Introduction
-
Area
1,483 sq. Km
- Altitude
216 m above sea level
- Languages
Hindi, English, Punjabi, & Urdu
- Best
time to visit February–April and August–November
- STD
code 011
Delhi
is a capital of the world’s largest democracy. Actually, Delhi
is India in miniature. Delhi is 32,87,263 sq. km of India’s
fantastic variety compressed into 1483 sq. km. Over the millennia,
it has wooed rulers, attracted plunderers, and tried historians
with so many details. Today, even as it preserves an enviable
heritage, Delhi is a true cosmopolitan city always on the
move.
Delhi remains the centre of power. Once it was a city of royal
power. Then it became the seat of colonial power. Later it
was the seat of bureaucratic power. The seat of political
power it has always been. Today it is emerging as an important
centre for corporate power too. However, the most fascinating
aspect of this city is its cosmopolitan nature.
Sightseeing
: Places to visit in destination - Delhi
Delhi
is an international metropolis with excellent tourist spots,
recreational facilities, and a history that goes back to antiquity.
A remarkable feature of the city is the extent of greenery
all over. Delhi is also a dream city for visitors looking
for items of handicrafts, not only the rich artistic crafts
of its own craftsmen but also of craftsmen from all over the
country.
Delhi offers a multitude of interesting places and attractions
to the visitor, so much so that it becomes difficult to decide
from where to begin exploring the city.
OLD
DELHI
In
Old Delhi, you’ll come across many mosques, forts, and other
monuments that depict India’s Muslim history. The important
places in Old Delhi includes:
Red
Fort Old Delhi gives an insight into the multi-layered
identity that so aptly characterizes India. The lanes are narrow,
filled to bursting with people, throbbing with life. In the
midst of this sea of people, suddenly you come face to face
with the ramparts of the Red Fort. The decision for constructing
the fort was taken in 1639, when Shahjahan decided to shift
his capital to Delhi. Within eight years, Shahjahanabad was
completed with the Red Fort—Qila-i-Mubarak (fortunate citadel)—Delhi’s
seventh fort, ready in all its magnificence to receive the Emperor.
Though much has changed now because of large-scale demolitions
during the British occupation of the fort, its important structures
have survived, the glory faded with age but still impressive.
The Red Fort still retains some of its lost glory. It is the
only fort with some well-preserved royal structures to give
an idea of the glory of the Mughal Empire. The Red Fort was
the last fort built in Delhi and it witnessed the vicissitudes
of fortune, the splendor and the fall of the Mughals, British
rule, and finally the dawn of Indian Independence.
Jama
Masjid, Chandni Chowk The living legacy of Delhi
is Shahjahanabad. Created by the builder of Red Fort as the
focal point and Jama Masjid as the praying centre, has a fascinating
market planned to shine under the light of the moon, called
Chandni Chowk. Shahjahan planned Chandni Chowk so that his daughter
could shop for all that she wanted. It was divided by canals
filled with water, which glistened like silver in moonlight.
The canals are now closed, but Chandni Chowk remains Asia/’s
largest wholesale market. Crafts once patronized by the Mughals
continue to flourish in the small lanes of the city. Tradition
and modernity meet at unexpected places in Shahjahanabad. If
you see a man pulling a rickshaw or feeding pigeons, you will
see just as many talking over the cello or assembling a computer!
An experience of timelessness awaits you at Shahjahanabad.
The by lanes of Chandni Chowk have been named after the specialty
items that are available here. For instance, if you need a
break go to Parantha Wali Gali for a delicious lunch of the
most crisp and light-stuffed paranthas. The eateries here
have been in operation for over 100 years! .
Raj Ghat On the bank
of the legendary Yamuna, which flows past Delhi, there is Raj
Ghat—the last resting place of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of
the nation. It has become an essential point of call for all
visiting dignitaries. Two museums dedicated to Gandhi are situated
nearby
NEW
DELHI
New
Delhi, on the other hand, is a modern city designed by Edwin
Lutyens and Herbert Baker. It is a spacious, open
city that houses many government buildings and embassies,
besides places of historical interest. Notable attractions
in New Delhi includes:
Rashtrapati
Bhawan Modern Delhi, or New Delhi as it is called,
centres around the Rashtrapati Bhawan. It is architecturally
a very impressive building standing at a height, flowing down
as it were to India Gate. This stretch called the Rajpath is
where the Republic Day parade is held. The imposing plan of
this area conceived by Lutyens does not fade in its charm with
the numerous summers or winters that go past. Rashtrapati Bhawan
was once the imperial residence of the British viceroys. Built
on the Raisina hills of Delhi ridge, this 340-roomed structure
has an imposing character overlooking India Gate and Rajpath.
It is now the official residence of the president of India.
For lovers of flowers and beauty, the annual spring opening
of the glorious, meticulously tended Mughal Gardens at the stately
Rashtrapati Bhawan is a bonanza topped by an amazing assembly
of roses in perfect bloom—perhaps the best in the whole of India.
India
Gate memorial raised in honour of the Indian
soldiers martyred during the Afghan war. The green, velvety
lawns at India Gate, particularly, are a popular evening and
holiday rendezvous for young and old alike. Ice-cream carts,
balloon wallahs, popcorn and peanut vendors, carts selling cold
water and cold drinks, panwallahs, men and women selling sweet-scented
jasmine gajras (garlands) to decorate a bride, wife, daughter
or girlfriend/’s hair, do brisk business at the fringe of the
lawns.
Laxminarayan
Temple Also called the Birla temple, the Laxminarayan
Temple was built by the Birla family in 1938. It is a temple
with a large garden and fountains behind it. The temple attracts
thousands of devotees on Janmashtami day, the birthday of Lord
Krishna, Humayun’s Tomb
was built nine years after Humayun’s death by his wife Haji
Begum. Designed by a Persian architect named Mirak Mirza Ghujas,
and completed in 1565, the edifice was a trendsetter of the
time. It is said that all later Mughal monuments, including
the Taj Mahal, followed its design,
Qutab
Minar It was built by Qutub-ud-din Aibek of the
Slave Dynasty, who took possession of Delhi in 1206. It is a
fluted red sandstone tower, which tapers up to a height of 72.5
m and is covered with intricate carvings and verses from the
holy Quran. Qutub-ud-din Aibak began constructing this victory
tower as a sign of Muslim domination of Delhi and as a minaret
for the Muslim priest, the muezzin, to call the faithful to
prayer. However, only the first storey was completed by Qutb-ud-din.
The other storeys were built by his successor Iltutmish. The
two circular storeys in white marble were built by Ferozshah
Tughlaq in 1368, replacing the original fourth storey. The projected
balconies in the tower are supported by exquisite stalactite
designs. The tapering tower has pointed and circular flutings
on the first story round and star-shaped on the second and third
stories. The bands of calligraphic inscriptions are amazing
in perfection with the exquisite stalactite designs seen on
the exterior of this tower.The Qutab Minar, apart from being
a marvel in itself, is also significant for what it represents
in the history of Indian culture. In many ways, the Qutab Minar,
the first monument of Muslim rule in India, heralded the beginning
of a new style of art and architecture that came to be known
as the Indo-Islamic styleand and
Bahai
Temple situated in South Delhi, is shaped like
a lotus. It is an eyecatching edifice worth exploring. Built
by the Bahai community, it offers the visitor a serenity that
pervades the temple and its artistic design.
