On a mellow June evening in Delhi, the setting sun cast a golden glow over the Shish Gumbad in Lodhi Garden. Children tumbled across the lawns, birds flitted from bush to hedge, and picnic blankets lay scattered, where couples sat in quiet conversation.
But among this gentle bustle, something was missing. Or rather, something had changed.
Behind the 15th-century Shish Gumbad, where the dome casts a long shadow at dusk, a majestic, weather-worn tree now lay collapsed — its roots were exposed, its trunk split, branches now motionless on the green.
This was no ordinary tree. Though already dead, it remained standing, its bare branches outstretched, a witness to countless sunsets in this park at the heart of Delhi.
“I used to sit here under this tree and admire the monument,” said Shweta Sharma, 42, a resident of nearby Jor Bagh and a regular evening walker. “It was a centre of attention — everyone clicked their photo near this large tree. A few days ago… it was gone. But people are still clicking photos, now, standing atop it.”
The Shish Gumbad itself, as the plaque outside details, is a product of the Lodi Sultanate, built possibly during Sikandar Lodi’s reign between 1489 and 1517.
But for many, it was the now-fallen tree that added warmth to the monument’s presence.
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The fall, said locals, happened during one of Delhi’s recent storms.
“There was a lot of rain,” said Soam Vir, 40, who sells water and snacks nearby with his brother. “The area around the tree was filled with water. Maybe its roots grew weak. This happened early in the morning — luckily, no one got hurt.”
Vir, originally from Badhaui in Uttar Pradesh, has worked here for 20 years. He spoke of the tree like one might speak of an old companion. “We’ve been looking at this tree for eight years now. It had lost all its leaves… can’t even make out what tree it is anymore. My guess is that this was a kikar tree.”
“This is not the first tree to fall in Lodhi Garden,” said Vijay Kumar, 72, a retired corporate employee who has walked these paths for over a decade. “These trees must be decades old.”
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An official at the New Delhi Municipal Council’s horticulture department said, “The tree was around 50 years old and served as a home to many birds. It had been dry and dead for a couple of years, so we had planned to cover it with a creeper to make it look green. Unfortunately, due to the strong winds in Delhi a few days ago, it collapsed.”
“The tree is commonly known as the Dhau or Chakwa tree, and its scientific name is Anogeissus acuminata. Once we realised it had dried up, we planted another tree of the same species elsewhere in Lodhi Garden,” said the official.
“Given the current weather conditions, we are focusing on regular pruning, and our disaster management teams are on high alert,” added the official.
The tree, meanwhile, remained on the lawn for now. Its presence has shifted, but not vanished.
