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Out of the dust of Tughlakabad, quite literally, was born one of North India's most popular craft melas or fairs -- the Surajkund Mela .
Located eight or ten kilometres from South Delhi, actually a bit beyond Tughlakabad, is a forgotten sun pool. Surajkund derives its name from this pool, which once belonged to the original Tomar rulers of Delhi
(10th century AD ).
The mela is timed, every year, to take place during the first fortnight of February. This date usually coincides nicely with the culmination of the festivities surrounding Republic Day in New Delhi. Born -- according to those jealous of its astounding success -- from the leftovers of the various cultural and regional events that take place in Delhi around this time!
Surajkund is in a class of its own. No event in nearby cosmopolitan Delhi has been able to get anywhere near it. We await our annual pilgrimage with mixed feelings.
The backbone is the usual "ethnic" Indian arts and crafts scene, with a different theme each year.
The craftsmen selected are usually national award winners, which is not, in itself, very amazing. What is amazing, however, is the sheer difference in quality that you get, as well as the non-middleman pricing.
In an excellent attempt to stay way from parochial considerations, which is commendable for the host state of Haryana, the organisers bring in a different states or regions as the "theme state", every year. Apparently there is great jostling now amongst the other states to be nominated as the theme state. Past themes, since 1989, have been the North-East, Haveli (Gujarat), Maheshwar Devta (Himachal Pradesh), Ram Bagh (Punjab), Hoysala (Karnataka), Muktheshwar Peedha (Orissa), Bastar Danteshwari (Madhya Pradesh), Kottayambalam (Kerala), Vishnupur (West Bengal), and Shekhawati
(Rajasthan)
Journey to the mela is a bit tiring. If you are going by car, carry your own drinking water, and you can always make forays back to where you are parked, otherwise it is mineral water all the way. The main arena of the fair is open from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. It makes sense to go during the first part of the day. They also have cultural programmes, everyday, from 5 pm to 7 pm.
Apart from the folk theatre, music and dancing events that are likely to be on the schedule, jugglers, drummers, puppets and acrobats will have do their gig at the fairgrounds. By the way it gets dark early, by about 6 pm or so, in February.
The food sold tends to vary wildly in quality -- from the greasy-oily-fried variety to the better stuff available in the theme restaurants.
In short, if you are in or around Delhi in February, a short diversion to Surajkund would, in all probability, be a better walk back in time than visiting any of the other crumbling monuments around. Surajkund, incidentally, has enough of those, too.
The Surajkund lake and other natural reservoirs had all gone dry about a decade ago due to rampant land-grabbing by "colonisers" who were then building houses there. This reduced the water table considerably and dried out most of the lakes, thus pushing what little wildlife was left out of there, too. A Supreme Court order a few years ago, in a totally unrelated case, banned all building activity there.
It is a tribute to nature that the lakes are full again and the wildlife is back. While you won't see much of the wildlife during the mela because the animals probably retreat in sheer fright at the sight of the approaching hordes of tourists -- you can -- if you take short diversions from the main approach roads, get a view of some of the best flora and natural beauty near Delhi. There are plenty of yet undisturbed archaeological remains in the area. While it is a great idea to let them remain that way, do try and spot them. |
