Welcome to Haveli Dharampura, a rare oasis amid the chaos of Old Delhi
The restored 19th-century luxury ‘haveli’ tucked away in topsy turvy Chandni Chowk offers an honest glimpse into a simpler time
Chandni Chowk is where Delhi’s history, art, craft, fare, and merchandising collide. Narrow lanes, filled with street vendors, bullock carts, cars, pedal and auto rickshaws, horses, people, buses. You’ll find jewellery shops, camera and typewriter repair shops, stationery, food, clothes, bikes, wedding invitations, books by the kilo.
In the throes of this chaos is Haveli Dharampura, a restored 19th-century “haveli” or mansion. It is inconspicuous at first, since there are no signs directing you to it, but as you must walk past a few chai shops and a row of brass workshops (whose handicrafts line the alley), and the lane narrows enough to block out the mid-day sun, a three metre wooden door studded with iron rivets reveals itself.
A man in a red turban puts his hands together to welcome you to Haveli Dharampura. As the doors open, you step back 200 years, into an arabesque marble courtyard with a fountain, fringed with a corridor and an ancient treasure chest, visible under a glass pane.
Today, with its three-storeyed accommodation, a rooftop bar and cafe, and luxe dining halls, this boutique hotel offers modern comfort and regal grandeur. With only 13 rooms up for grabs, bookings need to be made well in advance.
Guests can expect to take in Sufi songs and classical kathak dance performances every weekend, along with daily kite races between children on neighbouring rooftops. And while their fathers train racing pigeons (a Mughal sport still prevalent in these parts) in the mornings and their mothers work tirelessly, drying poppadoms, spices and rose petals on their roofs.