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Delhi is capital of India and full of sights, activities and history with the many cities within the city. British New Delhi is just one of the many capitals that have been established as Indian residential cities over time. Ancient Delhi is one of the other examples and is in itself a magnificent city, which Shah Jahan founded as Shahjahanabad during the emperor’s reign. Several other cities can be seen as forts from the many eras that passed Delhi through times.
The life and mood of Delhi is at one and the same time both positively hectic and charmingly relaxed. In Chandni Chowk’s bazaar streets, you get a glimpse of colorful India through impressions for all senses, and in contrast there are parks, boulevards and major centuries-old buildings forming quaint oases in the big city.
There are many sights and things to do in the city from the Sultan’s Delhi with amazing Qutb Minar, and the subsequent mughal architecture, where Humayun’s Tomb stands as a prime example of their times. Humayun’s Tomb is one of the places where you get a historical experience on the architectural path to Agra’s famous Taj Mahal.
After the mughals, British time came with New Delhi as the new and partially European-designed capital around India Gate and the Viceroy’s Palace, which is today the president’s residence. Connaught Place with side streets is almost like being back in colonial days. Modern Indian Delhi is of course omnipresent with an ambitious and forward-looking development in the beautiful metropolis.
The Red Fort is one of Delhi’s most impressive historical monuments and known as the residence of the Indian Mughals for several centuries up to British rule in the 19th century. Today, the Red Fort is located in central Delhi and is a large and beautiful building complex with, among other things, several museums behind the gates and walls.
The Red Fort was built by the great mogul Shah Jahan in 1638-1648, when he had chosen to move the capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad; the present Old Delhi. It got its name from the color of the solid sandstone walls that surrounded the mogul’s fortified residence from the start. The name Lal Quila in Hindi refers to the color and has since been used in the English version.
The fort is a beautiful example of the Mughal era in the area, and there is clear inspiration from Agra’s Red Fort. Many believe that the fort is a fine example of the zenith of the fortress architecture and planning that flourished under the Mughals. The fort was built along the river Yamuna, and from here water came to the moats around Shah Jahan’s Red Fort.
Of the Red Fort’s former interior, the Indian peacock throne can be mentioned. It stood here until 1739, when the Persian Nadir Shah overcame the Mughal army and plundered Delhi and the fort for enormous sums and effects such as the prestigious throne.
Lahore Gate/Lahori Gate is the name of the main entrance to the large fort area, which is surrounded by a wall 2.4 km long and up to 33 meters high. Note the generally high gates that were built for the riding of the Mughal rulers from the fort into the city on elephants. Incidentally, Lahori Gate and Delhi Gate were public gates, while the emperor used Khizrabad Gate. Lahori Gate is symbolic as the Indian flag was hoisted here on the occasion of Indian independence on 15 August 1947. Every year since then, the Prime Minister of India has hoisted the flag and addressed the people at Lahori Gate on 15 August.
At Lahori Gate is the arcade Chhatta Chowk, which was a market area in the Mughal era for the sale of, among other things, silk and jewels that were bought by the court. This was and is at the outer courtyard of the fort, where the Naubat Khana building stands to the east. From here, music was played at various times.
Naubat Khana leads towards the inner courtyard, the dimensions of which are 160×130 meters. The courtyard is surrounded by galleries, and here you will also find the audience hall Divan-i-Aam, where the Mughal emperor received audiences from his marble balcony. The hall was also used on various representative occasions, and from it leads a smaller courtyard to the imperial apartments.
The Gemaks, which were the residence of the Mughals, lie to the east in the fort area. They consist of several buildings facing the river Yamuna, and these buildings are connected by the Stream of Paradise/Nahr-i-Behisht canal. The water flows through the central part of each of the pavilion buildings of the suites, and it is part of the layout, which in total is to recreate the paradise as laid out in the holy scriptures. Among the palaces, the Mumtaz Mahal is the southernmost building, and here you will find the archaeological museum in The Red Fort/Red Fort Archaeological Museum. Mumtaz Mahal was conveniently one of the women’s residences in the Mughal era.
The gemak building north of Mumtaz Mahal is called Rang Mahal, and it is on the axis east of the Lahori Gate. Rang Mahal means the Palace of Colours, and the place was also originally richly decorated and painted. You can still see the beauty of the Rang Mahal, which was one of the houses where the emperor’s wives and mistresses could stay. Among other things, the marble depression that made up Paradise’s Stream also runs here.
North of the Rang Mahal is the private audience hall Divan-i-Khas, where the emperor held private meetings. The Divan-i-Khas was originally adorned with gold, silver and precious stones. The ceiling was of silver, and it was within this framework that the peacock throne of the Mughals stood. The Peacock Throne was built in the 17th century and initiated by Shah Jahan. The Persian king Nadar Shah stole it as spoils of war in 1739, and it has since disappeared. Along with the Divan-i-Khas is the emperor’s private residence, the Khas Mahal, where you can also see the Stream of Paradise and several rooms. To the east is a tower where every morning the emperor addressed his subjects at the Jharokha Darshan ceremony.
Just north of the emperor’s residence and audience hall are the Mughal baths, hammam, which consisted of three marble rooms with domes. Next to the baths stands the beautiful Pearl Mosque/Moti Masjid, which was built in 1658-1659 as a private mosque for the mogul Aurangzeb. In the northern corner of the Red Fort is the garden complex Hayat Bakhsh Bagh, which at the time of establishment contained a water reservoir and canals between pavilions to the north and south.
Chandni Chowk is the vibrant main street in New Delhi’s Old City. The street has been the central shopping street for centuries, and today you also get a good impression of the city’s fascinating throngs of people with various jobs when you take a walk here.
The name Chandni Chowk refers to a moonlit market, and the original design of the market area in the 17th century also included several now defunct canals and a central pond. The canals and not least the pond had to reflect the moonlight.
The beginning of the market came with the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who founded the city of Shahjahanabad with the military center in the Red Fort/Red Fort. Chandni Chowk was first a market designed as a square and it was Shah Jahan’s daughter Jahanara who designed the place.
Chandni Chowk was one of India’s most important markets, and the processions of the Mughals passed here; this was incidentally repeated at the British Delhi Durbar in 1903, where a new regent was proclaimed Emperor of India. Today, the market Chandni Chowk has spread into a labyrinth of side streets, which can be advantageously experienced by bicycle taxi.
Chandni Chowk connects the Red Fort with the Fatehpuri Masjid mosque and initially there was a canal in the middle of this stretch. The street was divided into three sections; the one closest to the Red Fort was called Urdu Bazar and was the stretch between Lahori Gate and Chowk Kotwali. Between Chowk Kotwali and today’s Chandni Chowk was called Johri Bazar, while the street section between Chandni Chowk and Fatehpuri Masjid was called Fatehpuri Bazar.
Today, Chandni Chowk has not preserved its original layout and appearance, but the street has retained its historical and intense atmosphere with the market times. Building-wise, there are several types of houses that can be seen from previous centuries. These are the mansion type haveli, the profession-bound kucha and the low-rise katra. On both sides of the street Chandni Chowk itself, the narrow lanes connect the gali, residences and other in the large market area.
There are several noteworthy buildings along Chandni Chowk. In an east-west direction, you can see the Jain temple Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, founded in 1656. It offers a nice interior, but the temple is now best known for housing a bird hospital, established in 1929 based on the Jain words “live and let live”. Further west is the Gauri Shankar Hindu temple from 1761, the Central Baptist Church from 1814 and the Sikh temple Sikh Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, built in 1783 at the site where, among others, Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by the Mughals in 1675. The following can be seen the Sunehri Masjid from 1721 and the Fatehpuri Masjid from 1650.
Jantar Mantar is an observatory that was built in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur who was very interested in mathematics and astronomy. He had five of these astronomical centers built in different locations with the aim of predicting and calculating the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets. Apart from Delhi, Jantar Mantars were built in Jaipur, Mathura, Ujjain and Varanasi.
The observatory at Delhi consists of several structures built in red sandstone, some interesting old cast iron implements and also various stone instruments for making the desired measurements in the sky.
India Gate was built in memory of the fallen Indian soldiers in the First World War and in the Afghan wars. The arch is 42 meters high, and in it are inscribed the names of around 70,000 fallen in the First World War as well as a good 12,000 names of fallen in the Afghan war in 1919.
Under India Gate you can see a monument with four eternal flames. Since 1971, this site has been the official grave and memorial of India’s unknown fallen soldiers. The official name of the tomb is Amar Jawan Jyoti.
Edwin Lutyens was the British city architect for the construction, which lasted from 1921 to 1931. In terms of style, India Gate was, among other things, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was the Duke of Connaught who laid the foundation stone for India Gate, and he read the following from the British King’s words at that event: “On this spot, in the central vista of the Capital of India, there will stand a Memorial Archway, designed to keep in the thoughts of future generations the glorious sacrifice of the officers and men of the Indian Army who fought and fell.”
Opposite India Gate, you can see a smaller canopy pavilion in an associated building. Here originally stood a statue of King George V. The statue was moved to Coronation Park in the mid-1960s and can still be seen here.
Purana Quila is the old fort of New Delhi and it is the oldest structure in Delhi. It was started by the Great Mogul Humayun in the 1530s and continued by the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri, who defeated Humayun and ruled as the Great Mogul in the years 1540-1545. However, the entire structure was not completed by the time of Sher Shah’s death in 1545, and it was possibly completed by Sher’s son Islam Shah.
The fort, in its medieval version, was built on the site where the Pandava capital Indraprashtra is believed to have stood for centuries from B.C. However, the site on the river Yamuna is an ancient Hindu settlement where people have lived for about 5,000 years.
The large facility rises with 18 meter high walls, which have a length of 1.5 kilometres. There are three arched entrance gates that are impressive structures in their own right. The great gate, Bara Darwaza, lies to the west and is still in use. To the north is the Talaqi Darwaza and to the south is the Humayun Darwaza. East of the fort lies the river Yamuna. All the gates are two-story sandstone structures flanked by two large semicircular bastion towers that are decorated with white and colored marble inlays and blue tiles. They bear many details such as ornate overhanging balconies or jharokhas, and are topped by pillared pavilions; chhatris.
Among the buildings is the impressive Qila-i-Kuna mosque, built by Sher Shah in 1541. It was built in a particularly beautiful style that is a precursor to Mughal architecture. It was intended as a mosque for the sultan and his court. The dome and the five arches in the facade are characteristics of the mosque.
Another building is the Sher Mandal, which is an octagonal two-storied building. It also dates from the establishment of the fort in the 16th century, and it was here that Humayun looked at the starry sky as one of his hobbies. It was also here that Humayun fell down when he had to rush to prayer one day. He died two days later from his injuries.
The fort today stands beautifully on the banks of the Yamuna river as a partial ruin. In addition to the beautiful facility, you can experience a great sound and light show here, which depicts 5,000 years of history from Indraprashtra to New Delhi.
Humayun’s Mausoleum is a collection of buildings that stand as distinguished examples of early Mughal architecture. The mausoleum itself is thus an architectural precursor to the world-famous Taj Mahal in the city of Agra and the majority of subsequent Mughal buildings.
With the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent, Islamic architecture was introduced to the area. Where the traditional building style was characterized by architraves or main beams resting on capitals, the Muslims widely used arch constructions. That type of element is very clearly seen here at Humayun’s Mausoleum. At the same time, traditional elements from the Indian building style of the subcontinent were incorporated; this applies, for example, to the pendentives or triangular bearing elements that enable the construction of a dome on a square building part. Decorative balconies and not least the so-called chhatria are other examples, and they are seen here. Chhatris are the raised pavilions with domes that are particularly typical of Rajasthan.
The mausoleum was built by Emperor Humayun’s widow Haji Begum in the late 1560s, and the complex is today included on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. Since the burial of Humayun, more than 100 other tombs have been established in the mausoleum, which is surrounded by a large garden.
The grave monument is 47 meters high and a good 90 meters wide. The Great Dome is an example of a Persian dome type that was built on a cylindrical building body. At the top of the dome is a brass spire, which is crowned by a crescent moon.
The symmetrical and relatively simple exterior is replaced by greater complexity in the interior. Here, for example, there is a mihrab that traditionally faces Mecca. Instead of reproducing words from the Koran as usual, the mausoleum’s mihrab is established as an outline that lets light into the burial chamber from Mecca as a symbol of the Mughal emperor’s special status. Humayun’s cenotaph stands in lonely majesty in the main room of the mausoleum, while the actual tomb is in the basement below the room.
The high-ceilinged tomb where the cenotaph stands is surrounded by four octagonal chambers on two floors. These chambers are interconnected by arched passages and smaller chambers, suggesting that the building was originally intended as a dynastic mausoleum. The structure, with a total of eight side chambers, allows for movement around the tomb monument itself, which is a common practice in Sufism and can also be seen in many Mughal imperial mausoleums.
This structure also reflects the understanding of paradise in the Islamic worldview. Each of the most important chambers throughout the building is surrounded by eight smaller rooms, and the symmetrical ground plan thus consists of a total of 124 vaulted chambers. It is the memorial stone in a number of the smaller rooms commemorating members of the royal family other than Humayun. Among other things, there is a memorial stone for Humayun’s wife here.
Qutb Minar is a 72.5 meter high minaret that was built in richly ornamented sandstone and marble 1192-1368, and which today figures on UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage. With its impressive height, the Qutb Minar is one of India’s tallest minarets; its diameter varies from over 14 meters at the base to 2.7 meters at the top.
The construction was in charge of Qutb-ud-din Aibak. He was the first Sultan of Delhi, and the Qtub Minar was to be the symbol of the newly established Muslim rule in the city. The Qutb Minar was the first major Muslim building in New Delhi, and it became the inspiration for the later developed Indo-Islamic architectural style.
Qutb Minar was built on the ruins of Lal Kot, which was the city of the Tomar dynasty and the then last Hindu rulers. In addition to the minaret, Qutb Minar as a building complex consisted of 27 Jain temples, which were gradually demolished and used for the construction of various things during the time of the Sultans. You can still see ruins from the temples.
Since the original construction period, Qutb Minar has been renovated several times and also partially rebuilt; for example, lightning strikes have several times destroyed the top of the minaret. A pavilion was erected at the top of the Qutb Minar during the time of Firoz Shah, but this was taken down in 1848 and can now be seen in the park surrounding the structure.
At the Qutb Minar you can also see the first mosque built by the Muslim Sultans of Delhi. It is the Qubbat-ul-Islam mosque, which stands northeast of the tall minaret. At the mosque stands an interesting iron column that has attracted interest among scientists and archaeologists due to its rust-preventing material composition. The column is over seven meters high, with a good one meter below the ground, and it weighs around six tonnes.
The pillar has stood as a metallurgical landmark since about AD 400, when Chandragupta II Vikramaditya erected it as part of a Hindu temple. It remained standing as a monument in the Qutb Minar complex, where the mosque was built around the pillar.
The Secretariat Building is one of the beautiful and impressive complexes along the magnificent boulevard Rajpath. Despite the name, the building consists of several parts, which lie opposite each other on either side of the street. The Secretariat is home to parts of the Indian government administration and contains among the offices some of the country’s most important ministries as well as the offices of the Prime Minister.
Delhi became the capital of British India in 1911, and then Edwin Lutyens laid out a city plan, which he and Herbert Baker began to realize. Baker designed the Secretariat Building, which along with the Viceroy’s residence were the only ones to be built on Raisina Hill.
Architecturally, the two secretariat buildings are identical, and the style is classical with an elegant mix of elements from the Mughal and Rajasthani styles. The building materials are also local from Rajasthan. An example of this is the four small so-called chatrias that surround each of the central domes. Chatriers were erected separately to provide shade in the often strong sun. However, there is also a lot of inspiration from Herbert Baker’s performances from his many years in South Africa; not least the Union Buildings in Pretoria have many features that can be found in his work here in New Delhi.
In front of the buildings there are a total of four columns. These are the four Dominion Columns which were given from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They were set up in 1930 at a time when it was also planned that India should have the status of a British Dominion.
National Museum in New Delhi is India’s leading museum, and through the large collection you get a very fine insight into Indian culture and history. The mighty museum building itself was built in 1960.
You can see a distinguished collection of sculptures among the objects on display. There are more than 800 sculptures that were mainly made in stone, bronze or ceramics. The sculptures chronologically represent the period from approximately 300 BC. to the 19th century. Works from all the great and varied periods in India’s history are included in the exhibition.
The museum also has a large collection of Buddhist art dating back to the 4th century BC. Here are finds from both India and its Buddhist neighbors. Many other of the museum’s exhibitions are also worth a visit, including those with Indian handicrafts, jewellery, writings and coins. In short, the museum contains countless historical effects, and here there is something for everyone.
Raj Ghat is the place where the father of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi, was cremated after his death in 1948. From here, Gandhi’s ashes were scattered in the Yamuna River.
Ghat is the name of the places on the banks of India from where these ceremonies take place. They are best known from the city of Varanasi, but even before the assassination and subsequent cremation of Gandhi in 1948, the Raj Ghat was used in Delhi. There was a gate in the city wall that led to the area that is today a park.
The park is a beautiful facility that has been created as a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Opposite the Raj Ghat there is also a museum in his memory. The museum exhibits, among other things, effects, photographs and correspondence from Mahatma Gandhi.
There is a black marble platform out in the open at the place where Gandhi was cremated. An eternal flame also burns here, and a memorial monument to Gandhi has also been built at the platform.
In the Raj Ghat, there are several memorials to other important Indians who have been cremated here. This applies, among others, to the first Indian Prime Minister, Jawa-Harlal Nehru, Sanjay Gandhi and the Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, who was Nehru’s daughter, and his grandson Rajiv Gandhi. Each of these monuments has its own style and appearance and marks the locations from which the cremations took place.
Jama Mashid is India’s largest mosque. It was completed after six years of construction in 1656 and is literally a mighty example of the religious beliefs of the Mughals. Jama Masjid was built as Mughal Shah Jahan’s most significant mosque. Shah Jahan is also known for having built the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Red Fort in Delhi and several mosques in Lahore and Agra, among others.
The Jama Masjid in Delhi mosque was built on a raised foundation so that it was possible to see the beautiful structure from all sides. Like other Mughal buildings, the Jama Masjid was built in red sandstone. There is, however, a lot of white marble inlaid. An example is the pulpit, which was carved from a single piece of marble.
Jama Masjid’s dimensions are a ground plan of 80×27 meters with a front yard of 75×65 meters. There are entrances from the north, south and east, and on the steps leading up to the mosque there were originally stalls for various traders. The mosque’s three domes are decorated with black and white marble, and its two minarets measure 40 meters in height.
This is the most prominent temple for Sikhs in the Indian capital. Known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru Har Krishan, it was initially built in 1783 as a minor temple.
However, the temple building had existed since 1664, when it had been built as a bungalow for the regent Jai Singh. That same year, Har Krishan spent the night in the bungalow. It was during a time with both smallpox and cholera in the city, and Har Krishan himself became infected and died on 30 March 1664. Before then, he had distributed water from a spring in the garden of the house to the infected, and this protected Jai Singh thereafter. The water is still considered by Sikhs today to be healing, and it is found in quite a large holy pond.
The present temple mainly dates from the period after 1947, and there are several facilities in the complex such as a school and a gallery.
The ruins of Delhi’s fifth city hide under the name Feroz Shah Kotla. It was named Ferozabad after Sultan Feroz Shah Tughluq, who founded the place in 1354 as the new capital of the Delhi Sultanate. Ferozabad was a beautiful city with palaces, mosques and gardens, but most of the ruins were later used for other facilities.
The Kotla was the innermost part of the city, consisting of a citadel with various facilities such as a mosque, of which there are remains today. Kotla perished when the Mughals took over.
A visible feature of the site is one of the so-called Ashoka Pillars, which Feroz Shah Tughluq moved to Delhi from Punjab in 1356. The Ashoka Pillars date from the 2nd century BC, when they were erected around present-day India. The pillars were inscribed with edicts of King Ashoka and the inscription on this pillar describes the policies of King Devanampiya Piyadasi and it is an appeal to future generations of the kingdom regarding the virtuous life, moral precepts and certain freedoms. 19 of the pillars have survived to this day; however, some of the original inscriptions perished due to Muslim iconoclasm.
The Lodi gardens are a fantastic respite with an almost exalted calm and peace from the busy city that surrounds the area. The beautifully landscaped gardens date from 1936, and the name derives from the four building monuments the garden was built around. Until 1936, there were two villages in the area of the park, but these were moved to make room for the green facility. The park opened in the British era with the name Lady Willington Park and it was named after her who designed the park. Lady Willington was the wife of the British Governor General.
The buildings originate primarily from the Afghan Lodi dynasty, the last of New Delhi’s sultanates. The dynasty ruled parts of Northern India, Punjab and parts of present-day Pakistan in the period 1451-1526.
The five primary buildings in Lodi Gardens were erected for or by some of the Afghan rulers of this era; Mohammad Shah, Sikander Lodi, Sheesh Gumbad and Bara Gumbad. Mohammad Shar’s tombstone dates from 1444 and was erected by Ala-ud-din Alam Shah. It acted as a source of inspiration for the later Humayun’s Mausoleum. The architecture is characterized by an octagonal space with a central dome and typical pavilions with a raised dome on the roof, the so-called chhatria.
The 1494 Bara Gumbad is a beautiful entrance to the site’s mosque, built under Sikander Lodi with three domes and the classical arch style that brought Muslim Islamic architecture to the Indian subcontinent. Opposite the Bara Gumbad is the Sheesh Gumbad burial monument, only a few years newer, which was also built under Sikander Lodi.
Sikander Lodi’s tomb was built in a simple style in 1517 with a dome over an octagonal room and there are walls around the building. Sikander Lodi was the last regent of the Lodi dynasty, and he was defeated in 1526 by Babur, who with the victory laid the foundation for the Mughal era in Delhi and India.
The Athpula Bridge is also located in the Lodi Gardens. It dates from the 16th century and was built during the time of the Mughal Akbar. The bridge has seven arches under it and is particularly atmospheric in the lush surroundings.
The roundabout Connaught Place is New Delhi’s central square and is among the world’s most expensive office addresses. From the park in the middle of the square, eight radial streets emanate towards all parts of the Indian capital. Many different types of trees have been planted in the park, and there is also a fountain in the large facility.
The square is named after Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who was the seventh child of the British Queen Victoria and her consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It was built in the years 1929-1933 and is known both as Connaught Place and simply CP. The interior of the square has been formally renamed Rajiv Chowk after Rajiv Gandhi, while the outer ring is named Indira Chowk after Indira Gandhi. Before the facility, there was a rural environment here with, among other things, wild boar.
Surrounding the rather large and round square are a number of architecturally homogeneous buildings, which are in the Georgian style with inspiration from the Royal Crescent in Bath, England. While the Royal Crescent forms a semi-circle with three building floors, Connaught Place was built with two floors almost all the way around. The original plan was to connect the buildings with colonnades and build significantly higher, but the realization was the two floors with arches. The plan was to house shops and other commercial businesses on the ground floors and residences on the first floors.
Cannaught Place quickly developed into New Delhi’s entertainment hub. Several cinemas such as Regal and Odeon opened up, and they were followed by restaurants and other things. Close to this, the city’s first luxury hotel also opened. It was The Imperial (Janpath Lane) that opened its doors in 1931.
Safdarjung’s Mausoleum is a large and beautiful sepulchral monument built in sandstone and marble as the last great Mughal building in Delhi. The mighty structure with the characteristic marble dome was built in 1753-1754 under the emperor Muhammad Shah as a memorial to his Safdarjung, who had become vizier at Ahmad Shah Bahadur’s accession to the throne in 1748.
The vizier was the prime minister with the title of wazir ul-Mamalk-i-Hindustan, and Safdarjung had gradually used his possible powers to become the real head of the state. However, he overplayed his political cards and the Mughal emperor deposed Safdargjung in 1753, banishing him from Delhi. After his death the following year, Safdarjung’s son Nawab Shujaud Daula was given permission by Muhammad Shah to build the magnificent mausoleum.
The tomb monument was designed by an architect from Abyssinia and consists of several buildings and a garden around the central domed building. The main gate to the facility is the first thing that impresses. The two-storey gate building is beautifully decorated and contains, among other things, a library. Inside the gate you can see a mosque adorned with three domes.
Safdarjung’s Mausoleum itself sits at the end of a mirror pond and is a magnificent sight with its 28 meters to the top of the dome. Inside is a square room with Safdarjung’s cenotaph located in the middle, and below it is the burial chamber where Safdarjung and his wife are buried.
In the garden around the mausoleum there are canals and pavilions where Nawab Shujaud Daula’s family temporarily lived. There are three pavilions with the names Forest Palace/Jangli Mahal, Pearl Palace/Moti Mahal and King’s Favorite/Badshah Pasand.
This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lakshmi Narayan, who is an embodiment of Vishnu in the Hindu religion. Vishnu is one of Hinduism’s most important gods and is worshiped not least in his incarnations as Krishna and Rama. One of the legends about Vishnu is that he helped Gandhi to independence from British rule.
The temple was built in the years 1933-1939 and inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. In addition to the main temple, there are side temples dedicated to Shiva, Krishna and Buddha in the building complex. The temple was built on the initiative of industrialist and philanthropist Baldeo Das Birla and his son Jugal Kishore Birla.
Architecturally, the temple was built in the so-called Nagara style, and it is beautifully decorated with motifs from Hindu mythology. The Nagara style is from northern India and among its hallmarks are the rounded beehive-style shikaras. The central shikara of this temple reaches a height of 49 meters.
Delhi Junction, also known as Old Delhi Railway Station, opened in 1864 when the railway from Howrah in Calcutta opened. The current building opened in a fort-like style 1900-1903, and the inspiration then also came from the nearby Red Fort.
The railway station served as Delhi’s main railway station until the New Delhi Railway Station was opened in 1926. However, it remains one of the city’s major railway hubs, and there is a wonderful railway feel to the station.
Akshardham is a Hindu temple that opened in 2005. It was built as a temple, but is also a place where centuries of spiritual and architectural Indian culture are conveyed. The central part of the site is a 43 meter high and stylistically imposing temple building. It is richly decorated with carvings of flora and fauna, among other things, and it expresses a mixture of styles from different regions of India.
The facility also has a beautiful garden where you can enjoy, for example, a musical fountain that represents the cycle of life. There are also reflecting ponds and symmetrical side buildings, which provide a unified whole in terms of building.
The story of the faith and philosophy behind the impressive construction can be found on an experiential walking and sailing trip through various scenes and historical events in Indian history.
Coronation Park is a park north of central Delhi and has been the site of several royal events. It was here that the so-called Delhi Durbar was held in 1877, where the British Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. At the Delhi Durbar in 1903, King Edward VII was proclaimed Emperor, and this was repeated in 1911 with King George V. At the three ceremonies, it was only in 1911 that the monarch was actually present in Delhi, and this is particularly marked.
In the center of the park is the Coronation Memorial monument, a commemorative obelisk erected on the exact spot where King George V and Queen Mary sat during the Delhi Durbar. On that occasion it was announced that the capital was being shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
Opposite the obelisk itself, you can see another monument with a statue of King George V on top. The statue itself was moved here in the 1960s from its original position at India Gate in central New Delhi. The statue is 15 meters high, designed by the architect Edwin Lutyens and made of marble. In addition to those mentioned, Coronation Park has also become home to other statues from the British era; e.g. by various viceroys.
In 1877 and 1903, it was precisely the British viceroys who represented Great Britain at the lavish ceremonies. In 1877, the Viceroy Lord Lytton rode an ornate elephant in extravagant pomp and splendor before 70,000 attendees to display the grandeur of the Empire. In 1903, there were more than 100,000 spectators and participants in another piece of equipment of a ceremony. Here, too, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, rode on an elephant, and the King himself was further represented by his brother, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
Agra is one of the historic capitals in India and the seat of several of the country’s mogul emperors. In being so, Agra made its mark in the Indian history, and in present times tourists arrive in great numbers to enjoy the beautiful sight of world famous Taj Mahal.
Agra is a city which is almost a must for most travelers to India. Of course, this is due to Taj Mahal, which was built on the banks of the Yamuna River in Shah Jahan’s time. Shah Jahan was the mughal emperor who constructed the large marble mausoleum in love with his beloved Mumtaz Mahal who passed away during their marriage.
Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Jaipur was founded in 1727 by the Maharaja Jai Singh II, after whom the city is named. He moved his capital from the fortified mountain city of Amber to this place, which is beautifully surrounded by mountains on three sides.
In Jaipur you experience a charm and atmosphere from the India of earlier times. Jaipur’s old city is laid out according to Hindu thought, with the old city divided into nine separate parts. The entire glory is surrounded by a city wall with a total of seven city gates.
There are many sights in Jaipur, where you can experience, among other things, the Palace of the Winds/Hawa Mahal, which with its countless windows with canopies stands as Jaipur’s landmark. The palace was built in 1799 by Pratap Singh. One can also see Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar and Jaipur’s City Palace, which occupies more than one-seventh of the old walled city.
Amber is a fortified hill town that was the residence of the ruling Kachhawa clan. The city was the capital of Rajasthan for more than 700 years before Jai Singh founded Jaipur in 1731. The Amber Fort is a magnificent example of a blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture, and it is also possible to get there by riding an elephant.
One enters through the ring wall through the Surajpol main gate, which leads to Jaleb Chowk, the first palace courtyard where soldiers used to be received. From Jaleb Chowk, one can go to the Shila Devi Temple, which is known for its beautiful works in silver, including some lions.
Opposite the palace itself is the Diwan-I-Am audience hall and behind the Ganesh Gate is the Maharaja’s residence itself. Inside you can see an elegant interior with, among other things, elegant paintings, ornamentation, precious stones and many mirrors. There are also many other buildings in the large complex.
Chandigarh is a federal territory and capital of the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. At the same time, it is widely renowned for being a completely designed city by the ideas of architect Le Corbusier, and it provides a number of sights that are unique to both India and the rest of the world.
Chandigarh originated from Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of independent India’s capabilities following the independence from Britain in 1947. Chandigarh was founded and built from the 1950s, and it continues to evolve today based on the ideas from Swiss-French Le Corbusier design.
Vasant Kunj
Najafgarh Road, Rajouri Garden
Vasant Kunj
dlfemporio.com
Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj
dlfpromenade.com
Connaught Place
Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Shivaji Place
Chandni Chowk Road, Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place, Janpath
National Zoological Park
Mathura Road
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Nehru Planetarium
Teen Murti House
National Science Center
Bhairon Road
Shankar’s International Doll Museum
Museum Nehru House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
National Rail Museum
Chanakyapuri
Red Fort, Old Delhi
History has brought many different peoples, settlements and capitals to Delhi and the first time the area was inhabited was around 2800 BC. Here it is believed that the Pandavas built a large fort, which had both a defensive function and served as a habitation. The city of Pandavas is the legendary Indraprastha, though there are not enough archaeological finds to conclude much about the city. Thus, Indraprastha is not included in the so-called “cities of Delhi”, which is the list of actual cities in Delhi throughout history. However, according to Indian folklore, Indraprastha was a magnificent city in the epic kingdom of the Mahabharata, founded around the year 3500 BC.
In 736, what developed into modern Delhi was founded by Anangpal, the leader of the Tomar dynasty. His city was based on a large fort and bore the name Lal Kot, which was changed to Qila Rai Pithora in 1180, when the Chauhan kings from Ajmer conquered Lal Kot.
The area of the city had already been expanded under King Vigraharaja IV, who ruled in the mid-1100s, and that development was soon to continue.
From 1206, Delhi became a Sultanate during a dynasty of slaves. The first sultan was Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a former slave who first rose to the rank of general and then first governor and later sultan. Qutb-ud-din Aybak began as a monument to the conquest of Delhi Qutb Minar, which remains one of the Indian capital’s characteristic buildings.
During the time of the Sultanate, several of the districts that are now regarded as some of Delhi’s cities, “cities of Delhi”, were established. A few of these new cities were built around Siri by Alaud-Din Khalji around 1300 and by Ghiysud-Din Tughlug a few decades later. Among other things, you can still see the remains of the fifth city at Feroz Shah Kotla today. The city was founded as Ferozabad by Feroz Shah Tughluq in 1354.
In 1398, Uzbek Timur invaded India to secure, among other things, a more stringent regime led by Muslim sultans vis-à-vis the Hindu people. After a victorious advance, Timur Lang was able to ride into Delhi on December 18, 1398, and then plundered and destroyed his army, and countless prisoners of war were killed on that occasion.
The last Afghan Sultan was defeated by Zahiruddin Babur in 1526, and Babur established the dynasty and era of the Mughals. The Mughals ruled from Delhi, but also from the cities of Agra and Lahore.
Over the following decades, however, it came to an end to the rule of the moguls as Sher Shah Suri overcame Zahiruddin Babur’s son, Humayun, who fled to Persia. Sher Shah Suri founded the sixth city of Delhi with his fort Purana Qila. Sher Shah died in 1545 when his son Islam Shah came to rule northern India from Delhi. His reign lasted until 1553, and three years later it was the Hindu emperor Hemu who was crowned in Delhi. However, Hemu ruled less than a month before the moguls again seized power.
The third mogul was Akbar, who moved the capital to Agra, and that meant a decline in Delhi’s development in favor of the new residential and government city. However, some activity occurred during both Akbar and the successor Jehangir in the first decades of the 17th century, but it was not until Shah Jahan that the city’s development progressed towards the capital we know today.
In 1638, Shah Jahan moved the capital of India from Agra to his new seventh city in Delhi, Shahjahanabad, which remained the capital of the moguls until 1857 – and today is known by the name of Old Delhi. Shah Jahan’s first major building is located at the Red Fort, which served as the city’s fortified center, and from his time also lies the impressive Jama Masjid mosque.
From the end of the 1600s, the power of the moguls was weakened; primarily in favor of Hindu Maratha. Maratha forces plundered Delhi in 1737 after their victory in the First Battle of Delhi. Two years later, the numerically superior armies of the moguls lost to Nader Shah’s armies from Persia at the Battle of Karnal. After the defeat, the moguls had to see to it that their capital was plundered for immense wealth such as the peacock throne and diamonds Daria-i-Noor and Koh-i-Noor.
During this period, England was expanding its interests and possessions in India through the British East India Company. Calcutta was the center of the English and thereby the capital of English India. In 1803, English troops conquered the capital of the moguls, and India became part of the English colony empire and formally subjugated Calcutta.
The Moguls formally remained rulers in the city, and there was a relative calm until 1857, when an uprising against the English rule broke out. It was the end of the time of the moguls and India was now ruled from England and regionally from Calcutta.
The English decided in 1911 to move India’s capital from Calcutta to the capital of the moguls, and they founded the eighth city, New Delhi, south of Shah Jahan’s city. A number of large-scale English-imperial-style civil engineering works were initiated, with architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Barker not least making their mark through grand administrative buildings. New Delhi was officially inaugurated in 1931.
New Delhi is constructed as a representative city with wide boulevards, parks and large office buildings. This whole part of the capital’s total urban area is very European inspired and it differs from the other cities of India.
Since 1931 and especially after India’s independence in 1947, growth in New Delhi’s area and population has exploded. In addition to the country’s general population explosion, many migrants, primarily Hindus and Sikhs, came from areas that were located in East or West Pakistan. The large relocation to the city also created the foundation for the construction of a number of industries, and the city has also gradually become the financial center of the country. The increased number of tourists and foreign companies with interests in New Delhi has helped to create the cosmopolitan atmosphere that is experienced in several of the capital’s districts.
Today’s New Delhi stretches across the area for all the historic cities of the area. Skyscrapers stand side by side with ancient monuments, and the city has grown in every direction. The city has become a melting pot of historic buildings and peoples, and it provides a variation of the city that cannot be experienced in many other places in the world.
Delhi, India
Overview of Delhi
Delhi is capital of India and full of sights, activities and history with the many cities within the city. British New Delhi is just one of the many capitals that have been established as Indian residential cities over time. Ancient Delhi is one of the other examples and is in itself a magnificent city, which Shah Jahan founded as Shahjahanabad during the emperor’s reign. Several other cities can be seen as forts from the many eras that passed Delhi through times.
The life and mood of Delhi is at one and the same time both positively hectic and charmingly relaxed. In Chandni Chowk’s bazaar streets, you get a glimpse of colorful India through impressions for all senses, and in contrast there are parks, boulevards and major centuries-old buildings forming quaint oases in the big city.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
Contents: Tours in the city + tours in the surrounding area
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Author: Stig Albeck
Publisher: Vamados.com
Language: English
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The Secretariat Building is one of the beautiful and impressive complexes along the magnificent boulevard Rajpath. Despite the name, the building consists of several parts, which lie opposite each other on either side of the street. The Secretariat is home to parts of the Indian government administration and contains among the offices some of the country’s most important ministries as well as the offices of the Prime Minister.
Delhi became the capital of British India in 1911, and then Edwin Lutyens laid out a city plan, which he and Herbert Baker began to realize. Baker designed the Secretariat Building, which along with the Viceroy’s residence were the only ones to be built on Raisina Hill.
Architecturally, the two secretariat buildings are identical, and the style is classical with an elegant mix of elements from the Mughal and Rajasthani styles. The building materials are also local from Rajasthan. An example of this is the four small so-called chatrias that surround each of the central domes. Chatriers were erected separately to provide shade in the often strong sun. However, there is also a lot of inspiration from Herbert Baker’s performances from his many years in South Africa; not least the Union Buildings in Pretoria have many features that can be found in his work here in New Delhi.
In front of the buildings there are a total of four columns. These are the four Dominion Columns which were given from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They were set up in 1930 at a time when it was also planned that India should have the status of a British Dominion.
National Museum in New Delhi is India’s leading museum, and through the large collection you get a very fine insight into Indian culture and history. The mighty museum building itself was built in 1960.
You can see a distinguished collection of sculptures among the objects on display. There are more than 800 sculptures that were mainly made in stone, bronze or ceramics. The sculptures chronologically represent the period from approximately 300 BC. to the 19th century. Works from all the great and varied periods in India’s history are included in the exhibition.
The museum also has a large collection of Buddhist art dating back to the 4th century BC. Here are finds from both India and its Buddhist neighbors. Many other of the museum’s exhibitions are also worth a visit, including those with Indian handicrafts, jewellery, writings and coins. In short, the museum contains countless historical effects, and here there is something for everyone.
Raj Ghat is the place where the father of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi, was cremated after his death in 1948. From here, Gandhi’s ashes were scattered in the Yamuna River.
Ghat is the name of the places on the banks of India from where these ceremonies take place. They are best known from the city of Varanasi, but even before the assassination and subsequent cremation of Gandhi in 1948, the Raj Ghat was used in Delhi. There was a gate in the city wall that led to the area that is today a park.
The park is a beautiful facility that has been created as a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Opposite the Raj Ghat there is also a museum in his memory. The museum exhibits, among other things, effects, photographs and correspondence from Mahatma Gandhi.
There is a black marble platform out in the open at the place where Gandhi was cremated. An eternal flame also burns here, and a memorial monument to Gandhi has also been built at the platform.
In the Raj Ghat, there are several memorials to other important Indians who have been cremated here. This applies, among others, to the first Indian Prime Minister, Jawa-Harlal Nehru, Sanjay Gandhi and the Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, who was Nehru’s daughter, and his grandson Rajiv Gandhi. Each of these monuments has its own style and appearance and marks the locations from which the cremations took place.
Jama Mashid is India’s largest mosque. It was completed after six years of construction in 1656 and is literally a mighty example of the religious beliefs of the Mughals. Jama Masjid was built as Mughal Shah Jahan’s most significant mosque. Shah Jahan is also known for having built the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Red Fort in Delhi and several mosques in Lahore and Agra, among others.
The Jama Masjid in Delhi mosque was built on a raised foundation so that it was possible to see the beautiful structure from all sides. Like other Mughal buildings, the Jama Masjid was built in red sandstone. There is, however, a lot of white marble inlaid. An example is the pulpit, which was carved from a single piece of marble.
Jama Masjid’s dimensions are a ground plan of 80×27 meters with a front yard of 75×65 meters. There are entrances from the north, south and east, and on the steps leading up to the mosque there were originally stalls for various traders. The mosque’s three domes are decorated with black and white marble, and its two minarets measure 40 meters in height.
This is the most prominent temple for Sikhs in the Indian capital. Known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru Har Krishan, it was initially built in 1783 as a minor temple.
However, the temple building had existed since 1664, when it had been built as a bungalow for the regent Jai Singh. That same year, Har Krishan spent the night in the bungalow. It was during a time with both smallpox and cholera in the city, and Har Krishan himself became infected and died on 30 March 1664. Before then, he had distributed water from a spring in the garden of the house to the infected, and this protected Jai Singh thereafter. The water is still considered by Sikhs today to be healing, and it is found in quite a large holy pond.
The present temple mainly dates from the period after 1947, and there are several facilities in the complex such as a school and a gallery.
The ruins of Delhi’s fifth city hide under the name Feroz Shah Kotla. It was named Ferozabad after Sultan Feroz Shah Tughluq, who founded the place in 1354 as the new capital of the Delhi Sultanate. Ferozabad was a beautiful city with palaces, mosques and gardens, but most of the ruins were later used for other facilities.
The Kotla was the innermost part of the city, consisting of a citadel with various facilities such as a mosque, of which there are remains today. Kotla perished when the Mughals took over.
A visible feature of the site is one of the so-called Ashoka Pillars, which Feroz Shah Tughluq moved to Delhi from Punjab in 1356. The Ashoka Pillars date from the 2nd century BC, when they were erected around present-day India. The pillars were inscribed with edicts of King Ashoka and the inscription on this pillar describes the policies of King Devanampiya Piyadasi and it is an appeal to future generations of the kingdom regarding the virtuous life, moral precepts and certain freedoms. 19 of the pillars have survived to this day; however, some of the original inscriptions perished due to Muslim iconoclasm.
The Lodi gardens are a fantastic respite with an almost exalted calm and peace from the busy city that surrounds the area. The beautifully landscaped gardens date from 1936, and the name derives from the four building monuments the garden was built around. Until 1936, there were two villages in the area of the park, but these were moved to make room for the green facility. The park opened in the British era with the name Lady Willington Park and it was named after her who designed the park. Lady Willington was the wife of the British Governor General.
The buildings originate primarily from the Afghan Lodi dynasty, the last of New Delhi’s sultanates. The dynasty ruled parts of Northern India, Punjab and parts of present-day Pakistan in the period 1451-1526.
The five primary buildings in Lodi Gardens were erected for or by some of the Afghan rulers of this era; Mohammad Shah, Sikander Lodi, Sheesh Gumbad and Bara Gumbad. Mohammad Shar’s tombstone dates from 1444 and was erected by Ala-ud-din Alam Shah. It acted as a source of inspiration for the later Humayun’s Mausoleum. The architecture is characterized by an octagonal space with a central dome and typical pavilions with a raised dome on the roof, the so-called chhatria.
The 1494 Bara Gumbad is a beautiful entrance to the site’s mosque, built under Sikander Lodi with three domes and the classical arch style that brought Muslim Islamic architecture to the Indian subcontinent. Opposite the Bara Gumbad is the Sheesh Gumbad burial monument, only a few years newer, which was also built under Sikander Lodi.
Sikander Lodi’s tomb was built in a simple style in 1517 with a dome over an octagonal room and there are walls around the building. Sikander Lodi was the last regent of the Lodi dynasty, and he was defeated in 1526 by Babur, who with the victory laid the foundation for the Mughal era in Delhi and India.
The Athpula Bridge is also located in the Lodi Gardens. It dates from the 16th century and was built during the time of the Mughal Akbar. The bridge has seven arches under it and is particularly atmospheric in the lush surroundings.
The roundabout Connaught Place is New Delhi’s central square and is among the world’s most expensive office addresses. From the park in the middle of the square, eight radial streets emanate towards all parts of the Indian capital. Many different types of trees have been planted in the park, and there is also a fountain in the large facility.
The square is named after Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who was the seventh child of the British Queen Victoria and her consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It was built in the years 1929-1933 and is known both as Connaught Place and simply CP. The interior of the square has been formally renamed Rajiv Chowk after Rajiv Gandhi, while the outer ring is named Indira Chowk after Indira Gandhi. Before the facility, there was a rural environment here with, among other things, wild boar.
Surrounding the rather large and round square are a number of architecturally homogeneous buildings, which are in the Georgian style with inspiration from the Royal Crescent in Bath, England. While the Royal Crescent forms a semi-circle with three building floors, Connaught Place was built with two floors almost all the way around. The original plan was to connect the buildings with colonnades and build significantly higher, but the realization was the two floors with arches. The plan was to house shops and other commercial businesses on the ground floors and residences on the first floors.
Cannaught Place quickly developed into New Delhi’s entertainment hub. Several cinemas such as Regal and Odeon opened up, and they were followed by restaurants and other things. Close to this, the city’s first luxury hotel also opened. It was The Imperial (Janpath Lane) that opened its doors in 1931.
Safdarjung’s Mausoleum is a large and beautiful sepulchral monument built in sandstone and marble as the last great Mughal building in Delhi. The mighty structure with the characteristic marble dome was built in 1753-1754 under the emperor Muhammad Shah as a memorial to his Safdarjung, who had become vizier at Ahmad Shah Bahadur’s accession to the throne in 1748.
The vizier was the prime minister with the title of wazir ul-Mamalk-i-Hindustan, and Safdarjung had gradually used his possible powers to become the real head of the state. However, he overplayed his political cards and the Mughal emperor deposed Safdargjung in 1753, banishing him from Delhi. After his death the following year, Safdarjung’s son Nawab Shujaud Daula was given permission by Muhammad Shah to build the magnificent mausoleum.
The tomb monument was designed by an architect from Abyssinia and consists of several buildings and a garden around the central domed building. The main gate to the facility is the first thing that impresses. The two-storey gate building is beautifully decorated and contains, among other things, a library. Inside the gate you can see a mosque adorned with three domes.
Safdarjung’s Mausoleum itself sits at the end of a mirror pond and is a magnificent sight with its 28 meters to the top of the dome. Inside is a square room with Safdarjung’s cenotaph located in the middle, and below it is the burial chamber where Safdarjung and his wife are buried.
In the garden around the mausoleum there are canals and pavilions where Nawab Shujaud Daula’s family temporarily lived. There are three pavilions with the names Forest Palace/Jangli Mahal, Pearl Palace/Moti Mahal and King’s Favorite/Badshah Pasand.
This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lakshmi Narayan, who is an embodiment of Vishnu in the Hindu religion. Vishnu is one of Hinduism’s most important gods and is worshiped not least in his incarnations as Krishna and Rama. One of the legends about Vishnu is that he helped Gandhi to independence from British rule.
The temple was built in the years 1933-1939 and inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi. In addition to the main temple, there are side temples dedicated to Shiva, Krishna and Buddha in the building complex. The temple was built on the initiative of industrialist and philanthropist Baldeo Das Birla and his son Jugal Kishore Birla.
Architecturally, the temple was built in the so-called Nagara style, and it is beautifully decorated with motifs from Hindu mythology. The Nagara style is from northern India and among its hallmarks are the rounded beehive-style shikaras. The central shikara of this temple reaches a height of 49 meters.
Delhi Junction, also known as Old Delhi Railway Station, opened in 1864 when the railway from Howrah in Calcutta opened. The current building opened in a fort-like style 1900-1903, and the inspiration then also came from the nearby Red Fort.
The railway station served as Delhi’s main railway station until the New Delhi Railway Station was opened in 1926. However, it remains one of the city’s major railway hubs, and there is a wonderful railway feel to the station.
Akshardham is a Hindu temple that opened in 2005. It was built as a temple, but is also a place where centuries of spiritual and architectural Indian culture are conveyed. The central part of the site is a 43 meter high and stylistically imposing temple building. It is richly decorated with carvings of flora and fauna, among other things, and it expresses a mixture of styles from different regions of India.
The facility also has a beautiful garden where you can enjoy, for example, a musical fountain that represents the cycle of life. There are also reflecting ponds and symmetrical side buildings, which provide a unified whole in terms of building.
The story of the faith and philosophy behind the impressive construction can be found on an experiential walking and sailing trip through various scenes and historical events in Indian history.
Coronation Park is a park north of central Delhi and has been the site of several royal events. It was here that the so-called Delhi Durbar was held in 1877, where the British Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. At the Delhi Durbar in 1903, King Edward VII was proclaimed Emperor, and this was repeated in 1911 with King George V. At the three ceremonies, it was only in 1911 that the monarch was actually present in Delhi, and this is particularly marked.
In the center of the park is the Coronation Memorial monument, a commemorative obelisk erected on the exact spot where King George V and Queen Mary sat during the Delhi Durbar. On that occasion it was announced that the capital was being shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
Opposite the obelisk itself, you can see another monument with a statue of King George V on top. The statue itself was moved here in the 1960s from its original position at India Gate in central New Delhi. The statue is 15 meters high, designed by the architect Edwin Lutyens and made of marble. In addition to those mentioned, Coronation Park has also become home to other statues from the British era; e.g. by various viceroys.
In 1877 and 1903, it was precisely the British viceroys who represented Great Britain at the lavish ceremonies. In 1877, the Viceroy Lord Lytton rode an ornate elephant in extravagant pomp and splendor before 70,000 attendees to display the grandeur of the Empire. In 1903, there were more than 100,000 spectators and participants in another piece of equipment of a ceremony. Here, too, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, rode on an elephant, and the King himself was further represented by his brother, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn.
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