Delhi Tourism

The earliest known capital city of Indraprastha was founded by the Pandavas in c1450BC. Maya, the Danava architect built a splendid palace and court for them. Recent finds support the view that it was located in the Purana Qila area. Delhi has seen the rise and fall of many empires which have left behind a plethora of monuments that attest to the grandeur and glory of bygone ages. Traditionally, Delhi is said to be the site of Indraprastha, capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. A village called Indarpat existed in Delhi until the beginning of the 19th century.Excavations have unearthed sherds of the grey painted ware (ca. 1000 BC) that some archaeologists associate with the age of the Mahabharata, but no coherent settlement traces have been found. Some locate Indraprastha in the Purana-Qila area.

New Delhi, the capital of India, sprawled over the west bank of the river Yamuna is one of the fastest growing cities in India. It is surrounded on three sides by Haryana and to the east, across the river Yamuna by Uttar Pradesh. Historically, the city has long since been the foremost in political importance with successive dynasties choosing it as their seat of power, between the 13th and the 17th centuries. Remnants of the glorious past survive as important monuments in different parts of the city.

India Gate
Situated on the Rajpath in New Delhi, India Gate (originally called All India War Memorial) was built by Edwin Lutyens to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died in the World War I and the Afghan Wars. The names of the soldiers who died in the wars are inscribed on the walls. Burning under it since 1971 is the Amar Jawan Jyoti (eternal soldier's flame) which marks the Unknown Soldier's Tomb.

Chattarpur Mandir
The Chattarpur Mandir is a fine example which presents Delhi a place that not just contain beautiful monuments created by the Moghuls but also has some spectacular Hindu Temples to it's credit. Barely 4-km away from Qutb Minar stand the flamboyant and rich temples of Chattarpur. Made of shining white marble, these temples are very popular with the city's Hindus and the queues during Durga Puja have to be seen to be believed. The main temple dedicated to goddess Durga is built in South Indian style.

Qutab Minar
The foundation for the Qutab Minar and the monuments adjacent to it was laid by Qutb-al-din-Aibak, the Turk commander who ascended to the throne of Delhi in 1206. The complex was built on the remains of Lal Kot, an older Hindu city, 15km south of Delhi. In this way an older civilization literally provided the material for the new one. But notwithstanding the indigenous Indian workmanship, the Qutab Minar is, in fact, the last and the grandest of the Ghaznavid and Seljuqid funerary towers built in Afghanistan and Iran.

Lakshmi Narayan Temple
This temple was built over a six-year period (1933 - 1939) and was inaurgated by Mahatma Gandhi on the condition that people of all castes especially untouchables would be allowed in. It was built in the 20th century by the Birla family of industrialists known for its many other temples in India.

Parliament House
The seat of Indian Parliament is a marvelous piece of architecture designed by the famed architect Lutyens and constructed under the direct supervision of Sir Herbert Baker. Visitors are not allowed to loiter inside the building without special permission, for security reasons. For the foreign visitors permits are given only after they obtain an introductory letter from the respective embassy. Designed as a circular structure, the House is 171 meters in diameter and about one-third of a mile in circumference.The building encloses an area of six acres and has 12 gates, five of them distinguished with magnificent porches. Interior courtyards contain a number of larger-than-life-size statues of historic Indian political leaders.

Purana Quila
From the recent excavations near this fort, archaeological evidences such as pottery have been found which throws a new light on the existence of the city of Indraprastha at this place in Delhi, as mentioned in the great epic of Mahabharata. Sher Shah Suri built the fort and completed it in 1545.