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Ghalib ki Haveli, Ballimaran, Old Delhi
Ghalib ki Haveli, the house in Ballimaran where the poet Mirza Ghalib spent his last years, is open **11:00 am–6:00 pm every day except Mondays and gazetted holidays**, according to the Delhi Government's Department of Archaeology. Entry is free. It is a small memorial museum in Gali Qasim Jan, a short walk off the Chandni Chowk lanes.
Turn off the Chandni Chowk lanes into Gali Qasim Jan in Ballimaran and the noise drops within a few metres. This courtyard house, Mughal-era and some three hundred years old, is where Mirza Ghalib spent the last decade of his life until 1869. Since 2000 it has held a small museum: his couplets painted on canvas, manuscript facsimiles, clothes and household things, and the brick courtyard itself, which is the point. Free, open 11:00–18:00, closed Mondays. Fifteen minutes is enough, and they stay with you.
The courtyard where Urdu's greatest poet spent his last years, two minutes off the bazaar
Timings and entry
The Department of Archaeology of the Government of NCT of Delhi, which runs the memorial, gives the hours as 11:00 am–6:00 pm, open on all days except Mondays and gazetted holidays. The description above gives 11:00 am to 6:00 pm with Mondays closed; the department's page adds that the memorial is also closed on gazetted holidays.
Entry is free, and there is no charge for photography. The museum is small. If you cannot get there, the department links to a 360-degree virtual tour of the haveli on its page.
Whose house it was
Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was born in Agra on 27 December 1797 and died in Delhi on 15 February 1869. He wrote in Persian and Urdu, and his fame rests on the Urdu ghazals of his Diwan and on his letters, whose easy, conversational prose changed how Urdu was written. In 1850 the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, gave him the titles Dabir-ul-Mulk and Najm-ud-Daula, and in 1854 Ghalib became the emperor's tutor in poetry.
He spent the last decade of his life in this courtyard house, which had been given to him by a hakim (a physician) who admired his verse. After his death the building filled with shops, which stayed until 1999. The Delhi Government then acquired part of it, restored it with traditional materials, and on 27 December 2000, Ghalib's birthday, opened it as a memorial museum.
✅ What to see
- The courtyard: brick, quiet and some three hundred years old. Step in from the Ballimaran lanes and the noise drops within a few metres; the courtyard itself is the point.
- His couplets: painted on canvas around the walls, alongside handwritten poems and his books.
- Manuscript facsimiles, clothes and household things from his life.
- A life-size figure of Ghalib with his hookah, and portraits of the poets and contemporaries of his Delhi.
How to reach
The haveli is in Gali Qasim Jan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi. The nearest metro station is Chawri Bazar on the Yellow Line; from there, and from Chandni Chowk itself, the last stretch is a walk through the Ballimaran lanes.
It fits naturally into a walk through Old Delhi with the Khari Baoli spice market and Jama Masjid. Ghalib's tomb is elsewhere, near the Nizamuddin Dargah in south Delhi.
❓ FAQ
What are Ghalib ki Haveli timings?
11:00 am–6:00 pm, open every day except Mondays and gazetted holidays, according to the Delhi Department of Archaeology.
Is there an entry fee at Ghalib ki Haveli?
No. Entry is free and there is no charge for photography.
Which is the nearest metro station?
Chawri Bazar on the Yellow Line; the last stretch through Ballimaran is on foot.
When did Ghalib live in the haveli?
He spent the last decade of his life here and died in 1869.
When did the museum open?
On 27 December 2000, Ghalib's birthday, after the Delhi Government restored part of the house.
Where is Mirza Ghalib buried?
Near the Nizamuddin Dargah in south Delhi, not at the haveli.