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Akshardham Temple
Located on Delhi's outskirts is the mammoth and elaborate Akshardham Temple, a recently built structure (inaugurated in 2005) made of pink sandstone and white marble. Part of the Hindu Swaminarayan group, this extraordinary temple reflects traditional Orissan, Gujarati, Mughal and Rajasthani architectural elements and has exquisite domes and pillars.
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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.
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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.
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Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
Topped with gold domes, the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib 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; a tank on the gurdwara's premises contains water said to have curative properties. Soul-warming kirtan (devotional songs) often drift from the temple.
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Jama Masjid
The stunning Jama Masjid mosque is the largest in India and the final architectural magnum opus of Shah Jahan. Construction of the mosque began in 1644, but it wasn't completed until 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 No 3. The mosque's courtyard can hold a mind-blowing 25,000 people.
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Lakshmi Narayan Temple
West of Connaught Place, with soaring domes, the Orissan-style Lakshmi Narayan Temple was erected in 1938 by the wealthy industrialist BD Birla. The main temple is dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and her consort, Narayan the Preserver.
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Purana Qila
With massive walls and three gateways, Purana Qila was the site of ancient Indraprastha. The Afghan ruler, Sher Shah, who briefly interrupted Mughal sovereignty by defeating Humayun, completed the fort during his reign (1538-45), before Humayun regained control of India.
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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.
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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.
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Safdarjang's Tomb
The mid-18th-century Safdarjang's Tomb was built by the Nawab of Avadh for his father, Safdarjang, and is one of the last examples of Mughal architecture before the final remnants of the great empire collapsed.
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