The Indian capital is like an oriental fairy tale - motley, original, many-sided and mysterious, filled with aromas of oriental spices and spices, rickshaw screams, ringing of bracelets and rustling of sari silks on graceful oriental princesses. Once in India, travelers do not lack emotions and sensations, because there is always something to see. In Delhi, attractions are located at every turn, and the most famous of them consistently top the world ratings of tourist destinations.
Traveling around India is best during the dry season. In Delhi, most precipitation falls in the summer months, in winter it can be cold and foggy, but the first half of spring and autumn is the most comfortable time for walking and sightseeing.
TOP 10 attractions in Delhi
Red fort
The main citadel of the Mughal era was founded in 1639. It was then that Shah Jahan decided that Delhi would become the capital of the state. The fort was built for exactly 9 years. The architects took the description of paradise in the Koran as a model, and the citadel turned out to be worthy of kings.
The name of the fort was given by the red wall encircling the fortress along the perimeter. Its length is 2.5 km, and the height ranges from 16 to 33 m. The Delhi Red Fort was the first citadel structure built by the Great Mughals. The fortress has the shape of an irregular octagon, built of bricks with marble or terracotta facing. The combination of Hindu and Persian architectural elements creates a special unique style that was taken as a model for the construction of later structures for the Mughal dynasty.
Cathedral Mosque
The main mosque of the old part of the Indian capital was founded several years after the completion of the construction of the Red Fort. The initiator of its construction was the same Shah Jahan. The work took six years and cost over a million Indian rupees, which was a huge amount at the time.
The original name Jami Masjid is translated from Urdu as "the mosque commanding the presentation of the world." The structure amazes with the size and skill of the architects who built and finished it:
- About 5,000 people were employed in construction work every day for six years.
- The courtyard can simultaneously accommodate up to 25 thousand worshipers.
- The architectural ensemble of Jami Masjid includes two minarets, three domes and three gates, decorated with skillful stone carvings.
In the Cathedral Mosque of Delhi, there is a sacred relic for all professing Islam - a copy of the Koran, written on the skin of a deer skin.
Humayun's tomb
More like a palace, the mausoleum of Padishah Humayun in the heart of the old city appeared thanks to the widow of the Mughal ruler Hamida Banu Begum. The construction of Humayun's tomb took 8 years and was completed in 1570. The majestic building of pink sandstone is lined with ornamental patterns of white marble. The window grilles are made in the traditional Indian jali style. Arches and niches lend lightness to the structure, and the white dome crowning the mausoleum reminds the connoisseur of India the dome of the Taj Mahal: Humayun's tomb is considered the prototype of the most famous mausoleum in the east. But the model for the architects Said Mohammed and Mirak Giyatkhuddin, according to historians, was the buildings of the Teymurid era - the madrasah on Registan Square in Samarkand.
Ticket price: 5 USD.
Qutub Minar
The world record holder among brick minarets is the Qutub Minar in Delhi. You can look at the magnificent architectural monument, the construction of which took a century and a half, in the Mehrauli region.
Construction began with Qutb ud-Din Aibek, impressed by a 60-meter high Afghan minaret near the village of Jam, dating from the 12th century. He could not surpass the magnificent structure, and died, having built only the foundation. The work of the predecessor was continued by two more rulers, until in 1368 the last fifth tier was finally completed. The height of the structure reached 72.6 m and the goal of the organizer of the construction was achieved.
The Qutub-Minar minaret not only allowed calling believers to prayer, but also demonstrated the power of the Islamic religion. The diameter of its base is almost 15 m, and the tower looks very impressive. At the same time, the minaret is decorated with ornaments that are not too typical for Muslim temples. This is due to the fact that the stones of disassembled Hindu sanctuaries served as the material for the construction, and the unusual combination of styles gives the minaret a special value.
Iron column
Another unique landmark of Delhi is located on the territory of the Qutub Minar complex. Every day thousands of tourists come to look at the iron column, which has almost not corroded for 1600 years.
In 415 it was built as a monument to the deceased king Chantragutpa II. Initially, it was located in the temple of the city of Mathura, and in 1050 it was delivered to Delhi. The height of the pillar is 7 m, and the monument to the tsar weighs more than 6.5 tons.
The mystery of the Iron Column lies in the fact that for many centuries of its existence it has not undergone any corrosion. Scientists are trying to understand the reason for this phenomenon, and today there are several dozen versions and guesses as to why this is happening. The most fantastic are the participation of aliens and the meteoric origin of metal.
One way or another, but the special properties of the column did not go unnoticed by the pilgrims who flocked to the Qutub-Minar complex in thousands. Today the pillar is surrounded by a protective fence and can only be admired from a distance.
India gate
The monument in memory of the soldiers who died in the Anglo-Afghan wars and during the First World War, appeared in the capital of India in 1931. The British government initiated the construction of the India Gate, which became a landmark of Delhi, and Edwin Lachens was appointed the architect of the project. The largest representative of the architecture of British neoclassicism, shortly after completion of work, received an honorary position from the Royal Academy of Arts. He also owns the authorship of other structures in New Delhi.
More than 90 thousand names of Indian soldiers who died in battles and wars of different years are carved on the arch of red sandstone. Wreaths must be laid at the monument during public holidays and visits of foreign delegations. The Eternal Flame burns at the foot of the Gateway of India.
Presidential palace
The name of this architectural ensemble in the Indian capital sounds in Hindi as “Rashtrapati Bhavan”. The Presidential Palace was built at the beginning of the 20th century. designed by the architect who created the Gateway of India a decade later.
Several architectural styles are clearly visible in the appearance of the palace. Rashtrapati Bhavan occupies about 19 thousand square meters. m, its construction took at least 700 million bricks and 85 thousand cubic meters of processed stone. There are more than three hundred rooms in the residence of the Indian president. The dome over the central part of the building resembles the dome of the Pantheon in the capital of Italy.
Before the proclamation of India's independence, the residence was occupied by the Viceroy, and in 1950 the President of the country moved there.
Even a century after its construction, Rashtrapati Bhavan continues to be the largest residence on the planet for the first person of the state.
Lotus Temple
The main theme of the Bahá'í religion is the unity of all religions and of humanity. Its center is in Haifa, and the main Bahá'í temple was built in Delhi in 1986. It is called the Lotus Temple.
The huge building looks like a blooming flower. During the construction, marble was used, mined on Mount Pentelikon in Greece, from which many famous architectural structures were built since ancient times.
Interesting figures and facts that will help you imagine the grandeur of the building:
- Architect Fariborz Sahbu was inspired by the roof of the Sydney Opera House while working on the project.
- 27 "petals" faced with marble are combined into triplets. This defines the building's nine-sided shape.
- The height of the main hall is 40 m. It can accommodate 2500 people.
- The territory of the complex occupies more than 10 hectares. The main contribution to the purchase of the lot for the Lotus Temple was made by a Bahá'í devotee from southern India, who gave away all his savings.
Surprisingly, the number of tourists who visited this attraction in Delhi in other years exceeds the number of those wishing to see the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal.
Akshardham
A worthy participant in the Guinness Book of Records, the Akshardham temple complex impresses with its size not only adherents of the Hindu religion, but also everyone who decided to look at the sights of Delhi. The most grandiose on the planet, according to Guinness, a Hindu temple opened in 2005.
Akshardham was built by 7000 craftsmen over a five-year period. Builders came from several Indian states to carry out the work almost without interruption. Everything required about 500 million USD, which were collected by adherents of the Hindu religion around the world in the form of voluntary donations.
Akshardham is decorated with 20 thousand sculptural images, 234 columns and two dozen pyramidal towers symbolizing Mount Meru. There are 148 sculptures of elephants around the perimeter, and in the center of the hall there is a three-meter statue of the founder of the Swaminarayan religious movement in Hinduism.
Delhi National Museum
Opened in the middle of the twentieth century. The National Museum of the Indian capital initially had only 40 thousand exhibits. Today, the collection of rarities and values has increased by an order of magnitude, and by visiting the halls of the museum, you can look at temple sculptures and items of national clothing, learn how to put on saris and manually print fabrics, admire antique jewelry and learn to distinguish precious stones from ordinary ones.
In order to get a complete picture of the museum's collection, it is best to use the services of a professional guide. A detailed examination of the exposition will take several hours.
