Local Attractions

INDIA GATE

“The India Gate (originally called the All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located astride the Rajpath, on the eastern edge of the ‘ceremonial axis’ of New Delhi, India, formerly called Kingsway. India Gate is a memorial to 70,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War.It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. In 1971, following the Bangladesh Liberation war, a small simple structure, consisting of a black marble plinth, with a reversed rifle, capped by a war helmet, bounded by four eternal flames, was built beneath the soaring Memorial Archway. This structure, called Amar Jawan Jyoti, or the Flame of the Immortal Soldier, since 1971 has served as India's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. India Gate is counted among the largest war memorials in India".

Address: Rajpath Marg, India Gate, New Delhi, Delhi 110001

QUTUB MINAR

The Qutub Minar is a minaret that forms a part of the Qutab complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India.Qutub Minar is a 73-metre (239.5 feet) tall tapering tower of five storeys, with a 14.3 metres (47 feet) base diameter, reducing to 2.7 metres (9 feet) at the peak.It contains a spiral staircase of 379 steps.Its design is thought to have been based on the Minaret of Jam, in western Afghanistan.
Qutab Minar was established along with Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque around 1192 by Qutab-ud-din Aibak, first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. The mosque complex is one of the earliest that survives in the Indian subcontinent.The minaret is named after Qutab-ud-din Aibak, or Qutabuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a Sufi saint.Its ground storey was built over the ruins of the Lal Kot, the citadel of Dhillika.Aibak's successor Iltutmish added three more storeys.The minar's topmost storey was damaged by lightning in 1369 and was rebuilt by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who added another storey. In 1505, an earthquake damaged Qutub Minar; it was repaired by Sikander Lodi. On 1 September 1803, a major earthquake caused serious damage. Major Robert Smith of the British Indian Army renovated the tower in 1828 and installed a pillared cupola over the fifth story, thus creating a sixth. The cupola was taken down in 1848, under instructions from The Viscount Hardinge, then Governor General of India. It was reinstalled at ground level to the east of Qutab Minar, where it remains. It is known as "Smith's Folly".

RED FORT

Red Fort is a historic fort in the city of Delhi in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1856. It is located in the center of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political center of the Mughal state and the setting for events critically impacting the region.Constructed in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital Shahjahanabad, the Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone and is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546.
Every year on the Independence day of India (15 August), the Prime Minister hoists the Indian "tricolour flag" at the main gate of the fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.

Address: Netaji Subhash Marg, Lal Qila, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, Delhi 110006

HUMAYUN'S TOMB

Red Fort is a historic fort in the city of Delhi in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1856. It is located in the center of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political center of the Mughal state and the setting for events critically impacting the region.Constructed in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital Shahjahanabad, the Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone and is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546.
Every year on the Independence day of India (15 August), the Prime Minister hoists the Indian "tricolour flag" at the main gate of the fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.

Address: Opposite Dargah Nizamuddin, Mathura Road, New Delhi, Delhi 110013

LOTUS TEMPLE

The Lotus Temple, located in Delhi, India, is a Bahá'í House of Worship that was dedicated in December 1986. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it has become a prominent attraction in the city.The building is composed of 27 free-standing marble-clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides,with nine doors opening onto a central hall with height of slightly over 40 metres and a capacity of 2,500 people.

Address: Lotus Temple Rd, Bahapur, Shambhu Dayal Bagh, Kalkaji, New Delhi, Delhi 110019

AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE

Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is a Hindu mandir, and a spiritual-cultural campus in New Delhi, India.Also referred to as Akshardham Temple or Swaminarayan Akshardham, the complex displays millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian culture, spirituality, and architecture.The temple, which attracts approximately 70 percent of all tourists who visit Delhi,[3][4] was officially opened on 6 November 2005 by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.It sits near the banks of the Yamuna adjacent to the 2010 Commonwealth Games village in eastern New Delhi.The temple, at the centre of the complex, was built according to the Vastu shastra and Pancharatra shastra.
The complex features an Abhisheka Mandap, Sahaj Anand water show, a thematic garden and three exhibitions namely Sahajanand Darshan (Hall of Values), Neelkanth Darshan (an IMAX film on the early life of Swaminarayan as the teenage yogi, Neelkanth), and Sanskruti Darshan (cultural boat ride). According to Swaminarayan Hinduism, the word Akshardham means the abode of almighty Lord Swaminarayan and believed by followers as a temporal home of God on earth.

JAMA MASJID

The Masjid-i Jahān-Numā (World-reflecting Mosque), commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India.
It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656 at a cost of 1 million rupees, and was inaugurated by an imam from Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan. The mosque was completed in 1656 AD with three great gates, four towers and two 40 m high minarets constructed of strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25,000 persons. There are three domes on the terrace which are flanked by the two minarets. On the floor, a total of 899 black borders are marked for worshippers. The architectural plan of Badshahi Masjid, built by Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb at Lahore, Pakistan, is similar to the Jama Masjid, Delhi.The mosque has been the site of two attacks, one in 2006 and another in 2010. During the first, two explosions occurred in the mosque, injuring thirteen people. In the second, two Taiwanese students were injured as two gunmen opened fire upon them.