Hastsal

History

Hastsal ki Laat or the Hastsal Minaret, is situated at corner of Hastsal village and is popularly known as the Laat. The 55-foot (17 m) high minaret was built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in 1650 and served as his hunting lodge, which is now abandoned. It resembles the Qutub Minar in design and is also built with red sandstone and bricks.

According to legend, this area was once submerged in water and elephants used to rest here. In Hindi, elephants are known as "hathi" and place is known as "sthal"; hence, Hastsal - the resting place of elephants.

There's an underground tunnel between the Laat and the Bara Dari palace .

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Hastsal had a population of 85,854. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Hastsal has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 71%, and female literacy is 54%. In Hastsal, 18% of the population is under 6 years of age. Hastsal is populated mainly with Tyagis. and yadavs Nawada, Budhela, Nangli Jalib, Possangi Pur, Asalatpur, Bindapur, Matiala, Kakrola, Nangli Sakrarawati, Nilothi and Keshopur are neighbouring villages. There is another neighboring Jat village called Nawada.

Hastsal Minar is situated in village Hastsal on Najafgarh Road near Uttam Nagar. It is a 17 meters high three storeyed tower built of bricks and red sand stones standing on an octagonal platform. At a distance of about a hundred meters north west of the Minar there is a double storey structure known as Hastal (elephant home) which is believed to be a Shikargah (hunting resort) of Shahjahan.

Hastsal Village is connected with Uttam nagar Bus Terminal, Uttam Nagar ( East) & Uttam Nagar ( West) Metro Station. Hastsal village had the largest Agriculture land as compare to other neighbouring villages. Sh. Mahinder Yadav, MLA, AAP who won with the maximum nos. of vote in 2015 Delhi Election also belongs to Hastsal Village