On the peak of a grassy mound stands a stone canopy built in 1850s by Charles Metcalfe, an Indophile British, as a ‘folly’. The folly was a very British thing, a new building meant to look like old and to be viewed in a picturesque landscape.
In itself, Metcalfe’s hexagonal structure is unremarkable. The columns are minimally carved; the semi-circular arches are not ornamental, the surface is cobbled. It is the folly’s lighthouse setting — commanding a view of the towering Qutub Minar, the lovely Jamai Kamali mosque and the rolling greenscape — that soak your senses with overwhelming passions.
The area of Mehrauli is probably the oldest continuously inhabited area of the city. As such it contains the architectural legacy of many centuries. Lal Kot, the first fortification of the city of Delhi, was established by the Tomar Rajputs in the Mehrauli area in AD 1060. The Chauhans extended this by adding the fortifications of Qila Rai Pithora, and after them the Il-Bari Turks continued to rule from this location. Though later capital cities were built at other sites, this area was not abandoned and many important buildings continued to be located here during successive dynasties - the Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Lodis, Mughals, and the British. Over 300 listed buildings of archaeological, architectural and historical significance dot the Mehrauli area with over 100 of these standing in the green belt south of the Qutub World Heritage Site and many more are still to be uncovered. It has buildings from practically each period of Delhi’s history. Some of them are well known such as the historic mosque of Jamali Kamali and the step-well known as Rajon Ki Baoli.
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