Doors reveal a precious heritage

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Time and again several travel enthusiasts and authors have unearthed the historical treasures our City is defined by. The difference lies in the way they look at those rich possessions. Divya and Prianka are amongst them for they believe in exploring the City in a very unusual way.  Both are bitten by the bug of capturing the ‘doors of the City’.

Inside the gulleys and the mohallas of both old and New Delhi, they found tucked away some beautiful heritage darwazas (yes, doors). For the duo, the doors are stunning because of the great architectural designs and colours. They believe that these colourful doors provide the busy urban streetscape with a little bit of drama and plenty of stories.

“Discoveries are made every day if you just keep your eyes open. Doors are our finding. We look them as an interesting piece of architecture. There was a time when we got so much intrigued by them that we decided to start clicking their photographs,” says Divya Puri.

Her collection include photographs of the Moti Masjid’s copper door in Red Fort,  Naughara in Kinari Bazaar, neon colour wooden darwazas in South Extension, and some few decades old, interesting metallic and wooden gates in Old Delhi. “One door we simply loved was the entry point to a temple in old Delhi. It was the brightest red ever we have ever seen. The wall around it is multi-coloured with red dominating the main space,” says Prianka Sihota.

“We also came across this unusual doorway which has the design embellishing the framework despite it was been faded,” says she. Interestingly, both Divya and Prianka are able to get those images because of their excursions in the City along with the other travellers. Between them, they run a travel boutique The Delhi Way which offers tourists some interesting insights into the City. “We don’t go out specifically hunting for doors. It is during our excursions that we come across them,” says Divya.

It is not just Chandni Chowk but localities too that have been under their lens. “Believe it or not, but we came across this doorway in South Extension’s residential area. It was neon orange colour with fading arches and wooden carvings. Similarly, tucked away in one of the bylanes, was this simple but intriguing door that caught our attention. Painted in bright blue the door has lost its brightness yet maintains its charm,” says Divya.

“Sometimes we come across some gates which have nothing fantastic like the one with the metal grills but we love the design. Who knows, we might just copy it for our homes,” says Prianka with a twinkle in her eye.