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Delhi - New Delhi - Delhi Tour |
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Information on Delhi |
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Delhi, a city that existed for about two thousand years is the modern cosmopolitan and capital city of India. It is one of the most famous
tourist destination, seat of the Parliament, the Supreme Court
and the President of India. It is one of the oldest and the
newest cities of the world with various startling contrasts. Various monuments built by the great Mughal emperors, museums, art galleries, bazaars and modern shopping areas
are situated in this city. The city boasts of tourism
infrastructure which is one of the best in Asia. This city is
one of the most oriental, a modern, green, political and
progressive city.
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Architecture of
Delhi - Old & New Delhi |
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The age of the Delhi
cannot be known today. But, some of the stone inscriptions,
Buddhist and Jain scriptures, earthenware and pottery found here
describes that it belongs to the 3,000 B C. There is also
difference in the opinion of the historians regarding the number
of cities built by different rulers over hundreds of years.
According to some people there were only 7 cities while as per
others there were only 15. But now, the ruins of only seven
cities are present. In the Mahabharata, the great epic, Delhi
was known as Indraprastha which was found by the Pandavas on the
banks of the Yamuna river. In the 11th century A D, Raja
Anangpal of Kanauj, established Lalkot as his capital inside the
present day Qutub Minar area. Historically, this was the first
city of Delhi and ruins of this city are still present.
Anangpal’s successors ruled from it for almost a century until
Vishaldeva, conquered it. In the end of the 12th century,
Mohammad Ghori came to Delhi and defeated Prithviraj Chauhan and
occupied Delhi. He did not make Delhi his home and left his new
kingdom in the hands of Allauddin Khilji. Lalkot was the
Khilji’s capital until he built a new capital after defeating
the invading Rajputs at Siri where he built his own capital in
1303. The city of Tughlaqabad, which took about four years to
built, was built by Ghyas-ud-din Tughlaq and was abandoned due
to scarcity of water. Due to this, his son Mohammad, built
another capital, Jahanpanah, quite close to the Qutab Minar.
Delhi's fifth city, Ferozabad was founded by Feroz Shah Tughlaq
in the Ferozshah Kotla area. Delhi’s sixty city was founded by
Emperor Humayun between 1533 and 1534 AD in the old Indraprastha
site, where the Purana Quila is situated. Later this city was
ruled by the Sher Shah Suri. Sher Shah Suri built a beautiful
hall and a mosque in the old Fort and the Grand Trunk Road. He
ruled from Delhi till 1555 until the Humayun recaptured it and
returned to power. Shahjahanabad also known as the Old Delhi,
was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan as Delhi’s seventh city
between 1638 and 1649. The main monument of the old Delhi is the
magnificent Red Fort, built of red sandstone and Jama Masjid and
the Chandni Chowk, the famous market of the Mughals. New Delhi,
the Delhi’s eighth city, was developed by the British in the
20th century. Sir Edward Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, the two
famous British architects were commissioned to design the new
capital. In 1911, the Britishers decided to move the capital to
a more central place and selected Delhi as the city was the
nation’s capital for several centuries. They designed the city
of New Delhi to reflect the power and glory of the British
Empire and Hindu, Muslim and European architecture with the
scope for expansion so that it can accommodate 70,000 people. In
1931, the New Delhi was formally inaugurated as the capital of
India. The main places
in the New Delhi are the Rajpath, India Gate, President House, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Secretariat buildings,
Old Fort and the Humayun Tomb. |
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Tourist Attraction in Delhi |
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The main tourist attraction in Delhi are
Red Fort, Qutub
Minar, Jama Masjid,
Humayun Tomb,
Lotus Temple, Lakshmi Narayan or Birla Temple,
India Gate and various Government Buildings in New Delhi area like Rajpath, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhawan, etc. The
Red Fort is built of red sandstone. It is the Delhi's most magnificent monument, which was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1648.
Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India, and stands across the road from the Red Fort.
"Qutub Minar" is 71 meter high and consists of five stories. In 1199 work began on this tower which was intended to be the most glorious tower of victory in the world. |
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Shopping
in Delhi |
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Delhi is a
shopper’s paradise and as such shopping here is an
unforgettable experience for the travelers. The shopping
in Delhi is very unique, as the visitor can visit the
modern air-conditioned stores and the traditional shops
where the artisan himself is often present to explain the
intricacies of the craft. The city of Delhi attracted the
craftsmen who created various masterpieces that would
assure them royal patronage. Now, as the Mughals have
gone, but the craftsmen have passed on their talent to the
further generations, making Delhi the show-window of
India’s craftsmanship. Delhi is the home of some of
India’s finest designers who blended the traditional
styles with the latest international trend to create
garments, sarees, jewellery, silk, brass, carpets and
pearls that find place in some of the most prestigious
stores in all over the world. The Central Cottage
industries emporium, the State Government emporium are the
famous shops for the Indian handicrafts. These
government-owned air-conditioned emporiums offers an
unbelievable variety of textiles, leather, jewellery,
carpets, ceramics and furniture at very reasonable prices.
Delhi’s gold and silversmiths are well known all over the
country and due to this an entire street in Old Delhi is
known as the Chandni Chowk or the ‘Silver Street’. Besides
gold and silver, Delhi offers a variety of precious gems
and various semi-precious stones like cornelian, garnets,
rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds. Besides
jewellery, the shoppers can also buy the fabric, trendy
readymade garments, antiques and rare objects like
miniatures and bronzes, wood carvings and unusual
household objects, footwear, furniture and furnishings,
carpets and durries, spices and tea and wide range of
fashion accessories. |
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How to get here |
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By Air:
New Delhi is well connected to major metropolitan cities of India like Bombay, Kolkata and Chennai. It is also well connected to other cities of India and abroad through regular flights of Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines.
By
Rail:
Various important trains daily run between New Delhi and other major cities.
By
Road:
New Delhi is well connected by road to the various parts of India. Regular bus service operates between Delhi and major cities like Jaipur, Agra and rest of the cities in India.
To know the distances
from Delhi
click
here.
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