There are tons of glorious monuments around Delhi. Ones that scream history and tell the stories of the several kings and queens who have ruled the city. Among them is the Lal Darwaza, which to us, Delhiites, is better known as The Khooni Darwaza. With a history of massacres so bloody and gory, it puts GoT’s Red Wedding to shame. Connecting Daryaganj to the ITO Crossing, you must’ve probably passed this gate a billion times before. But did you know, the Khooni Darwaza is known to be haunted by the ghost of the people who died here? Spooked out yet? Because we definitely are!
Built by Sher Shah Suri during the reign of the Mughal Empire in the 1540s
Interestingly, the Khooni Darwaza is one of the few gates in India where you’ll see Mughal Afghan-style construction. A small fortress in itself, it is 15.5 metres high and is made out of quartzite stone. There are three staircases leading to different levels of the gate.
Interestingly, it is believed that during the time of Sher Shah Suri, this gate was used as an outpost and a place where heads of beheaded criminals were exhibited.
There are known to be 4 major events that led to the gate being named Khooni Darwaza:
- It started with Emperor Jahangir who ordered the killings of two sons of Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan accusing them of being traitors and exhibited their heads at the gate.
- Later, Aurangzeb defeated and imprisoned his father Shah Jahan in Agra’s fort, and upon becoming the King, he had his elder brother Dara Shikoh, leader of the Royal Army, beheaded and his head displayed at the gate.
- History then repeated itself in 1857, when the heads of two sons of a Mughal emperor were beheaded here.
- During the partition riots of 1947, hundreds of refugees were murdered at the Khooni Darwaza while they were proceeding towards the refugee camp at Purana Qila.
Now you can hear the people of the city talk about how the spirits of people who were once killed here, haunting this gate.
The most popular out of all the stories we’ve heard is that the ghosts of the sons of the Mughal emperor killed by an English Captain haunt this area. There are stories of foreign tourists often getting slapped, pushed and even attacked by an invisible force. Some people even claim to have seen bloodstains on the walls of the gate! This historic gat deserves at least one visit!
Feature Image Source: delhipedia
