KEY ATTRACTIONS
Lal Quila (Red Fort)
The
Red Fort's massive curtain wall and battlements dominate the skyline
of Old Delhi. Inside, the bastions - built, like the nearby Jama
Masjid, by Shah Jehan - are an array of exquisite seventeenth-century
Mughal buildings, which provided the living quarters for the Emperor,
his courtiers and family. The flawless balance and proportion of
these buildings, as well as their intricate decoration, is wonderful
to behold and in complete contrast to the military might of the
fort itself. Sadly, the water conduits that would once have cooled
the dwellings and gardens are now dry. The Lahore Gate, west of
the fort, was a potent symbol in the fight for Independence and
is still regarded as a shrine of the Republic.
Hours : Daily dawn - dusk
Admission : Rs 235 (foreigners)
Jama Masjid
Jama
Masjid is India's largest mosque and one of the masterpieces of
the Mughal's greatest builder, Shah Jehan. A huge courtyard, bounded
by an arcade and pierced with three gates, lies in front of the
prayer hall, which achieves serenity and peace from the perfect
harmony of its arches, domes and spaces. The courtyard, which can
accommodate 25,000 worshippers, is dominated by two red-and-white-striped
sandstone minarets, 70 m (230 ft) tall.
Hours : Daily dawn-dusk; closed during prayer times
Clothes : Shorts and short-sleeved shirts not permitted; wraps can
be borrowed
Admission : Free; plus Rs 10 (minaret) and Rs 100 (for cameras)
Qutb Minar
The
Qutb Minar is an immense tower, started at the end of the twelfth
century to commemorate the Muslim conquest of Delhi. Standing 72.5
m (238 ft) tall, it is built of fluted red sandstone and decorated
with calligraphy representing verses from the Koran. The top two
levels are faced in white marble. The Minar rises above a site that
is home to the oldest extant Islamic monuments in India. There is
the Ala-i-Darwaza, complete with horseshoe-shaped arches, lotus-leaf
squinches and elaborate geometric patterns. Next to that, stands
the Quwwat-ul-Islam, the first mosque to be built in India. So anxious
were the new rulers of Delhi to erect a mosque that they shamelessly
pilfered 27 Hindu and Jain temples for building materials. Many
of pillars that surround the courtyard are carved with Hindu iconography,
which is curiously at odds with the Islamic calligraphy of the Muslim
prayer screens. Incongruously, in the centre of the mosque, stands
the fourth-century Iron Pillar, bearing inscriptions from the Gupta
period.
Hours : Daily dawn - dusk
Admission : Rs 475 (foreigners)
Rajpath And Rashtrapati Bhavan
Rajpath
runs between the Secretariat Buildings and India Arch, the war memorial
designed by Lutyens in 1921. Rajpath is a formal conception, lined
with trees, fountains and pools, intended by its architects Lutyens
and Baker as the epicentre of British India. The Secretariat Buildings
combine monumental classical and oriental detail and are an imposing
statement of colonial power. Rashtrapati Bhavan is an immense palace
- supposedly larger than Versailles - that was built as the residence
of the Viceroy and is now the official home of the President of
India. Every Saturday morning (0935-1015), guards parade before
the iron grille gates.
National Museum
It
takes a good few hours to get a decent overview of Indian culture
at the National Museum, which is filled with exhibits covering over
5000 years of history. Highlights include excavations from Indus
Valley civilisation sites; carved pillars and statues from the Maryan
empire (250BC); Gupta terracottas dating from AD400; sandstone figures
from Pallava temples; stone and bronze Buddhist statues; Tibetan
manuscripts; Mughal clothing, tapestries, ornaments and weapons;
Naga models and masks; silk paintings from Central Asia; and a gallery
of 300 musical instruments.Janpath
Tel: (011) 301 9538.
Opening hours : Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission : Rs150 (foreigners).
Humayun's Tomb (Lodhi Road, Mathura Road)
Often
seen merely as a forerunner of the Taj Mahal, Humayun's Tomb is,
in its own right, a stunning example of the Mughal architectural
style, combining dome, mausoleum and plinth in perfect proportion.
The Tomb is set in a square garden designed along Persian lines,
shaded and geometric, crisscrossed with waterways and paths. In
the grounds, there are some other monuments, including the Tomb
of Isa Khan.
Hours : Daily dawn - dusk
Admission : Rs 475 (foreigners)
Baha'i Temple (Kalkaji Hill)
Also
known as the Lotus Temple, the modern Baha'i Temple has often been
compared to the Sydney Opera House. Giant white petals of Rajasthani
Macrana marble open out from nine pools and walkways in the shape
of an unfolding lotus, symbolising the nine spiritual paths of the
Baha'i faith. Inside, the central hall rises to a height of over
30 m (98 ft) without the visible support of any columns. Visitors
should take their shoes off before entering.
Hours : Daily 0900 - 1900 (summer); daily 0930 - 1730 (winter).
Closed during prayers (1000 - 1100 and 1600 - 1700)
Purana Qila (Mathura Road)
Humayun's
sixteenth-century Delhi had at its centre the fortress of Purana
Qila, whose crumbling remains reputedly stand on the site of Indraprastha,
the city of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Of the buildings that
survive today, the Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid was constructed in 1541 by
Sher Shah and represents a successful fusion of the Islamic and
Hindu styles. The Sher Mandal is an octagonal observatory and library.
The north gate, Talaqi-Darwaza, has been partially rebuilt and gives
an impression of how formidable the fortifications would have been
in their heyday. There is a small museum just inside the south gate.
Hours : Daily dawn - dusk (fortress); daily 0800 - 1830 (museum)
Admission : Rs 235 (foreigners)
National Gallery of Modern Art (Jaipur House, India Gate)
The
National Gallery of Modern Art (Tel: 91-11- 2338-4560, 2338-2835)
contains a large collection of twentieth-century Indian art. There
are examples of the work of the painters of the Bengali Renaissance
and of the poet and artist Tagore. The galleries are housed in Jaipur
House - by any yardstick, a grandee's townhouse - formerly the Delhi
residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur.
Hours : Tues - Sun 1000 - 1700
Admission : Rs 150 (foreigners)
