Historical Sites in Delhi

AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE

Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is a Hindu temple, and a spiritual-cultural campus located in Delhi, India.  Also referred to as Akshardham Temple or Swaminarayan Akshardham, the complex displays millennia of traditional Hindu and Indian Culture, spirituality, and architecture. Inspired by Yogi Ji Maharaj and created by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, it was constructed by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).

The temple, which attracts approximately 70 percent of all tourists who visit Delhi, was officially opened on 6 November 2005 by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. The temple, at the centre of the complex, was built according to the Vastu Shastra and Pancharatra Shastra.

In Akshardham Delhi, similar to its predecessor Akshardham Gandhinagar Gujarat, the main shrine is the focal point and maintains the central position of the entire complex. There are various exhibition halls which provide information about the life and work of Swaminarayan. The designers of the complex have adopted contemporary modes of communication and technology to create the various exhibition halls.

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.

LOTUS TEMPLE

The Lotus Temple, located in Delhi, India, is a Bahá'í House of Worship that was dedicated in December 1986, costing $10 million. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it has become a prominent attraction in the city. Like all Bahai Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion or any other qualification. The structure is made up of pure white marble the architect Furiburz Sabha chose the lotus as the symbol common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. Adherents of any faith are free to visit the temple and pray or meditate.

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 a height of slightly over 40 metres and a capacity of 2,500 people. The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awards and has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles. A 2001 CNN report referred to it as the most visited building in the world.

HUMAYUN'S TOMB

Humayun's tomb (Maqbaera e Humayun) is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum (also known as Haji Begum), in 1569-70, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son, Sayyid Muhammad, Persian architects chosen by her. It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah Citadel, also known as Purana Qila (Old Fort), that Humayun founded in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale. The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is complete. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri's court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE.

The complex encompasses the main tomb of the Emperor Humayun, which houses the graves of Bega Begum herself, Hamida Begum, and also Dara Shikoh, great-great-grandson of Humayun and son of the later Emperor Shah Jahan, as well as numerous other subsequent Mughals, including Emperor Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi UL-Darjat, Rafi Ud-Daulat, Muhammad Kam Bakhsh and Alamgir II. It represented a leap in Mughal architecture, and together with its accomplished Charbagh garden, typical of Persian gardens, but never seen before in India, it set a precedent for subsequent Mughal architecture. It is seen as a clear departure from the fairly modest mausoleum of his father, the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, called Bagh-e Babur (Gardens of Babur) in Kabul (Afghanistan). Though the latter was the first Emperor to start the tradition of being buried in a paradise garden. Modelled on Gur-e Amir, the tomb of his ancestor and Asia's conqueror Timur in Samarkand, it created a precedent for future Mughal architecture of royal mausolea, which reached its zenith with the Taj Mahal, at Agra.

QUTUB MINAR

TheQutb Minar   is the tallest minaret in the world made up of bricks. The minaret 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 top of 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-Ud-Din-Aibak, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the Qutub Minar's first storey around 1192. In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in-law Shamsuddin iltutmish completed a further three storeys. In 1369, a lightning strike destroyed the top storey. Firoz Shah Tughlaq replaced the damaged storey, and added one more. Sher Shah Suri also added an entrance to this tower while he was ruling and Humayun was in exile.

The Minar is surrounded by several historically significant monuments of the Qutab complex, including Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque, which was built at the same time as the Minar, and the much older Iron Pillar of Delhi. The nearby pillared Cupola known as "Smith's Folly" is a remnant of the tower's 19th century restoration, which included an ill-advised attempt to add some more stories.

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 British Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. 13,300 servicemen's names, including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate. The India Gate, even though a war memorial, evokes the architectural style of the triumphal arch like the Arch of Constantine, outside the Colosseum in Rome, and is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

In 1972, 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 Jypti, 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.

The All-India War Memorial in New Delhi was designed by Edwin Lutyens, who was not only the main architect of New Delhi, but a leading designer of war memorials. He was a member of the IWGC, and one of Europe's foremost designers of war graves and memorials. He designed sixty-six war memorials in Europe, including the highly regarded Cenotaph, in London, in 1919, the first national war memorial erected after World War I, for which he was commissioned by David Lloyd George, the British prime minister. All-India War Memorial in New Delhi, like the Cenotaph, in London, is secular memorial, free of religious and "culturally-specific iconography such as crosses". Lutyens according to his biographer, Christopher Hussey, relied on "elemental Mode", a style of commemoration based on "universal architectural style free of religious ornamentation". The India Gate, which has been called a "creative reworking of the Arc de Triomphe " has a span of 30 feet, and lies on the eastern axial end of Kingsway, present day Rajpath, the central vista and main ceremonial procession route in New Delhi.

The 42-metre (138-foot)-tall India Gate, stands on a low base of red Bharatpur stone and rises in stages to a huge moulding. The shallow domed bowl at the top was intended to be filled with burning oil on anniversaries but this is rarely done. The India Gate hexagon complex, with a diameter of about 625 metres, covers approximately 306,000 m² in area. India gate bears an uncanny resemblance to Teli Ka Mandir situated in Gwalior fort.

The best time to visit India Gate is amid summers. Generally people prefer visiting the place after sunset or at night so as to view the illuminated India Gate and enjoying with the flock of locals at this time.

JANTAR MANTAR

Jantar Mantar is located in the modern city of New Delhi. It consists of 13 architectural astronomy instruments. The site is one of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1723 onwards, as he was given by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables. There is a plaque fixed on one of the structures in the Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi that was placed there in 1910 mistakenly dating the construction of the complex to the year 1710. Later research, though, suggests 1724 as the actual year of construction.

The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets. Some of these purposes nowadays would be classified as astronomy.

Completed in 1724, the Delhi Jantar Mantar had decayed considerably by 1867.The Ram yantra, The samrat Yantra, Jayprakash yantra and The mishra yantras are the distinct instruments of Jantar Mantar.

RAJGHAT

Raj Ghat is a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi, India. Originally it was the name of a historic Ghat of Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad). Close to it and east of Daryaganj was Raj Ghat Gate of the walled city, opening at Raj Ghat to the west bank of the Yamuna River. Later the memorial area was also called Raj ghat. It is a black marble platform that marks the spot of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation, Antyeshti (Antim Sanskar) on 30 January 1948, a day after his assassination. It is left open to the sky while an eternal flame burns at one end. Located on Delhi's Ring Road, officially known as Mahatma Gandhi Road, a stone footpath flanked by lawns leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial.

TEEN MURTI 

The Teen Murti Bhavan (Teen Murti House) is the former residence in New Delhi, India of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, who moved there after Mahatma Gandhi died. He stayed there for 16 years until his own death on May 27, 1964. It was designed by Robert Tor Russell, the British architect of Connaught Place and of the Eastern and Western Courts on Janpath during the British Raj. Teen Murti Bhavan was built in 1930 as part of the new imperial capital of India, New Delhi as the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army.

Today, Teen Murti houses various institutions including the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), which runs under the Indian Ministry of Culture, and has Dr. Karan Singh as the chairman of its executive council. The complex also houses the offices of the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund', established in 1964 under the chairmanship of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, then President of India. Teen Murti Bhavan also contains a number of mementos from various nations including England, Nepal, Somalia, China, etc. Each memento represents a notable resource of each nation. The foundation also awards the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fellowship', established in 1968.

Also contained within the complex is the ‘Centre for Contemporary Studies’ and the Nehru Planetarium which opened in 1984.

ISKCON TEMPLE

Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Mandir, generally known as the ISKCON temple, is a well known Vaishnav temple of Lord Krishna and Radharani in the form of Radha Parthasarathi. Opened in 1998, it is located at Hare Krishna Hills (near Nehru Place), in the East of Kailash area of New Delhi, India.

ISKCON Temple designed and built by Achyut Kanvinde who in 1993 agreed to accept a pro-bono commission to build this temple complex for the followers of Srila Prabhupada, is one of the largest temple complexes in India. It comprises numerous rooms for priests and for service renders. It has many halls that are used for its administration purposes and various seminars. It is divided into four broad sections.

GURUDWARA BANGLA SAHIB 

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is one of the most prominent Sikh gurdwara, or Sikh house of worship, in Delhi, India and known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru har Krishan, as well as the pool inside its complex, known as the "Sarovar." It was first built as a small shrine by Sikh General Sardar Bhagel Singh in 1783, who supervised the construction of nine Sikh shrines in Delhi in the same year, during the reign of Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II.

It is situated near Connaught Place, New Delhi on Baba Kharak Singh Marg and it is instantly recognisable by its golden dome and tall flagpole, Nishan Sahib.Located next to it is the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

The grounds include the Gurudwara, a kitchen, a large (holy) pond, a school and an art gallery. As with all Sikh Gurudwaras, the concept o langer is practiced, and all people, regardless of race or religion may eat in the Gurdwara kitchen (langar hall). The Langar (food) is prepared by gursikhs who work there and also by volunteers who like to help out. At the Gurdwara, visitors are requested to cover their hair and not to wear shoes. Assistance to foreigners and visitors with Guides, head scarves, and shoe-minding service can be found inside the compound and are available free of charge. Anyone can volunteer to help keep the shoes in the shoe-minding room, and cleaning the precincts of the Gurudwara.

Gurdwara Bangla Sahib was originally a bungalow belonging to Raja Jai Singh, an Indian ruler in the seventeenth century, and was known as Jaisinghpura Palace, in Jaisingh Pura, an historic neighbourhood demolished to make way for the Connaught Place, shopping district.

The eighth Sikh Guru, Guru har Krishan resided here during his stay in Delhi in 1664. During that time, there was a smallpox and cholera epidemic, and Guru Har Krishan helped the suffering by giving aid and fresh water from the well at this house. Soon he too contracted the illness and eventually died on 30 March 1664. A small tank was later constructed by Raja Jai Singh over the well; its water is now revered as having healing properties and is taken by Sikhs throughout the world back to their homes.

The Gurdwara and its Sarovar are now a place of great reverence for Sikhs, and a place for special congregation on birth anniversary of Guru Har krishan.

JAMA MASJID

Jama Masjid 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 metres high minarets constructed with strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25,000 people. There are three domes on the terrace which are surrounded 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.

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the Jama Masjid between 1644 and 1656. It was constructed by more than 5000 workers. It was originally called Masjid-i-Jahan Numa, meaning 'mosque commanding view of the world'. The construction was done under the supervision of Saadullah Khan, wazir (or prime minister) during Shah Jahan's reign. The cost of the construction at the time was one million Rupees. Shah Jahan also built the Taj Mahal, at Agra and the Red Fort in New Delhi, which stands opposite the Jama Masjid. The Jama Masjid was completed in 1656 AD (1066 AH). The mosque was inaugurated by an Imam Bukhari, a mullah from Bukhara, Uzbekistan, on 23 July 1656, on the invitation from Shah Jahan. About 25,000 people can pray in the courtyard at a time and it is sometimes regarded as India's largest mosque. The mosque is commonly called "Jama" which means Friday.

After the British victory in Revolt of 1857, they confiscated the mosque and stationed their soldiers here. They also wanted to destroy the mosque to punish the people of the city. But due to opposition faced, the demolition was not done.

The iconic mosque is one of the last monuments built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. After the construction of the monument in 1656, it remained the royal mosque of the emperors until the end of the Mughal period.