Hauz Khas Complex and Village

Hauz Khas combines one of Delhi's most atmospheric medieval sites with a lively neighbourhood of shops, cafés and bars, and it makes an easy afternoon and evening outing in South Delhi. The name means royal tank. The reservoir was built during the reign of Alauddin Khalji, between 1296 and 1316, to supply water to his fort at Siri, and was first known as Hauz-i-Alai.

Later in the 14th century the sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq re-excavated the silted tank and, between 1352 and 1354, built a madrasa, a mosque and his own tomb along its banks. The madrasa was one of the leading centres of Islamic learning in the Delhi Sultanate. Its L-shaped wings, around 76 and 138 metres long, run along the south and east sides of the water, with arched galleries and domed pavilions looking out over the lake. Firuz Shah's domed tomb, about 14.8 metres high, stands where the two wings meet, and a garden on the south side holds six further domed pavilions. A small mosque stands at the northern end.

The lake itself has had a mixed history, drying out for years and suffering from sewage before a citizen-funded wetland project started in 2019 to bring clean water back. Beside the entrance to the tank, the Deer Park is a landscaped green space with spotted deer, peacocks and other birds, and is popular for walks.

Hauz Khas Village grew up around the monuments as an upscale residential and commercial area in the 1980s. Today its lanes are lined with art galleries, boutiques, design shops and restaurants. It is particularly busy in the evenings and at weekends, when it becomes one of South Delhi's main places to eat and drink. A light and sound show about the site's history runs in the evenings.

Plan to arrive in the late afternoon: explore the madrasa and tomb in daylight, watch the sun go down over the lake, then move on to the village for dinner or a drink. Allow at least an hour for the monuments and the park. The ruins have steps and uneven stone, so wear sensible shoes.

The area is well connected by the Delhi Metro and by taxis and auto rickshaws. The Qutub Minar and Mehrauli are a short drive south, so it is easy to combine the two in one day: medieval monuments by day, then dinner in the village.