Not gonna be one of my favorite article, however the major attractions of my India’s capital city. Working out a vacation for our wedding anniversary wasnt easy this time due to personal reasons; however we agreed to explore something in India itself. I kind of kept this as surprise to my wife. After many considerations, I chose Kashmir as the destination. Visiting that north point gave me a definite transit time in New Delhi the capital. Taj Mahal flashed in my mind and made sure to insert a day for that. But visiting Taj Mahal is not that easy, which would require a careful planning that starts very early and ends past 10pm. Well, I cant afford travelling before or after that Taj Mahal tour, which asked for another day which I kept for local sightseeing in Delhi itself. This way, my trip lasted exactly a week from Saturday early morning to Late Friday night.
Here, in particular, gonna just talk about New Delhi and the Taj Mahal deserves another Article here totally.
One thing still I hard to believe is that 6 of the flights (in total) perfectly on time and had no delays. My alter ego which spent for a annual travel insurance sarcastically smiled at the end. I must go by the crowd and would definitely recommend GoAir flights which is most reliable next to Jet Airways and they got a huge network. Our early morning flight to Delhi from Chennai was on time and we found ourself snoozing a bit. Just 15 minutes short of 3 hours is the standard flight time and we landed bit early thanks to the clear weather. It was my first time to New Delhi. Air already smelled the weather’s intention to smoke us alive – Its just April and I didnt dare to think about May out there.
Caught a pre-paid taxi and my Hindi really wasnt helping. Surprisingly, my wife spoke decent and I left the job happily to her. I dont compete where I dont hold the ground. :-P. Plan was to stay 2 night in New delhi so that we use the first day to local sight seeing and the next for Taj Mahal tour in Agra. I wished to keep the stay near to the railway station so that the next day we could catch the agra train easily. That left us with the options of the hotels in Karol Bagh. It decent place I heard. After days of reading reviews in agoda, I ended up in getting Hostpitality Homes Bed & Breakfast which was rated very high. But it was not even closer to any of the 3 star hotels I stayed abroad – not to boast – just the fact. Finding this hotel was too much for the driver, I just called the hotel manager and gave the phone to him. Job done. Its located in a small lane and has a pathetic entrance but the rooms are okay and decent – looks recently renovated to look brand new – may the be reason behing good ratings. Hotel people were friendly.
There are many travel operators are nearby, one which shown by the Hotel manager was good and I just used them for hiring a car for rest of the day to visit local sightseeing places. After refreshing ourselves, we first went to Red Fort.
[cc_blockquote_left] Red Fort [/cc_blockquote_left]
Was on road for very little time and I realized that this part of the country has nice influence and left overs of Mughal culture everywhere. The same great Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal built this fort too; Started building by 1638 and lasted for 10 years. It was called Shahjahanabad those days and replaced agra as the capital for his empire. World’s biggest diamond called this place as home before looted. This fort is on the banks of Yamuna river. Like most of the Mughal palaces, this has Diwan-ee-aam and Diwani- Kaas and some private apartments. If I can say in simple words these kings are known for their luxurious lifestyle. Their buildings were sophisticated and air-
conditioned. Yes – thick walls were filled by water and the air-inflow was chilled the least I can quote. 🙂
[cc_blockquote_left] Tomb of Humayun [/cc_blockquote_left]
Full Name – Badshah Nasiruddin Muhammad Humayun. Just to rekindle our history knowledge, he is the son of Babur – the first Mughal emperor. Humayun is Akbar’s father. Humayung is recollected as very gentle and saint type person. This was built by Humayun’s wife Hamida Banu Begam in 1562 which is a UNESCO heritage now. Again this is also on the banks of Yamuna river. Babur the first Mughal emperor started the tradition of being burried in a garden and that continued for long. Most of their monuments are designed by Persian architects. Later it fusioned with rajastani architecture and other indian styles. I really marvelled at their talent for building these tall structures with heavy weight materials and the best part was they still exist and looks new and very pretty. Marbles were brought from many places and used here. Otherwise they worked with red stone. In Humayun’s tomb windows faces Mecca as per their practice. Actual graves lies below the earth not the ones we see. I heard someone saying thats to avoid someone crossing the path where people burried. These marble works called as Mihrab or Mirab. Their style is Octogonal so that the building looks same from any side. Persian style Char Bagh garden keeps the tomb at distance from the roads. This is one of the famous mausoleum in Delhi.
[cc_blockquote_left] Lotus Temple [/cc_blockquote_left]
This is a worship hall for any religion but commonly seen as bahai itself a religion. This building was inspired by lotus flower and generally called as Lotus temple for its design. Opened in 1986, this is a famous tourist spot than a temple of worship. For this Architecture, the architect Fariborz Shabha received many awards. One interesting fact is, this is the most visited building in the world, even surpassing Taj Mahal according to CNN. 😕
It was pretty hot and extremely crowded even at that time. We really wished that we skipped this place. It might looks good with the lights but I dont think it could look better with the crowd that gets. Also parking facilities are pathetic and we had to walk longer than we had to. And the shoe storage – let me not even talk about that. I got a sack of different shoes and I almost gaveup on my Timerland hiking shoes. Luckily I got them back. I just wished they allowed the sandels.
[cc_blockquote_left] Qutub Minar [/cc_blockquote_left]
Another deserving UNESCO World heritage site, which is 238 feet tall built by marbles and red stone. This is conceived by Qutub-din Aibak (1192- 1210). It claims to be tallest in the region. Well – this tower used the materials demolished from 27 Hindu and Jain temples and this has be scripted well in the entrance in persian. This cylinderical tower is not that beautiful on the first look but upon inspecting closer, am sure no one will have words. Carvings are very detailed and unique. It would have taken years even to do the smallest portion of the tower. It would be nice to have a good pair of binoculars to enjoy this site. For statistical facts, this is still 5 feet shorter than Taj Mahal.
[cc_blockquote_left] Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) [/cc_blockquote_left]
Called as Viceroy’s House in British period, largest house for the head of Govt in the world. From the road one is not allowed to park any car unless they are interested to answer the Army. President’s house is hardly visible from road because of the angle of the road which I learned later that I was not the only one felt that way but the governor generals of India too in British period. Two of the best architects different opinion is the reason behind this. ;-). Again a persian inspired building. Not bad for a 360 room building I guess.
Best part is, entering this road makes us to feel all of a sudden we are transported to a different world. Its that neat, clean, beautiful and huge in size. Very next to these building, many notable govt offices including Parliament is situated. These buildings face the India Gate which is also a major attraction. Its best to watch the sunset from this place. In February, Rashtrapati Bhavan Mughal Gardens is open for public.
[cc_blockquote_left] India Gate [/cc_blockquote_left]
The same architects behind the President’s house had the hand here and the outcome is the best and actually a war memorial for more than 90,000 dead during British period (inclusive of World War I).
[cc_blockquote_left] Lakshmi Narayan temple (Birla Mandir) [/cc_blockquote_left]
Built by RR Birla and inagurated by Mahatma Gandhi as the Birlas agreed to Gandhi’s quest that the access to the temple should not be restricted just to Hindus. This is in connaught place in New Delhi.
Akshardam is one of the things we missed. But heard it would take half a day to explore. Iskon temple, Gandhi’s Raj Ghat memorials are the other attractions that one should not miss – We missed. 😛
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