Hauz Khas Village and Deer Park - A Breath of Fresh Air in Delhi
Hauz Khas is an oasis of sorts, a calm village of botique shops, artists and bars in the middle of the storm of people and traffic that makes up modern delhi. At some point, in amongst the pandemonium of the busy streets of the, there will get to a point in your stay where you will need some time out. An hour or two to breathe again, and this is where the green spaces of Deer park or the cafes of Hauz Khas will be your saviour.
No amount of guidebooks, blogs or YouTube videos could prepare us for our first time landing in Delhi. The Indian capital of over 33 million inhabitants, it is chaotic, colourful and noisy. Delhi is all of these things, but amongst this, surprisingly, is lots of green space. One of these green spaces is the Hauz Khas district and Deer Park. This is our guide to one of th most calm, beautiful districts of Delhi.
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What Is The Hauz Khas Village and Deer Park?
The Hauz Khas Village of south Delhi is a small affluent district full of boutique shops, upmarket cafes, restaurants and bars. As its name suggests, it really does have a village feel, with narrow streets and shops set in pretty old buildings.
The Village is crammed with independent craft shops, art galleries and quirky places to eat. As the sun begins to set, the shoppers disperse and the young Delhiites come out to play in the many bars and restaurants. As night begins to fall, Hauz Khas Village or HKV as it is more commonly known as, becomes the beating heart of Delhi’s nightlife and social scene with bars serving beer and cocktails, and DJ’s taking to the decks.
Just the other side of the Village lies Deer Park, an expansive green oasis with ruins of the Hauz Khas Fort, an ancient reservoir and lots of grassy lawns, flowers beds and trees to relax under. If you’re lucky you may even spot some of the deer that give the park its name!
Where is Hauz Khas and how to get there?
Hauz Khas is a district in South Delhi. The Hauz Khas Village is a small part of this district located next to Deer Park. You can find it on a map here:
The easiest way to get there is by rickshaw. Rickshaws can easily be hailed from the street, or if you have an Indian SIM or eSIM, requested via the Uber or Ola apps. We would always recommend using the ride hailing apps in Delhi as they remove most of the scams and negotiation you may otherwise have to put up with.
If you would like to arrange your SIM card in advance of landing in India, why not check out the eSIM packages available on Airalo.
For those travelling by public transport, the closest metro station to the Village is Green Park metro station which is on the Yellow line. From here it’s a short 15 minute walk to Deer Park and from there, you can walk through to Hauz Khas Village.
The IIT metro station on the Magenta line, a 15 minute walk away from Hauz Khas Village.
Despite its name, the Hauz Khas station, on the Yellow and Magenta lines, is actually a good deal further away from the Village and park. If you get off here it still would only be a short rickshaw drive to get to the Village.
What to do in the Hauz Khas Neighbourhood?
Go shopping in the Village
Hauz Khas is full to the brim with independent retailers, from artists selling custom work to a plethora of trendy clothes shops and tattoo parlours. Back in the late 80s, the Village was given the title ‘The National Capital of Ethnic Chic’ thanks to an article published in 1989 by the New York Times reporter, Barbara Crossette, who gave the Village this nickname after the designer boutiques she found there.
Nowadays the designer shops have been joined by second hand clothes stores, selling everything from vintage converse trainers to original Levi jeans. The Village is the perfect place for fashionistas to unwind with an afternoon of shopping.
It’s not all about clothes though, the Village has plenty of gift shops, antique shops and record stores for you to have a mooch in. We especially loved looking in All Arts, an antique store located to the east of the Village that specialises in vintage Bollywood posters, books, films and music memorabilia. Unfortunately, no posters were bought as they’re not the most portable things to carry in our backpacks, but next time! Another store we liked was Chumbak, a gift store that sold colourful trinkets for the home as well as watches and leather bags.
The narrow lanes of this urban Village are a perfect place to wander through. Turning each corner, you never know what you’re going to stumble upon. Make sure you look up too as there is lots of street art to be found!
Explore the ancient Hauz Khas Complex
At the far end of the Hauz Khas Village lies the Hauz Khas Complex. Built during the reign of Allauddin Khilji in the early 1300s, these historical ruins contain a fortress, a tomb, a mosque, pavilions and an Islamic seminary (educational institution).
The entrance to the complex is from the Village. As you enter, you’ll see a green lawn with three red stone domed structures.
Turn to the right and climb up to the steps of a three domed, pillared pavilion. Just in front of this lies the ancient masjid or mosque. The mosque looks directly over the lake and gives you a birds eye view of Deer Park. As you continue through the complex you’ll reach the tomb of Firoz Shah.
Sitting atop this square building is a white stone dome. Unlike the marbled interior of Humayan’s Tomb, the interior of Firoz Shah’s mausoleum is made of stone. Sun light is drawn in from the carved lattice filled windows, whilst above carved arches lead to a decorated ceiling. In the centre lie three rectangle stone tombs. It’s a beautiful place.
As you continue making your way through the ancient site, the ruins unravel in front of you in a patchwork of narrow passageways. They are full of cubby holes and secluded corners where you could easily take a load off your feet or if the teenagers of Delhi are anything to go by, canoodle with your partner! Low pillared rooms lead you to arched windows that open to views overlooking the lake and park. Unlike other historical sites, you are free to climb and walk through the ruins. As you walk through you never know what you’re going to stumble upon. Outside, the stone ruins give way to green courtyards and trees. There are lots of places to sit in the shade and admire the complex.
The site is well worth a visit even if you’re not a history buff!
How much are tickets to the Hauz Khas Complex?
Tickets cost 250 rupees for foreigners to enter and 20 rupees for Indian nationals.
Tickets can be brought at the ticket counter or online in advance here.
When is the Hauz Khas Complex open?
The Hauz Khas Complex is open everyday from 8am to 7pm.
The site can get very busy on weekends.
Have a walk around the neighbouring Deer Park
The neighbouring Deer Park is a large green space that backs onto the Hauz Khas Village. Full of expansive lawns, ruins and manicured gardens, the park is a great place to take a walk, have a picnic or laze around under the shade of the trees. It is a very backpacker friendly place to go in delhi - The Hauz Khas Deer park has no entry fee and plenty of ruins and things to discover!
At the southern end of the park, the large green Hauz Khas lake dominates the view. This ancient reservoir was built during the reign of Allauddin Khilji to provide water to his newly built fort and the inhabitants of Siri - the second medieval city prior to Delhi. The name Hauz Khas literally means “Royal Tank” and is named after this ancient water source. The word ‘Hauz’ means tank or lake and ‘Khaz’ meaning royal.
The reservoir has since been redeveloped into the Hauz Khas water tank complete with water fountains, ducks and a path that circumnavigates the lake. A walk around this lake feels a world away from the hectic streets of Old Delhi. If you do take a walk, you can get up close to the fence of the ruins of the Hauz Khas complex, giving you a different perspective of these ancient ruins.
As well as the Hauz Khas complex, there are several other ancient tombs hidden within the park. If you enter the park from the Green Park Metro end, the thick trees suddenly give way to several ancient tombs including the Bagh-I-Alam Ka Gumbad, the Kali Gumti and the Tohfe Wala Gumband. These ancient sandstone domed tombs suddenly emerge out of a curtain of green. Unlike the Hauz Khas complex, these tombs are free to look at. It is surprises like this that keep us on our toes in Delhi. You really never know what you’re going to find!
In the centre of the park, there’s also the ruins of Munda Gumbad, a medieval pavilion that now lies in ruins. Climb up to the top of this ancient structure to get views over the Hauz Khas lake.
Make sure you look up to the trees during the day as they are full to the brim with enormous bats hanging under the branches. As well as bats, there are plenty of monkeys, eagles, squirrels and other birds to look out for and as the name suggests even a herd of deer. However, despite our numerous walks around this park we are still yet to encounter Bambi!
There are toilets available within the park to use as well as lots of vendors selling water, snacks and ice-creams.
The park is especially lovely to walk around during sunset, as the heat subsides a little and the green lawns are bathed in a bright orange glow. As we were staying close to the Hauz Khas district in Mohammadpur (read all about it here), after a day exploring we’d opt to get off at the Green Park metro and take a walk through the park before returning to our hostel.
Getting a guided tour around Hauz Khas Village
If you’d like a more curated exploration of the Hauz Khas Complex and Village, then why not book yourself a guided tour with Get Your Guide who offer a tour taking in the Hauz Khas Fort, the Deer Park as well as tasting some delicacies within the local area. Book your tour here.
Where to eat and drink?
The Hauz Khas neighbourhood is full of cafes, restaurants and bars, so many, that you could easily spend a day just eating and drinking your way around the Village. From Indian to Italian, Mexican to Korean there’s plenty to munch on!
For coffee we can recommend stopping at Cafe Fika, a coffee shop that has an extensive coffee menu with all of the favourites as well as serving breakfast, pasta, sandwiches and pizza.
For tea lovers a stop at The Tea Room from Blossom Kochar is a must. Selling you guessed it, tea and cake! They even offer an afternoon tea set.
In the heart of the Village, close to the fort, Kunzum is another must visit. A small shop specialising in books, art and coffee it’s a great place to sit back with a caffeinated brew and peruse the many books.
Another favourite cafe of ours is The Gypsy Cafe. This small colourful cafe with floor seating sells different flavour iced teas, shakes and cold coffee. As well as offering a small menu. There is a small table at the front of the cafe that sells jewellery, notebooks, purses and other trinkets.
The cafes and restaurants above are just a small selection of those on offer in the Village, and there are plenty more that have a view or rooftop areas that look directly over the Deer Park and Hauz Khas Fort. We’d recommend pulling up a pew, ordering an ice cold beverage, and sitting back to admire the views.
If you’re after some lunch we had an excellent meal at the Naivedyam, a restaurant specialising in South Indian cuisine. Offering dosa, thalis, uttapam, paratha and much more, this is the perfect place to get your South Indian fix. We both opted for the Chef’s special, the Mysore Rava Masala Dosa. A thin dosa made from semolina and filled with masala potatoes and a garlic and chilli paste. It was delicious! Crispy, a little spicy and served with a sweet and spicy coconut chutney and vegetable curry, it was everything we hoped it would be. Make sure you pair a dosa with one of their ginger and lemon sodas. Slightly spicy from the ginger and sweet, it was a perfect refreshing pick me up! We enjoyed eating at this restaurant so much we headed back there on our final day on our first stay in India.
There are plenty of other restaurants offering every type of cuisine imaginable within the Village, just take a wander and see where your nose takes you!
As the sun starts to set, the slow pace of the Village unravels, and the bars and restaurants start to come alive. If you’re looking for a sunset drink with a view, why not have a cocktail at the Hauz Khas Social which offers views over the Hauz Khas Tank and the setting sun.
If you’re in the mood for a drink and a dance, there are plenty of bars and clubs within the Village. Many of these will offer happy hours, or discounts on drinks / food just walk up the street and you’ll be pounced on with lots of offers!
Where to stay?
There is a plethora of accommodation choices available within the Hauz Khas district from guesthouses to hotels.
Check out the map below to see what’s on offer:
If you’re backpacking and looking for a great hostel to stay in we can recommend a stay at JHouse hostel located in Mohammadpur, just a 30 minute walk away from the centre of Hauz Khas. JHouse has both private en-suite rooms and dorms, a common area, rooftop lounging area and a kitchen. Read more about our stay here. For a cheaper option in the heart of the backpacking district of Paharganj read all about Zostel stay here.
Conclusion
The Hauz Khas Village and Deer Park are a great place to unwind, whether you’re looking to go shopping, have a walk in a park, sip a coffee or explore some of Delhi’s historic past. It’s a vibrant area of Delhi, where the ancient meets with modernity, with boutique shops nestled amongst 14th century tombs.
The Village and Deer Park are a great place to take a breather, and relax into a more slow paced Delhi. If you’re in the area, we’d definitely recommend a visit!
Thanks for reading,
John and Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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If you’re looking for something different to do in Delhi, check out the National Railway Museum. This open air train yard is stuffed full of engines, exhibits, turntables and carriages and is a great day out or adults and children alike! Read our guide for all the information you need for visiting this train filled wonderland.