India, April 7 -- A five-member survey team from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's heritage cell has launched a project to document the oral histories and traditions, such as birth and marriage customs and local bhajans, of Delhi's 100 villages, officials said on Monday.

The officials added that 25 villages were shortlisted for the first phase of the initiative. Among the shortlisted villages is Jharoda Kalan, a small rural settlement on the Delhi-Haryana border between Najafgarh and Bahadurgarh. "The elders of the village told us that the village was named after a woman named Jhado, from Lowa Kalan village in Haryana. She was allocated a large tract of land, and the village considers her to be the grandmother of the community and der...