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Red
Fort
 The
magnificent Red Fort or Lal Qila was built by the emperor Shah Jahan
ad is a part of the walled city of Shahjahanabad. Within its
fortifications are exquisite palaces, a finely proportioned mosque the
Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque, the Diwan-i -Am or hall of public
audience and the finely ornamented Diwan-Khas or hall pouf private
audience, where the Mughal emperors held court seated o the bejeweled
golden Peacock Throe.
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Jama
Masjid
The
great mosque of Old Delhi is both 1 largest in India and the final
architecture
extravagance of Shah Jahan. Commences 1644, the mosque was not
completed 1658. It has three great gateways, four an towers and two
minarets standing 40 met high and constructed of alternating verity
strips of red sandstone and white marble.
Broad
flights of steps lead up to the imposing gateways. The eastern gateway
was originally only opened for the emperor, and now only open on
Fridays and Musleem festival days. The general public can enter either
the north or south gate Shoes should be removed and those people
considered unsuitably dressed (bare legs for either men or women) can
hire robes at the Northgate. The courtyard of the mosque has a
capacity of 25,000 people. For it's possible climb the southern
minaret, and the views all directions arc superb-Old Delhi, the Red
Fort and the polluting factories beyond it across the river, and New
Delhi to the south. You can also see one of the features that the
architect Lutyens incorporated into his design of New Delhi - the Jama
Masjid, Connaught Place and Sansad Bhavan (Par-liament House) are in a
direct line. There's also a fine view of the Red port from the east
side of the mosque.
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Feroz
shah Kotla
Erected
by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354, the ruins of Ferozabad, the fifth city
of Delhi can be found at Feroz Shah Kotla, Just off Bahadur Shah Zafur
Marg between the old and new Delhi's. In the frortress-places is a
13-metre-high sadstone Ashoka pillar inscribed with Ashoa's edicts The
remains of an old mosque and a fine well can also be seen in the area,
but most of the ruins of Ferozabad were used for the construction of
later cities.
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Rajghat
North-east
of Feroz Shah Kotla, on the banks of the Yamuna, a simple square
platform of black marble marks of the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was
cremated following his assassination in 1948. A commemorative ceremony
takes place each Friday, the day he was killed. The Raj Ghat area is
now a beautiful park complete with labeled trees planted by a mixed
bag of notables including Queen Eliabeth II, Gough Whitlam Dwight
Eisenhower and Ho Chi Minn !
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India
Gate
 This
42 meter high stone arch of triumph stands at the eastern end of the
Rajpath. It bears the name of 90, 000 Indian Army soldiers who died in
the campaigns of WWI the North-West Frontier operations of the same
time and the 1919 Fagan fiasco.
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Jantar
Mantar
 Only
a short stroll down Sansad Marg from Connaught Place, this strange
collection of salmon-coloured structures is one of Maharaja Jai Singh
It's observatories. The ruler from Jaipur constructed this observatory
in 1725 and it is dominated by a huge sundial known as the Prince of
Dials. Other instruments plot the course of heavenly bodies and
predict eclipes.
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Rastrapati
Bhavan
 The
official residence of the President of India stands at the opposite
end of the Rajpath from India Gate. Completed in 1929, the place-like
building is a blend of Mughal and Western architectural styles, the
most obvious India feature being the huge copper dome. To the west of
the building is a Mughal garden which occupies 130 hectares, and this
is open to the public in February. Prior to Independence this was the
viceroy's residence. At the time of Mountbatten. India's last viceroy,
the number of servants needed to maintain the 340 rooms and its
extensive gardens was enormous. There were 418 gardeners alone, 50 of
them boys whose sole job was to chase away birds!
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Sansad
Bhavan
 Although
another large and imposing building, Sansad Bhavan, the Indian
parliament building, stands almost hidden and virtually unnoticed at
the end of Sansad Marg. or Parliament St, just north of Rajpath. The
building is a circular colonnaded structure 171 metres in diameter.
Its relative physical insignificance in the grand shame of New Delhi
shows how the focus of power has shifted from the viceroy's residence,
which was given pride of place during the time of the British Raj when
New Delhi was concaved.
Permits to visit the parliament and sit in the public gallery are
available from the reception office on Raisina Rd, but you'll need a
letter of introduction form your embassy.
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Lotus
Temple
 Lying
to the east of Siri is this building shaped like a lotus flower. Built
between 1980 and 1986, it is set amongst pools and gardens, and
adherents of any faith are free to vist the temple and pray or
meditate silently according to their own religion. It looks
particularly spectacular at dusk when it is floodlit. The temple is
open to visitors from April to September. daily except Monday from 9
am to 7 pm. and October to March from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm.
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Purana
Qula
 Just
South-east of India Gate and north of Humayun's Tomb and the
Nizamuddin railway station is the old fort. Purana Qula. This is the
suppossed site of Indraprasth, the original city of Delhi. The Afghan
ruler, Sher Shah, who briefly interrrupted the Mughal Empire by
defeating Humanyun, completed the fort during his regn from 1538-45,
before Humayun regained control of India. The fort has massive walls
and three large gateways.Entering from the sough gage you'll see the
small octagonal red sandstone tower, the Sher Mandal, later used by
Humayun, as a library. It was while descending the stairs of this
tower one day in 1556 that he slipped fell and received injuries from
which he later died .
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Humayun's
Tomb
Built
in the mid-16th century by Haji Begum, senior wife of
Humayn, the second Mughal emperor, this is an early example of Mughal
architecture. The elements in its design- a squat building, lighted by
high arched entrances, topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by
formal gardens where to be refined over the years to the
magnificence of the Taj Mahal in Agra. This earlier tomb is thus of
great interest for its relation to the later Taj. Humayun's wife is
also buried in the red-and-white sandstone. black and yellow marble
tomb.
Other tombs in the garden include that of Humayun's barber and the
Tomb of Isa Khan, a good example of Lidi architecture.
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Quatab
Minar
 The
buildings in this complex, 15 km south of Delhi, date from the onset
of Muslim rule in India and are fine examples of early Afghan
architecture. The Qutab Minar itself is a soaring tower of victory
which was started in 1193, immediately after the defeat of the last
Hindu kingdom in Delhi. It is nearly 73 metres high and tapers from a
15-metre diameter base to just 2.5 metres at the stop. The tower has
five distances stories, each market by a projecting balcony. The first
three storeys are made of red sandstone. the fourth and fifth of
marble and sandstone. Although Qutab-ud-din began construction
of the tower, he only got to the first story.
Today, this impressively ornate tower has a slight tilt, but otherwise
has worn the centuries remarkably well. The tower is closed to
visitors. and has been for some years after a stampede during a school
trip led to a number of deaths.
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