World City Guide

Key Attractions

Lal Quila (Red Fort)
The Red Fort’s massive curtain wall and battlements dominate the skyline of Old Delhi. Inside the bastions (built, like the nearby Jama Masjid, by Shah Jehan) are an array of exquisite 17th-century Mughal buildings, which provided the living quarters for the Emperor, his courtiers and family. The flawless balance and proportion of these buildings, as well as the intricate decoration, is wonderful to behold and in complete contrast to the military might of the fort itself. Sadly, the water conduits that would once have cooled the dwellings and gardens are now dry. The Lahore Gate, on the west side of the fort, was a potent symbol in the fight for Independence and is still regarded as a shrine of the Republic.

Entrance from Lahori Gate or Chatta Chowk
Opening hours: Tue-Sun dawn-dusk.
Admission charge.

Jama Masjid
Jama Masjid is India’s largest mosque and is one of the masterpieces of the Mughal’s greatest builder, Shah Jehan. A huge courtyard, bounded by an arcade and pierced with three gates, lies in front of the prayer hall, which achieves serenity and peace from the perfect harmony of its arches, domes and spaces. The courtyard, which can accommodate 25,000 worshippers, is dominated by two red-and-white-striped sandstone minarets, 70m (230ft) tall. The energetic visitors who climb the 122 narrow steps to the top will be rewarded with a magnificent view of Delhi, smog and all. Shorts and short-sleeved shirts are not permitted, but wraps can be borrowed.

Matya Mahal, Bho Jala
Tel: (011) 2326 8344.
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk; closed during prayer times.
Free admission for the mosque; there is a charge for the minaret.

Qutb Minar
The Qutb Minar is an immense tower, started at the end of the 12th century, to commemorate the Muslim conquest of Delhi. Standing 72.5m (238ft) tall, it is built of fluted red sandstone (now being restored) and decorated with calligraphy representing verses from the Koran. The top two levels are faced in white marble. The Minar rises above a site that is home to the oldest extant Islamic monuments in India. There is the Ala-i-Darwaza, complete with horseshoe-shaped arches, lotus-leaf squinches and elaborate geometric patterns. Next to that, stands the Quwwat-ul-Islam, the first mosque to be built in India. So anxious were the new rulers of Delhi to erect a mosque, they shamelessly pilfered 27 Hindu and Jain temples for building materials. Many of pillars that surround the courtyard are carved with Hindu iconography, which is curiously at odds with the Islamic calligraphy of the Muslim prayer screens. Incongruously, in the centre of the mosque, stands the fourth-century Iron Pillar, bearing inscriptions from the Gupta period. Beyond the mosque is the intricately carved Iltutmish's Tomb.

Qutb Minar complex
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission charge.

Rashtrapati Bhavan and Rajpath
Rajpath runs between the Secretariat Buildings and India Arch, the war memorial designed by Lutyens, in 1921. Rajpath is a formal conception, lined with trees, fountains and pools, intended by its architects, Lutyens and Baker, as the epicentre of British India. The Secretariat Buildings combine monumental classical and oriental detail and, while not beautiful, are certainly an imposing statement of colonial power. Rashtrapati Bhavan is an immense palace, supposedly larger than Versailles, which was built as the residence of the Viceroy and is now the official home of the President of India. Every Saturday morning (0935-1015), guards parade before the iron grille gates. While the apartments are private, the gardens are open to the public every year in February/March.

Rajpath
Website: www.presidentofindia.nic.in
Opening hours: By appointment; gardens open daily 0900-1600 (Feb-Mar).
Free admission.

National Museum
It takes a good few hours to get a decent overview of Indian culture at the National Museum, which is filled with exhibits covering over 5,000 years of history. Highlights include excavations from Indus Valley civilisation sites, carved pillars and statues from the Maryan empire (250BC), Gupta terracottas dating from AD400, sandstone figures from Pallava temples, stone and bronze Buddhist statues, Tibetan manuscripts, Naga models and masks, silk paintings from Central Asia, a gallery of 300 musical instruments, and Mughal clothing, tapestries, ornaments and weapons.

Janpath
Tel: (011) 2301 9272.
Website: www.nationalmuseumindia.org
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge.

Chandni Chowk
The bazaars that surround Chandni Chowk, in Old Delhi, offer a colourful, heaving and pungent slice of Delhi life, with shops and stalls displaying a spectacular array of goods, from fish and poultry to second-hand goods, gemstones and gold, garlands, turbans, tinsel and spare car parts. They are an unmissable part of any visit to the city. The covered Gadodial Market is the wholesale spice market with an incredible display of aniseed, turmeric, pomegranate, dried mangoes, ginger, saffron, reetha nuts, lotus seeds, pickles, sugars and chutneys. Chawris Bazaar is packed with shops specialising in copper and brass Buddhas, Vishnus and Krishnas.

Chandni Chowk
Website: www.chandnichowk.com
Opening hours: Daily, approximately 1000-1800; most shops closed on Sunday.
Free admission.

Humayun’s Tomb
Often seen merely as a forerunner of the Taj Mahal, Humayun's Tomb is, in its own right, a stunning example of the Mughal architectural style, combining dome, mausoleum and plinth in perfect proportion. The Tomb is set in a square garden designed along Persian lines, shaded and geometric, crisscrossed with waterways and paths. In the grounds, there are some other monuments, including the Tomb of Isa Khan. The gardens, in particular the watercourses and pools, have recently been magnificently restored, thanks to the generosity of the Aga Khan’s Trust, and now the visitor will get a vivid impression of what the Tomb and its gardens would have looked like in their pomp.

Lodhi Road and Mathura Road
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission charge.

Baha’i Temple
Otherwise known as the Lotus Temple, the modern Baha’i Temple has often been compared to the Sydney Opera House. Giant white petals of Rajasthani Macrana marble open out from nine pools and walkways in the shape of an unfolding lotus, symbolising the nine spiritual paths of the Baha’i faith. The crouched yet upright stance and upturned, opening petals hint at the human form in ecstatic prayer. The temple is approached through an attractive formal garden. Inside, the central hall rises to a height of over 30m (98ft), without the visible support of any columns. Visitors should take their shoes off before entering.

Kalkaji Hill
Tel: (011) 2647 0526.
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 0900-1900 (summer); Tue-Sun 0930-1730 (winter), closed Monday.
Free admission.

Purana Qila
Humayun’s 16th-century Delhi had at its centre the fortress of Purana Qila, which reputedly stands on the site of Indraprastha, the city of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Of the buildings that survive today, the Qila-i-Kuhna Masjid, a successful fusion of the Islamic and Hindu styles, was constructed by Sher Shah in 1541. The Sher Mandal is an octagonal observatory and library. The north gate, Talaqi-Darwaza, has been partially rebuilt and gives an impression of how formidable the fortifications would have been in their heyday. The chattri surmounting the west (entrance) gate commands a fine view of New Delhi. Purana Qila is undergoing restoration. There is a small museum just inside the south gate.

Mathura Road
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk (fortress); daily 0800-1830 (museum).
Admission charge.

National Gallery of Modern Art
The National Gallery of Modern Art contains a large collection of 20th-century Indian art. There are examples of the work of the painters of the Bengali Renaissance and of the poet and artist, Tagore. The highlight is the room devoted to the pictures Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941), whose portraits, more successful than her genre scenes, are painted with the confident bravura of the youthful Augustus John. The museum has embarked on an ambitious scheme of building, which will when complete, provide greatly increased gallery space for the collection. The museum is in Jaipur House (by any yardstick, a grandee’s townhouse) formerly the Delhi residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur.

Jaipur House, India Gate
Tel: (011) 2338 2835.
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge.

Tughluqabad
The immense and brutal fortifications of Tughluqabad are an impressive monument to the militarism of the Tughluqs, an antidote to any idea that the Delhi Sultans were merely effete builders of mosques and palaces. Nowadays, the only living things that visitors are likely to see at the vast, barren, sun-scorched site are goats, donkeys and the occasional archaeologist, although in the 14th century, the citadel, the third city of Delhi, was the Sultan’s capital. Below the walls is the forbidding tomb of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, the builder of Tughluqabad. It is approached from a causeway that crosses a lake, now dry. From the high point of the citadel there is a sweeping panorama of southern Delhi.

Tughluqabad
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Admission charge.