Delhi

Capital: Delhi
Area: 1,483 square km.
Population: 13,782,976 (2004)

Delhi is at its best in winter between November and February. The days are usually sunny—perfect weather to enjoy the many parks, gardens and historic monuments.

New Delhi is the capital of India and also the third largest city. The city actually consists of two parts. Delhi or 'Old' Delhi was the capital of Moslem India between the 12th and 19th centuries. In Old Delhi you will find many mosques, monuments and forts relating to India's Moslem history. The other Delhi is New Delhi, the imperial city created as a capital of India by the British. It is a spacious open city and contains many embassies and government buildings.

New Delhi has a third important factor apart from its historic interest and role as the government centre — it is also a major travel gateway. New Delhi is one of India's busiest entrance points for overseas airlines, is on the overland route across Asia and is also the hub of the north Indian travel network.

HISTORY

Delhi has not always been the capital of India but it has played an important role in Indian history ever since the epic Mahabharata, 5000 years ago. Under the emperor Ashoka, over 2000 years ago, Pataliputra, near modem day Patna, was the capital of his kingdom. More recently the Moghul emperors made Agra the capital through the 16th and 17th centuries. Under the British Agra was the capital until the construction of New Delhi in 1911. Of course it is only comparatively recently that India as we know it has been unified as one country. Even at the height of their power the Moghuis did not control the south of India for example. But Delhi has always been an
important city or a capital of the northern region of the sub-continent.
There have been at least eight cities around modern Delhi. The first four were south of modem New Delhi, around the area where the Qutab Minar stands. The earliest known Delhi was known as Indraprastha and was centred near the present day Purana Qila. At the beginning of the 12th century AD the last Hindu kingdom of Delhi was ruled by the Tomar and Chauthan dynasties and was also near the Qutab Minar and Suran Kund, now in Haryana.

This city was followed by Siri which was constructed by Allah-ud-Din near the present day Hauz Khas in the 12th century. The third Delhi was Tughlaq-abad which is now entirely in ruins and stood 10 km south-east of the Qutab Minar. The fourth Delhi also dates from the 14th century and was also a creation of the Tughlaqs. Known as Jahanpanah it also stood near the Qutab Minar.

The fifth Delhi, Ferozabad, was sited at Ferozshah Kotla in present day Old Delhi. Its ruins contain an Ashoka pillar, moved here from elsewhere, and traces of a mosque in which Tamarlane prayed during his attack on India.
The Emperor Sher Shah created the sixth Delhi at Purana Qila, near India Gate in New Delhi today. Sher Shah was an Afghan ruler who defeated the Moghul Humayan and took control of Delhi. The Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan constructed the seventh Delhi and his Shahjahanabad roughly corresponds to Old Delhi today and is still largely preserved. Constructed in the 17th century his Delhi included the Red Fort and the majestic Jami Masjid. Finally the eighth Delhi, New Delhi, was constructed by the British and officially inaugurated in 1911.

Delhi has seen many invaders through the ages. Tamarlane plundered it in the 14th century and in 1739 the Persian Emperor Nadir Shah sacked the city and carted the Kohinoor Diamond and the famous Peacock Throne off to Iran. The British captured it in 1803 but during the Indian mutiny in 1857 Delhi was a centre for resistance to the British. Prior to partition Delhi had a very large Moslem population and Urdu was the main language. Now Punjabis have replaced many of the Moslems and Hindi predominates.

HOW TO GET THERE

By air: As the capital of the country, Delhi is well connected with all major cities. Jet, Sahara and Indian Airlines operate daily between Delhi and other metros like Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.

WHAT TO SEE

¦ Purana Qila: Just south-east of India Gate and north of Humayun's Tomb and the Nizam-uddin Railway Station is the old fort, Purana Qila. This is the supposed site of Indraprastha the original city of Delhi. The fort has massive walls and three large gateways. Sher Shah, who briefly interrupted the Moghul empire by defeating Humayun, built the fort during his period of rule from 1538 to 1545 before Humayun wrested control of India back. Entering from the south gate the small octagonal red sandstone tower, the Sher Manzil, was later used by Humayun as a library. It was in this tower that he slipped, fell and received injuries from which he died. Just beyond this is the Qila-i-Kuhran Mosque or Mosque of Sher Shah.
¦ Humayun's Tomb: Built in the mid-16th century by Haji Begum, wife of Humayun, the second Moghul emperor, this is an early example of Moghul architecture. The elements in-'tte design — a squat building, lightened by high arched entrances, topped by a bulbous dome and surrounded by formal gardens — were to be refined over the years to the magnificence of the Taj Mahal in Agra. This e,arlier 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 while to the right is the tomb of Isa Khan, a good example of Pathan (Afghan) architecture from the time of the Lodi dynasty. There's a fine view over the surrounding country from the terrace of Humayun's Tomb.
¦ Zoo: The Delhi Zoo is on the south side of the fort and is open from 8 am to 6 pm in summer, 9 am to 5 pm in winter.
¦ Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Aulia: Across the road from Humayun's Tomb is the shrine of the Moslem saint Nizam-ud-din Chisti. He died in 1325 aged 92 and his shrine, with its large tank, is only one of a number of interesting tombs here. They include the later grave of Jahanara, the daughter of Shah Jahan who stayed with him during his imprisonment by Aurangzeb. Mirza Ghalib, a renowned Urdu poet, also has his tomb here as does Azam Khan, a favourite of Humayun and Akbar who was murdered by Adham Khan in Agra. In turn Akbar had Adham Khan terminated and his grave is near the Qutab Minar. The construction of Nizam-ud-din's tank caused a dispute between the saint and the constructor of Tughlaqabad further to the south of Delhi — see Tughlaqabad for details.
¦ Lodi Tombs: About three km to the west and adjoining the Indian International Centre are the Lodi Gardens. In these well-kept gardens there are the tombs of the Sayyid and Lodi rulers. Muhammad Shah's tomb (1450) is a prototype for the later Moghul style tomb of Humayun, a design which would eventually develop into the Taj Mahal. Other tombs include those of his predecessor Mubarak Shah (1433), Ibrahim Lodi (1526) and Sikander Lodi (1517). The Bara Gumbad Mosque is a fine example of its type of plaster decoration.
¦ Safdarjang Tomb: Beside the smaller Safdarjang airport, where Indira Gandhi's son was killed in a light plane accident in 1980, is the Safdarjang Tomb. It was built in 1753-54 by the Nawab of Oudh for his father Safdarjang and is one of the last examples of Moghul architecture before the final remnants of the great empire completely collapsed. The tomb stands on a high terrace in an extensive garden. There are good views from the roof of the tomb.
¦ Moth ki Masjid: South again fronM the Safdarjang Tomb this mosque is said to be the finest mosque in the Lodi style. It was around this area that Timur defeated the forces of Muhammad Shah Tughlaq in 1398.
¦ Hauz Khas: About midway between Safdarjang and the Qutab Minar this area was once the reservoir for the second city of Delhi, Siri, which lies slightly to the east. Interesting sights here include Feroz Shah's Tomb (1398) and the remains of an ancient college.
¦ Khirki Masjid & Jahanpanah: This interesting mosque with its four open courts dates from 1380. The nearby village of Khirki also takes its name from the mosque. Close to the mosque are the remains of the fourth city of Delhi, Jahanpanah, including the high Bijai Mandal platform and the Begumpur Mosque with its multiplicity of domes.
¦ Tughlaqabad: The massively strong walls of Tughlaqabad, the third city of Delhi, are east of the Qutab Minar. The walled city and fort with its 13 gateways was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq and its construction involved a lagendary quarrel with the saint Nizam-ud-din. When the Tughlaq ruler took the workers whom Nizam-ud-din wanted for work on his shrine the saint cursed the king with the warning that his city would be inhabited only by Gujars (shepherds). Today that is indeed the situation. The dispute between king and saint did not end with curse and counter-curse. When the king prepared to take vengeance on the saint, Nizam-ud-din calmly told his followers, in a saying that is still current in India today, 'Delhi is a long way off. Indeed it was for the king was murdered on his way from Delhi in 1325. The fort walls are constructed of massive blocks and outside the south wall of the city is an artificial lake with the king's tomb in its centre. A long causeway connects the tomb to the fort, both of which have walls that slope inward.
¦ Red Fort: The/red sandstone walls of Lai Qila, the 'Red Fort, extend for two km and vary in height from 18 metres on the river side to 33 metres on the city side. Shah Jahan commenced construction of the massive fort in 1638 and it was completed in 1648. He never completely moved his capital from Agra to his new city of Shahjahanabad in Delhi because his son Aurangzeb deposed him and imprisoned him in Agra Fort. The Red Fort dates from the very peak of Moghul power. When the emperors rode out on elephant back into the streets of old Delhi it was a display of pomp and power at its most magnificent. The Moghul period at the top was a short one, however. Aurangzeb was the first and last great Moghul Emperor to rule from here. Today the fort is typically Indian with would-be guides leaping forth to offer their services as soon as you enter. It's still a calm haven of peace if you've just left the frantic streets of old Delhi. The city noise and confusion is light years away from the fort gardens and pavilions. If you look out over the fort wall towards the Yamuna River there will probably be assorted musicians, contortionists, rope climbers, magicians, dancing bears and rope climbers down below.
¦ Lahore Gate: The main gate to the fort takes its name from the fact that it faces towards Lahore, now in Pakistan. You enter the fort here and immediately find yourself in a vaulted arcade now given over to small shops. This was once the Meena Bazaar — the shopping centre for ladies of the court. The arcade of shops leads into the Naubat Khana which used to be a gallery for musicians but is now just an open courtyard.
¦ Moti Masjid: Built in 1659 by Aurangzeb the Pearl Mosque is next to the baths.Other The Rang Mahal pavilion or 'Painted Palace' took its name from the painted interior which has now gone. The Khas Mahal was the private palace of the emperor and was divided into rooms for worship, sleeping and living. There is a small Museum of Archaelogy in the Mumtaz Mahal. The Delhi Gate to the south of the fort led to the Jami Masjid.
¦ Jami Masjid: The great mosque of old Delhi is both the largest mosque in India and the final architectural extravagance of Shah Jahan. Commenced in 1644 the mosque was not completed until 1658. The mosque has three great gateways, four angle towers and two minarets which stand 40 metres high and are constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble.There's also a fine view of the Red Fort from the east side of the mosque. The Jami Masjid has a capacity of 25,000 people.
¦ Raj Ghat:North-east of Feroz Shah Kotla, on the banks of the Yamuna, a simple square platform of black marble marks the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated following his assasination in 1948. A ceremony takes place each Friday, the day he was killed. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister, was also cremated here in 1964. The Raj Ghat is now a beautiful park.
¦ Feroz Shah Kotla: Erected by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354 the ruins of Ferozabad, the fifth city of Delhi, are between the old and new Delhi's. In the fortress-palace is an Ashoka pillar with Ashoka's edicts (and a later inscription) on the 13 metre high column. The ruins of an old mosque and a fine well can also be seen in the area but the ruins were used for the construction of later cities.
¦ Connaught Place: At the northern end of New Delhi, Connaught Place is the business and tourist centre of New Delhi. It's a vast traffic circle with an architecturally uniform series of buildings around the edge — mainly devoted to shops, airline offices and the like. It's spacious but busy and you're continually approached by people willing to provide you with every imaginable necessity from an airline ticket to Timbuktu to having your fortune read.
¦ Jantar Mantar: Only a short stroll down Parliament St from Connaught Place this strange collection of salmon coloured structures is another of Maharaja Jai Singh II'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, the paths of stars and predict eclipses.
¦ Laxmi Narayan Temple: Due west of Connaught Place this garishly coloured modern temple was erected by the industrialist Birla in 1938. It's dedicated to Vishnu and his consort Laxmi, the goddess of wealth.
¦ India Gate: The 42 metre-high stone arch of triumph stands at the eastern end of the Raj Path. It bears the name of 90,000 Indian Army soldiers who died in the campaigns of WW I, the North-West Frontier operations of the same time and the 1919 Afghan fiasco.
¦ Rashtrapati Bhavan: The official residence of the President of India stands on Raisini Hill, at the opposite end of the Raj Path to India Gate. Completed in 1929 the palace-like building has an elegant Moghul garden and occupies 130 hectares.Prior to independence this was the Viceroy's House, the residence of the Viceroy of India. At the time of Mountbatten, India's last Viceroy, the number of servants needed to maintain the 340 rooms of the building and its extensive gardens was enormous. There were 418 gardeners alone, 50 of them boys whose sole job was to chase away birds!
¦ Parliament House: Sansad Bhavan, the Indian Parliament Building, stands at the end of Sansad Marg, Parliament St, just north of the Raj Path. This is one of the key elements in the design of New Delhi. A straight line drawn from the parliament building, down Parliament St, passes through the centre of Connaught Place and extended beyond it intersects the Jami Masjid. The building is a circular colonnaded structure 171 metres in diameter.
¦ Jantar Mantar: One of several astronomical observatories raised by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, it is close to the Raj-era commercial complex Connaught Place. The abstract structures within are, in fact, instruments used to track of celestial bodies.
¦ Qutub Minar: The Qutub Minar in Mehrauli is the highest stone tower in India. It was built by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1192 to celebrate Mohammad Ghori's victory over the Rajputs. It reaches 73 metres high and tapers from a 15 metre diameter base to just 2.5 metres at the top. More...
¦ Humayun's Tomb: It is generally regarded as the forerunner to the exquisite Taj in terms of style and architecture. It uses high arches; double domes and formally laid out gardens to great effect.
¦ Jama Masjid: Built by Emperor Shahjahan as part of his new city in 1658, it boasts of three grand gateways, four angled towers and two 40 m high minarets. People of all religions can visit the mosque but must not offend religious sensibilities.
¦ Bahai Temple:This unique lotus-shaped marble temple looks stunning at dusk when it is floodlit.Built as recently as in 1986, it is set amidst pools and gardens and just about anybody is free to visit the temple, pray or meditate silently on the premises.
¦ Hazrat Nizamuddin: Thousands of devotees—both Muslim and Hindu—throng to the tomb shrine of the suf i saint Nizamuddin Auliya every year. Thursdays are really special as the dargah comes alive with music and qawwalis at night.
¦ Lakshmi Narayan Temple: This temple devoted to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity was built by one of India's leading business families, the Birlas in 1938.
¦ ISKON Temple: This grand cult temple is built on a hill in South Delhi and is dedicated to Lord Krishna. The USP here is the tech-savvy Bhagavad Gita Experience, an animatronics show with robots depicting Krishna and Arjuna.
¦ Gurudwara Bangla Sahib: The 8th Sikh Guru Harkishan Dev visited Delhi in 1664 and stayed at a magnificent bungalow that later became a place of Sikh pilgrimage.

ART GALLERIES

¦ National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House; tel: 2338 2835
¦ Lalit Kala Akademi, Firoz Shah Road; tel: 2338 1361
¦ Triveni Kala Sangam, Tansen Marg; tel: 2371 8833
¦ Dhoomimal Art Gallery, 8 A, Connaught Place; tel: 2332 8839
¦ Vadhera Art Gallery, Defence Colony; tel: 2461 5368
¦ Academy of Fine Arts & Literature, 4, Siri Fort Institutional Area; tel: 26438070

MUSEUMS

Delhi has a wide range of museums and galleries. Some of the most interesting include:

¦ National Museum: Located on Janpath just south of Rajpath the National Museum has a good collection of Indian bronzes, terra cotta and wood sculptures dating back to the Mauryan period (2nd-3rd century BC), exhibits from the Vijayanagar period in south India, miniature and mural paintings and costumes of the various tribal peoples. The museum is definitely worth visiting
¦ Nehru Museum: On Teen Murti Rd near Chanakyapuri the residence of the first Indian prime minister has been converted into a museum and has items and documents related to his life.
¦ Rail Transport Museum: Located at Chanakyapuri, the diplomatic enclave, the railway museum will be of great interest to anyone who becomes fascinated by India's exotic collection of railway engines. The collection includes an 1855 steam engine still in working order and a large collection of oddities such as the skull of an elephant that charged a mail train in 1894, and lost. The museum is open from 9.30 am to 7.30 pm from 1 May to 15 July and 10.30 am to 5.30 pm for the rest of the year.
¦ National Museum of Natural History, Barakhamba Road
¦ The Chalo Dilli Museum dedicated to Subhash Chandra Bose at Azad Hind Gram, Tourist Complex, Tikri Kalan; tel: 2835 2662

WHERE TO STAY

¦ Taj Palace, Sardar Patel Marg; tel: 2611 0202
¦ The Oberoi, DrZakir Hussain Marg; tel; 2436 3030
¦ Ashok Hotel (ITDC), 50-B, Chanakyapuri
¦ Residential Paying Guest Accommodation, tel: 23363607

WHERE TO EAT

¦ Dilli Haat: Dilli Haat offers a wide variety of ethnic food. Practically every state of the country is represented. The choices are momos and thukpafrom Sikkim, wazwan from Kashmir, and much more. Opposite INA Market, near AIIMS; tel: 26119055
¦ Bukhara (Frontier cuisine), Hotel Maurya Sheraton, Sardar Patel Marg; tel: 2301 0101 m Karim's (Indian), near Jama Masjid
¦ Olive Bar & Kitchen (Mediterranean), One Style Mile, Mehrauli; tel: 2664 2552
¦ San Gimignano (Italian), The Imperial, Janpath; tel: 23341234
¦ 360°, The Oberoi; tel: 2436 3030

INFORMATION

¦ Delhi Tourism Development Corporation N Block, Connaught Place; tel: 23314229
¦ DTDC Central Reservation Office, Baba Kharak Singh Marg; tel: 2336 53583607

SHOPPING

OLD DELHI

The old walled city of Shahjahanabad stands to the west of the Red Fort and was at one time surrounded by a sturdy defensive wall, only fragments of which now exist. The Kashmiri Gate at the northern end of the walled city, was the scene for desparate fighting when the British retook Delhi during the Mutiny. West of here, near Sabzi Mandi, is the British erected Mutiny Memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives in the events of the uprising. Near the monument there is another Ashoka Pillar. Like the one in Feroz Kotla it was brought here by Feroz Shah Tugh-laq.

The main street of old Delhi is the colourful shopping bazaar known as Chandni Chowk. It's hopelessly congested day and night, a very sharp contrast to the open, spacious streets of New Delhi. At the east (Red Fort) end of Chandni Chowk and north of the Jami Masjid there is a Jain temple with a small marble courtyard surrounded by a colonnade. Next to the Kotwali (police station) is the Sunehri Masjid. In 1739 Nadir Shah, the Persian invader who carried off the Peacock Throne when he sacked Delhi, stood on the roof of the mosque and watched while his soldiers conducted a bloody massacre of the Delhi inhabitants.

The west end of Chandni Chowk is marked by the Fatehpuri Mosque which one of Shah Jahan's wives erected in 1650.