TNN

New Delhi, Apr 24: Local folklore had it that an underground passage linked the 800-year-old Nizamuddin dargah with an equally old baoli (water tank) within the complex, whose water is considered holy by pilgrims to the shrine.

The passage was said to be sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s personal access to the baoli, which he used for washing up before prayers. Last week, the legend turned real, when conservators discovered the secret passage which had remained blocked and buried under rubble for centuries.

‘‘While working to restore the baoli, we found a void that was around 1.5 metre wide. Then we discovered two ventilation slits. Finally, we hit upon the opening of the passage in a baoli wall. There’s great excitement in the dargah,’’ said Ratish Nanda, project director, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which is jointly conducting the conservation work with Archeological Survey of India (ASI).

At present, only parts of the passage are accessible but workers are clearing the rubble under the Rs 1 crore project. Conservationists say the water body is the oldest surviving baoli in Delhi and the only one with an active underground spring.