These days a friend is visiting us in Delhi and this weekend we took her on a tour of Delhi. After spending time around India Habitat Centre for a Photography exhibition, Lodhi Garden, and a few other places we decided to conclude the day with Light & Sound show at Old fort. I had heard a lot about this show but had never actually watched it. There are two shows every night - one in Hindi and the other in English.
The Hindi show starts at 7:00pm and the English one at 8:30pm (during the month of October). The timings are different during different months, so it's recommended to check out the ITDC website for right timings of these shows.
For the English show, entry starts 15 minutes before the show and the show itself starts almost on time. The sound that tells the story of Delhi is perfectly in sync with the visuals projected on a facade of old fort. All these photographs show different visuals flashed on the walls of Old Fort in Delhi.
The story starts with Prithviraj Chauhan and concluded with the Delhi Metro. This show tells the stories of different kings of Delhi, and how things changed. The whole story is told in very interesting way and you don't realize when 1 hr has passed.
The ticket costs 100 Rs per person and it's 50 Rs for senior citizen, kids & students. If you are going in a car, there is enough parking space at the gate, unless there are lot of people. If you want to use Delhi Metro for commute - take the metro to Pragati Maidan and from there an auto would charge 40/50 Rs. Several buses too travel on this road from Pragati Maidan Metro station.
Before the show, we had 1 hr for dinner. Initially we thought of visiting Matka pir for Biyani but we weren't sure if Biryani will be available at 7pm. Since we didn't want to visit places like Khan Market or Pandara road, we chose to go to Bengali Market. Had a quick and pocket-friendly dinner and came back.
October is probably the best time to watch this show. Weather was awesome. Otherwise, it would either be too hot or too cold. The whole campus is quite green now and very well maintained.
Since the seating arrangement is in open, there can be mosquitoes. So it's advisable to wear appropriate clothes or carry a mosquito repellent spray with you.
Like Bollywood movies, there are 2 songs in the show. I loved them and sung along :). Vibha, my wife, thought that the songs could be shorter as they seem to break the flow of the story.
Purana Quila (Old Fort) is one of the main places to explore/visit in Delhi and this sound and light show makes it all the more important.
Apart from this Light & Sound show, several other events are hosted at Old Fort. A popular one is South Asia Music festival, where a lot of bands perform in Purana Quila compound.
In general, the quality of the show is quite good. Good use of technology and expert curation makes this show special. The voiceover is amazing. This time we watched the English show, but we hope to visit again for the Hindi version.
This show is written and directed by Himanshu Sabbarwal.
The Old Fort is open during the day and there is a museum inside too. Entry for Indians during the day is 5 Rs, and for foreign nationals, it is 100 Rs.
After watching this show I learned that Delhi has a very interesting history with multiple layers to it. In fact, there can an interesting TV series based on this.
If you are in Delhi, I highly recommend that you visit Old Fort for this show in the night. It can be very interesting for kids, as well as for adults.
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