World City Guide

Further Distractions

Lodhi Gardens
An oasis of shaded calm, the Lodhi Gardens are a welcome refuge from the heat and clamour of Delhi. The extensive gardens boast a fine collection of tropical shrubs and trees. There are also a number of monuments of the Lodhi Sultanate (1451-1526), including the Shish Gumbad, the Bara Gumbad and the Tomb of Mohammed Shah.

Lodhi Road, south-central New Delhi
Opening hours: Daily dawn-dusk.
Free admission.

National Rail Museum
The principal glory of the National Rail Museum is the open-air display of old steam locomotives and rolling stock. Particularly interesting are the ‘special’ carriages belonging to British and Indian grandees, such as the Gaekwar of Baroda’s Saloon, with its ornate gold and enamel ceiling.

Chanakyapuri
Tel: (011) 2688 0939.
Website: www.railmuseum.org
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 0930-1700 (Oct-Mar); 0930-1900 (Apr-Sep).
Admission charge.

Birla House
Birla House owes its historical resonance to the fact that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated there by a Hindu extremist on 30th January 1948 while attending an evening prayer meeting. The house is now a shrine to the Mahatma. The exact spot in the garden where he met his death is marked.

Akbar Road
Tel: (011) 2301 1480.
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 1000-1700, closed Monday.
Free admission.

Safdarjang’s Tomb
The finest extant example of a late Mughal garden tomb, Safdarjang’s Tomb was built by the Nawab of Avadh to commemorate his father. It may lack the perfect proportions and exhilarating simplicity of Humayun’s Tomb (which is 200 years older) but it is, in its own over-elaborate, almost blowsy way, a splendid building.

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