Ibrahim Zauq's tomb in Delhi in dilapidated condition

Ignored for long, the perimeter wall of Ustad Zauq's mausoleum in Nabi Karim tells the stories of an ignored site. Littered with garbage all along, snaking creepers and unchecked growth of grass at the shrine of a poet who lived in luxury all his life now lays under mounds of waste.

New Delhi:The tomb of Urdu poet and scholar of literature, poetry and religion Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim Zauq, one of the least known sites in the city is in a dilapidated condition.

Ignored for long, the perimeter wall of Ustad Zauq's mausoleum in Nabi Karim tells the stories of an ignored site. Littered with garbage all along, snaking creepers and unchecked growth of grass at the shrine of a poet who lived in luxury all his life now lays under mounds of waste.

Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq, the poet of Qila Ma'ala had the honour of being the teacher of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last king of the Mughal Empire. He used to recite poems in simple language due to which even illiterate people liked his poetry.

Zauq spent most of his life in a magnificent palace but who knew that the shrine of a poet who lived in luxury all his life would be turned into a urinal after his death.

Even though the urinal was demolished in 2002 after the Supreme Court's order, the Mazar still remains hidden in the bylanes of Delhi.