Sights in Delhi
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Red Fort (Lal qila)
The massive Red Fort (Lal qila) stands rather forlornly, a sandstone carcass of its former self. When Emperor Shah Jahan paraded out of the fort atop an elephant into the streets of Old Delhi, though, he and the fort that he built were a grandiose display of pomp and power.
The walls of the fort extend for 2km and vary in height from 18m on the river side to 33m on the city side. Shah Jahan began construction of the massive fort in 1638 and it was completed in 1648. Shah Jahan never completely moved his capital from Agra to his new city of Shahjahanabad in Delhi because he was deposed and imprisoned in Agra Fort by his sly son Aurangzeb.
The Red Fort dates from the very…
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Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
The Gurdwara Bangla Sahib is an important Sikh shrine and a constant hive of activity. Topped with gold onion domes, it was constructed at the site where the eighth Sikh guru, Harkrishan Dev, spent several months in 1664. This guru dedicated most of his time to helping the destitute and sick and was revered for his healing powers. At the back of the gurdwara (Sikh temple) is a huge tank, surrounded by a graceful colonnade. The water is said to have curative properties. Devotional songs are sung throughout the day.
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Akshardham Temple
Don’t miss the Hindu Swaminarayan Group’s lavish AkshardhamTemple, on Delhi’s outskirts. Inaugurated in 2005, it’s made of salmon-coloured sandstone and white marble, contains around 20,000 carved deities, and reflects traditional Orissan, Gujarati, Mughal and Rajasthani architectural elements.
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Jama Masjid
India’s largest mosque can hold a mind-blowing 25,000 people. Towering over Old Delhi, the ‘Friday Mosque’ was Shah Jahan’s final architectural opus, built between 1644 and 1658. It has three gateways, four angle towers and two minarets standing 40m high, and is constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble. The main entry point is Gate 3.
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National Gallery of Modern Art
This gallery occupies the maharaja of Jaipur’s former place, and includes all the great modern Indian masters, with beautiful works by Amrita Sher-Gil, the Tagore family, and India’s most famous contemporary artist, MF Husain. Photography isn’t allowed.
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Jantar Mantar
Comprised of curious terracotta-red structures, Jantar Mantar is the earliest of Maharaja Jai Singh II’s five observatories, constructed in 1725. It’s dominated by a huge sundial and houses other instruments plotting the course of heavenly bodies.
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Bird Hospital
At the eastern (Red Fort) end of Chandni Chowk is the 16th-century Digambara Jain Temple which houses the fascinating bird hospital run by the Jains, who believe in the preservation of all life.
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National Gandhi Museum
The National Gandhi Museum contains photos and some of Gandhi’s belongings.
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Qutb Minar
The superb buildings in this complex date from the onset of Islamic rule in India. The Qutb Minar itself is a soaring 73m/240ft-high tower of victory that was started in 1193, immediately after the defeat of the last Hindu kingdom in Delhi. At its base is Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid (Might of Islam Mosque), India's first.
The tower has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony, and it tapers, like something out of a fairy tale, from a 15m (50ft) diameter at the base to just 2.5m (8ft) at the top. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone, the fourth and fifth storeys of marble and sandstone. The stairs inside the tower coil so steeply that they're…
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Coronation Durbar Site
Incurable Raj fans should head to the Coronation Durbar site, marked by a lone obelisk in a desolate field located in open country north of 'Old' Delhi. Pride of place goes to a 15m (50ft) high statue of George V that rises ghost-like above the acacia trees. It was placed here after being removed from the canopy midway along Rajpath soon after Independence.
It was on this site that, in 1877 and 1903, the durbars were enacted and, in 1911, King George V was declared Emperor of India. Close by there's a walled garden complete with a rogues' gallery of marble statues of former imperial dignitaries, languishing like disgraced schoolboys out of the public eye. Most of Delhi's…
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Connaught Place
The heart of New Delhi is the vast traffic circle of Connaught Place and the seven streets that radiate from it, which are divided into blocks. It has an architecturally uniform series of colonnaded buildings devoted to shops, banks, restaurants, hotels and offices.
Often creating confusion, the outer circle is technically called 'Connaught Circus' (divided into blocks from G to N) and the inner circle 'Connaught Place' (divided into blocks from A to F). There's also a 'Middle Circle'. In 1995 the inner and outer circles were renamed Rajiv Chowk and Indira Chowk respectively, but these names are rarely used. Touts are especially rampant in Connaught Place.
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Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum
The former residence of Indira Gandhi is now a fascinating museum, displaying artefacts, photos and newspaper clippings, as well as personal belongings, including the blood-stained sari she was wearing when she was assassinated in 1984. Some of the rooms are preserved as they were, an interesting window into the understated elegance of her life. Another section is devoted to her son Rajiv, also assassinated in 1991 by a suicide bomber. Fragments of the clothes he was wearing and, even more poignantly, his trainers, are on display. On the way out, you’ll pass an enclosed crystal pathway that marks Gandhi’s final footsteps before her murder.
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Nizam-ud-din's Shrine
Across from Humayun's Tomb is Nizam-ud-din's Shrine, resting place of the Muslim Sufi saint Nizam-ud-din Chishti, who died in 1325, aged 92. The construction of Nizam-ud-din's tank ignited a dispute between the saint and the constructor of Tughlaqabad.
Other tombs include the later grave of Jahanara, the daughter of Shah Jahan, who stayed with her father during his imprisonment by Aurangzeb in Agra's Red Fort. Amir Khusru, a renowned Urdu poet, also has his tomb here, as does Atgah Khan, a friend of Humayun and his son Akbar. Atgah Khan was murdered by Adham Khan in Agra. In turn Akbar had Adham Khan terminated and his grave is near the Qutb Minar.
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Humayun's Tomb
The must-see Humayun's Tomb is a brilliant example of early Mughal architecture. It was built in the mid-16th century by Haji Begum, the Persian-born senior wife of the second Mughal emperor Humayun.
Elements in its design - a squat building with high arched entrances that let in light, topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by formal gardens - were to be refined over the years to eventually create the magnificence of Agra's Taj Mahal. Haji Begum is buried in the red-and-white sandstone and black-and-yellow marble tomb. The octagonal tomb of Isa Khan is through a gate to the left of the entrance and is a fine example of Lodi architecture.
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Supreme Court of India Museum
Showcasing India's judicial history, this small Supreme Court of India Museum, which is accessed from Mathura Rd (opposite Appu Ghar Gate), contains two interesting galleries. One gallery has a focus on the evolution of India's justice system, which harks back to the Indus Valley civilization (3500 BC).
The second gallery is dedicated to the Federal and Supreme Courts with exhibits including an early 20th-century judge's chair, portraits of Raj-era judges and original manuscripts of landmark cases including the assassination case of Mahatma Gandhi. Photography is prohibited.
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National Museum
An overview of India’s last 5000 years, this is a splendid museum. Exhibits include rare relics from the Harappan Civilisation, Central Asian antiquities (including silk paintings from the 1st century AD), sacred Buddhist objects, jewel-bright miniature paintings, old coins (including Portuguese, Dutch and Danish), woodcarving, textiles, musical instruments, fearsome Mughal weaponry, Persian manuscripts, and Indus jewellery made from shells and bones. Give yourself at least a few hours – preferably a half-day – to explore this museum, one of India’s finest.
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Spice Market
Khari Baoli, the street that runs from the Fatehpuri Mosque to the western edge of the old city, is Delhi's bustling wholesale spice market. It's well worth a wander simply to take in the sights and smells because things have changed little here for centuries. Huge sacks of herbs and spices are still brought to the wholesalers on long, narrow barrows pushed by labourers, and there are eye-catching displays of everything from lentils and rice to giant jars of chutneys, pickles, nuts and tea.
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Firoz Shah Kotla
Firozabad (the fifth city of Delhi) was built by Firoz Shah in 1354. Its ruins can be found at Firoz Shah Kotla, off Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. Visit on a Thursday afternoon when crowds come to pray, light candles and leave bowls of milk to appease Delhi’s djinns (invisible spirits or genies) that are reputed to inhabit the kotla. In the fortress/palace is a 13m-high sandstone Ashoka Pillar inscribed with Ashoka’s edicts (and a later inscription).
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Tughlaqabad
Crumbling Tughlaqabad was the third city of Delhi. This mammoth fort, with 6.5km of walls and 13 gateways, was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. Its construction was said to have sparked a quarrel with the saint Nizam-ud-din: when the Tughlaq ruler refused the workers whom Nizam-ud-din wanted for work on his shrine, the saint cursed the king, warning that his city would be inhabited only by shepherds. Later, this was indeed the case.
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Nehru Memorial Museum
Teen Murti Bhavan is the former residence of Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first prime minister), and was previously Flagstaff House, home to the British commander-in-chief. Just off Teen Murti Rd, it has been converted into a museum, a must-see for those interested in the Independence movement. Some rooms have been preserved as Nehru left them, and there’s a wealth of photographs, though some contextualisation would come in handy.
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Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
This quirky museum houses toilet-related paraphernalia dating from 2500 BC to modern times. It’s not just a curiosity: Sulabh International has done extraordinary work in the field of sanitation, developing pour-flush toilets, bio-gas plants and educating the children of ‘manual scavengers’ (whose job is to remove the crap from dry toilets) for other work. A guided tour (free) brings the loos to life.
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Bahai House of Worship (Lotus Temple)
This extraordinary temple is shaped like the sacred lotus flower. Designed by Iranian-Canadian architect Fariburz Sahba in 1986, it has 27 immaculate white-marble petals. The Bahai philosophy revolves around universal peace and the elimination of prejudice, and adherents of all faiths are welcome to pray or meditate silently according to their own religion.
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Red Fort
This massive fort is a sandstone carcass of its former self; but it’s the best place in Delhi to imagine the Mughal city’s sometime splendour. It dates from the peak of the dynasty’s power, a time of unparalleled pomp: of eunuchs, ceremonial elephants, palanquins, and buildings lined in precious stones.
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Lakshmi Narayan Temple
West of Connaught Place, the Orissan-style Lakshmi Narayan Temple, an overexcited red-and-cream confection, was erected in 1938 by the wealthy industrialist BD Birla. It was inaugurated by Gandhi as a temple for all castes; a sign on the gate says ‘Everyone is Welcome’.
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National Zoological Gardens
Popular with families and courting couples, this is India’s biggest zoo. It’s a bit forlorn, in the way of zoos, but there are white Bengal tigers, Himalayan black bears, rhinos, hippos, wolves, elephants, giraffes, and some spectacular birds.
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