of premier designers of Delhi have their outlets in the village. Perhaps “Ogaan” (since 1989) owned by Kavita Bhartia is the most popular one now.
The other prominent ones are “Pankaj’s Heritage”, “Farha Khan”, “She”, “Lacquer Embassy”, “Ricco”, “Expressionist”, “Megha & Jigar”, “Ramola Bachchan”, “Translate”, “Krishna at Chaupal”, “Opus”, “A Touch of Gold”, and “Raj Creations”. No doubt, they are too expensive for the mango-people. However, it’s nice to see the wonderful original works of creative designers. Besides, they make for amusing window shopping opportunity.
One of the original institutions to promote craft- Dastkar also originated in Hauz Khas Village. However, in course of time, they also moved out of the village, and have created their own space in another corner of the city.
Pocket-friendly fashion wear:
In a recent development, HKV has attracted some small fashion retailers who cater to the middle class buyer. Driven by the social media, a large number of youngsters throng shops like “Shop With Love”, “Street Style Store”, “Triple9” and “Shien”.
Antique shopping:
Since a long time, high-end antique shopping gets a big place in Hauz Khas Village. A number of stores sell really high quality and well preserved antiques. If you are an antique lover, this is the place to be at. The prominent ones are “Country Collection”, “Indian Art Collection, “Cottage of Arts and Jewels”, “Pagal Records Store”. There is an old shop that sells fabric spanning hundreds of years, and from all corners of India. But it doesn’t have a name!
Stores selling old film posters (especially Bollywood ones) are so interesting! I had no idea that old film posters would have customers! What do they do with them? Maybe most of them buy for commercial decor purposes.
Craft, jewelry and gift shopping:
Quite a number of well curated retail outlets sell authentic Indian handicraft and jewelry products from various parts of the country. Some of the better ones are “Apala”, “Bana Studio”, “The Village Shop”, “Reasons”, “Ethnic Silver”, and “The Source India”. For gift shopping, “Chumbak” and “Little Goa” are good options.
Recreation
Family time:
During winter and spring, we spend the whole afternoons in the expansive gardens in the village. On weekends, scores of families from all walks of life come with their picnic kits and spend long times in the lawns, gardens and at the lake side.
Romantic getaway:
Hauz Khas Village is an apt place for love birds (especially teen-agers) to spend time with each other. Couples hanging out in the corners of the monuments, behind trees, in the gardens, on forest trails, is a such a common sight!
Delhi’s party destination:
Delhi is not a great place for night life (though there are a few options). Apart from Connaught Place, and Gurgaon, Hauz Khas Village has become one of the hippiest party destinations for young crowd. Though it’s a recent phenomenon, it has really picked up momentum.
Among the popular ones are “Hauz Khas Social”, “Maquina”, “Vapour Bar Exchange”, “Hauz Khas Official”, “Imperfecto”, “Matchbox”, “Downtown Village”, and “The Red Frog”. Before the pandemic, HKV used to be open and abuzz with party-seekers till wee hours of the morning with tens of pubs playing loud music!
Restaurants and Cafe’s to hang out:
Groups of young people throng Hauz Khas Village just to hang out either by the lake or in nice cafes and restaurants. Some of the popular ones are “The Tea Room” (at Blossom Kochhar’s spa), “Gypsy cafe”, “Elma cafe”, “She cafe”, “Wow Momo” and “Lake View Bistro”.
At some point of time, there were great fine dines too. But now there are only a few of them- “Coast Cafe” (at Ogaan) for authentic Kerala food, “Naivedyam” for south Indian, “The Record Room” (Chinese, Thai, Pizzas), “Yeti” (Himalayan Kitchen) and “Mia Bella” for European cuisine. For a street food experience, find out “Welcome Point” near the monument.
Other things of interest
The Jagannath Temple:
Hauz Khas Village has a beautiful Jagannath temple– the most popular deity in Odisha. Though I’m hardly religious, I being an Odiya, relish the Odiya food and sweets available at the temple. The annual 9-day Rath Yatra (Car Festival) sees thousands gather at the temple. To have an experience of the festival, look up the calendar in July.
Tattoo shops:
Tattoo shops are bound to come up if fashion savvy youngsters hang around a place. There are quite a few tattoo shops here for such a small village. Popular ones include “The Tattoo Shop”, “Sea of ink”, “Pirate Ink Tattoo”, “Inkspace”, “Runes”, “Burrn Ink Studio”, “Ink Maniacs” and “Rebel Ink Tattoo”.
A photographer’s paradise:
Old monuments, a lovely lake, landscapes and gardens, narrow bylanes with old curated shops. What else do you need as a background for a good photograph! No wonder then Hauz Khas Village is very popular among photographers.
Frequently, social occasion (pre- and post- wedding, pre-child birth, etc) photographers bring their clients here. Besides, young budding models do their profile photography around the village. Quite a number of Bollywood movies are shot in the village as well; popular ones are “Lakshya”, “MS Dhoni- the Untold Story”.
Hostels and guesthouses:
In recent times, with the popularity of Airbnb and the concept of hostels and curated guesthouses, Hauz Khas Village has become a popular place for travelers to put up. Because, the village provides the perfect ambiance to the travelers to stay for long periods. Hence, a large number of good guesthouses and hostels like “LetsBunk Poshtel” and “Minimalist” have sprung up in the village.
Last but not the least, my office:
My work place (ACCESS) in one of the by-lanes of HKV is curated in the ethos of the village. If you can take a leisurely 3-minute walk to your office every morning, it is the best thing in the world for a 10 to 6 worker.
Take a walk by the lake after lunch. And when you get a little stressed at your work-desk, take a cup of coffee and go to the backside balcony to have it with the lake view. Sounds so amazing, doesn’t it? This has been my life for almost seven years in the village. I feel so blessed!
Travel tips
- Nearest metro stations: Hauz Khas (Yellow line; Magenta line intersection) | Green Park (Yellow line) | IIT (Magenta line) – each of them equally convenient; about 1-2 kms away; Rs. 40 for rickshaws. Or, you can just walk.
- If you intend to visit the monument, visiting hours are: 9 AM to 6 PM; entry fee: Rs. 30.
- If the lake side is in your to-do list, visiting hours are: 6 AM to 7 PM | sunset is the best time!
- Market timings: All day, shops close by 9 PM
- Restaurants and cafes: All day, till about late in the evening
- Nightlife/ bars/ pubs: Starts early evening, gathers steam by 10 PM and is a happening place till midnight (pubs remain open till about 1 AM; though officially they close by midnight)
- There is a huge paid-parking area (now free for a while). Hence, there’s no parking issues as such.
The flip side
However much I love the place, all is not well in Hauz Khas Village though. There are a number of lingering frustrating issues of the village that have not changed in the last several years.
Poor infrastructure and amenities:
Public amenities: For a place with so many visitors everyday, the public amenities are abysmally poor. No proper public toilet or public drinking facility in the village.
Sanitation and Hygiene issues: This is a major issue of the village. Dirty, unhygienic, sometimes stinking lanes infested with cow-dung, dog-shit and flies are such a bad advertisement of a beautiful place!
Ugly electric wiring: Open electric wiring, hanging all over the place is such a turn off! When most of Delhi’s electric supplies are underground, I don’t understand, why is it in the open here! And why are they so badly done!
Safety and security issues:
Unsafe buildings: The buildings housing the pubs, cafes and restaurants are old and look unsafe. Though there are street cameras in place, street lighting is not adequate at all. This issue was in limelight recently; no solutions is in place till now though.
Undesirable night-time activities: With the night time parties comes shady activities at night. Pick-up girls are seen hanging around the village at late nights. As far as I know, they are not legal activities in Delhi. Why aren’t the police taking any action?
Illegal constructions: Some time back, restaurants came up encroaching on forest land leading to environmental issues. Though public petitions have stalled such development, it needs to be kept in check.
Check out our thoughts on: Sustainable tourism ||| Role of government in sustainable tourism
Concluding Remarks:
With a little bit of sensitivity from the local authorities, and some investment, Hauz Khas Village could become a really world class destination. Instead of closing the entire lake side in the evening, can’t we come up with safe spaces for people to enjoy a beautiful evening by the lake? Is it so difficult to keep the place neat and clean all the time? Are safety measures too costly? Some imagination, creativity and a bit of investment can transform the whole place to another level.
Jayvanti Einjen
Wonderfully written!
stampedmoments
Thank you 🙂
Soumen Chatterjee
1987, when Bina Ramani converted a cow-shed into a chic fashion boutique, HKV transformed into a hip commercial location from a quaint little village. This is the catch I got, reading the full blog, I wonder I am one of the person that worked in ACCESS didn’t explore that much, even the birds animals trees cafe, forts are just needed to be explored. Though seen quite a lot of animals like deer and Neel gai while walking towards deer park and lot of monkeys. Though I am not a party lover at all so not much inclined to pubs , tatoo shops or hifi restaurants, but yes have inclination towards crafts and by reading the blog would love explore. The pictures captured of sunset are just breathtaking. The 1st time I saw the beauty of the lake through your lences. Need to be a minute observer for sure. Overall it’s just full of information.
stampedmoments
Yes, Hauz Khas Village has so many things to explore slowly!
It has something for everyone.
Thanks a lot, Soumen.
RC Lenka
You have covered every nook and corner of the place. Depiction of stories in and around indicates the root to which you are associated with the place. Superb….. People who have not at all visited the place, can actually gain more knowledge by simply reading your blog than an one day visitor… Keep the good work going.
stampedmoments
Thanks for reading, and giving your valuable feedback.
Yes, I love this place, and am still finding out new things about the place, and its history.
It was nice exploring a bit of it with you the other day.
The next time you are here, I will show/ explain you more.
Rinku Das
Creative and Well Explain…
stampedmoments
Thanks a lot, Rinku.
Explore the place well when you are here next time 🙂
Anuradha
Very nicely written! Thanx for making a pakka Delhiite aware of such a beautiful place here in Delhi 😃👍
stampedmoments
Thanks a lot, first for reading it through!
And I am glad you found it useful too.
Keep connected 🙂
Yashobanta Swain
True, Everything is perfectly described. I am planning my next trip very soon.
stampedmoments
Cool! Looking forward to your visit.
Yayyy!
Sajith
Very nice!
Good to read
stampedmoments
Thanks Sajith for reading, and appreciating.
When are you visiting HKV again?