The ordinary excellence of Old Delhi houses

Mir Taqi Mir's 18th-century poetry mourns Old Delhi's lost eminence, which he attributed to heavenly envy and devastation.

Old Delhi's streets, lanes, and by-lanes were once like illuminated manuscripts, but now suffer from neglect and lack of conservation.

Historian Akhilesh Mithal used Mir's verse to describe the decline of individual havelis as well as the entire city.

Sita Ram Bazaar retains a few surviving houses with stone carvings, baradaris (twelve-door halls), and jharokha balconies that served functional cooling and privacy purposes.

The architectural features like baradaris and jharokhas were practical design elements, not merely decorative, addressing climate and social needs.