My Travel

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Purana Qila (Old fort) : Has massive walls and three gateways and was the site of the Indraprastha. Afghan ruler, Sher shah, who briefly interrupted Mughal sovereginty by defeating Humayun, completed the fort during his reign (1538 - 45), before Humayun regained control of India. Rs 5, Friday off.

Entering from the south gate, one can see the small, octagonal, red sandstone tower, the Sher Mandal, later used by Humayun as a library. It was while descending the stairs of this tower in 1556 that he slipped and sustained injuries from which he later died. Just beyond it is the Qila i Kuhran Mosque, or the Mosque of Sher Shah.

There's a small archaeological museum just inside the main gate (Rs 2) and there are good views of Delhi from atop this gate.

National Zoological garden / Delho zoo is nearby, Rs 10, Friday off.

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Crafts museum : It has a collection of traditional stalls displaying various crafts such as textiles, woodwork and ceramics. There are craft demonstrations and an impressive village life complex.

There's a fantastic museum with several well kept galleries of old wooden animals, string puppets, masks, paintings, tribal objects and terracotta figures. On site is a high quality crafts shop. It is near Purana Qila at Pragati Maidan (Admission free, Monday closed, Time 10 to 5).

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Indira Gandhi Museum : The former residence of Indira Gandhi has converted into a museum (Admission free, Monday closed, Timing : 0930 to 1630 h). On show are some of her personal belongings, including the sari (with blood stains) she was wearing at the time of her assassination in 1984, as well as newspapaer clippings, letters and photos.

There is an enclosed pathway in the garden where Indira Gandhi walked moments before she was shot by two of her own Sikh bodyguards.

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Rail transport museum : It is a popular museum which houses around 30 vintage locomotives, some interesting old carriages and a toy train for a joy ride. Exhibits include an 1855 steam engine, still in working order, and various oodities such as the skull of an elephant that charged a train in 1894, and lost. Rs 10, Monday closed, Chanakyapuri.

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Jantar Mantar : The masonry observatory constructed in 1725 by Maharaja Jai Singh II. It has a huge sundial and other instruments to plot the course of heavenly bodies and predict eclipses.

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Bahai lotus temple : It is shaped like a unfurling white lotus, is especially spectacular at dusk when it's floodlit. Completed in 1986, the temple is set among pools and well tended gardens, and welcomes adherents of all faiths to pray or meditate silently according to their own religion. Principles inherent to the Bahai faith include elimination of prejudice and universal peace.

Inside photography is prohibited. Timing : 0930 to 1730 h, Monday closed, located at Kalkaji.

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Humayun's tomb : Built in the 16 th century by Haji Begum, Persian born senior wife of the second Mughal emperor, Humayun, this tomb is a superb example of early Mughal architecture (Rs 10, near Nizamuddin station). Elements in its design - a squat building with high arched entrances that let in light, topped by bulbous dome and surrounded by formal gardens - were to be refined over the years to eventually create the magnificence of Agra's Taj Mahal. Haji Begum is buried in the red and white sandstone and black and yellow marble tomb.

The octagonal tomb of Isa Khan (chief architect of Taj Mahal) is through a gate to the left of the entrance and is a fine example of Lodhi architecture.

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Nizamuddin's shrine : The tomb of Muslim Sufi saint Nizamuddin Chishti, who died in 1325, aged 92, is near Humayun's tomb at Nizamuddin. Other tombs include the later grave of Jahanara, the daughter of Shah Jahan, who stayed with her father in Agra's Red fort during his imprisonment by Aurangazeb. Amir Khusru, a renowned Urdu poet, also has his tomb here. On Fridays (2 to 8 pm) the shrine has qawwali (devotional singing).

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Shankar's International dolls museum : Boasting almost 6500 dolls from around 85 countries. Rs 10, Timing : 1000 to 1800 h, Monday closed, no photography.

Lakshmi Narayan temple (Birla Mandir) : The Orissan style temple was erected in 1938 by the rich industrialist BD Birla. The main temple is dedicated to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

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Qutb Minar : The imposing buildings in the Qutb Minar complex (Rs 10, Monday closed) date from the onset of Islamic rule in India and are fine examples of early Afghan architecture. The Qutb Minar itself is a soaring tower of victory that was started in 1193, immediately after the defeat of the last Hindu Kingdom in Delhi. It's 72.6 m high and tapers from a 15 m diameter base to just 2.5 m at the top.

Bus No 505 from Ajmeri gate of New Delhi station will take you to Qutb Minar at Rs 10.

The tower has five distinct stories, each marked by a projecting balcony. The first three stories are made of red sandstone, the 4 th and 5 th stories are of marble and sandstone. Although Qutb ud din began construction of the tower, he only got to the 1 st storey. His successors completed it and, in 1368, Firoz Shah rebuilt the top storeys and added a cupola. An earthquake brought the cupola down in 1803 and an Englishman replaced it with another in 1829. However, that dome was deemed inappropriate and was removed later.

Today, this impressively ornate tower has a slight tilt, but otherwise has worn the centuries remarkably well. It's no longer possible to climb the tower.

Quwwat ul Islam Masjid : At the foot of the Qutb Minar stands the first mosque to be built in India, the Might of Islam mosque. Qutb ud din began construction of the mosque in 1193, but it has had various additions and extensions over the centuries. The original mosque was built on the foundation of a Hindu temple, and an inscription over the west gate states that it was built with materials obtained from demolishing 27 idolatrous temples. Many of the elements in the mosque's construction indicate their Hindu or Jain origins.

Altamish, Qutb ud din's son in law, surrounded the original mosque with a cloistered court between 1210 and 1220. Ala ud din added a court to the east and the magnificent Alai Darwaza gateway in 1300.

Iron Pillar : The 7 m high pillar stands in the courtyard of the mosque and it has been here long before the mosque's construction. A six line Sanskrit inscription indicated that it was initially erected outside a Vishnu temple, possible in Bihar, and was raised in memory of Chadragupta II, who ruled from AD 375 to 413.

What the inscription does not tell is how it was made, for the iron in the pillar is of quite exceptional purity. Scientists have never discovered how the Iron, which has not rusted after 2000 years, could be cast using the technology of time.

It was said that if you can stand with your back to the pillar and encircle it with your arms your wish will be granted; however, the pillar is now protected by a fence.

Alai Minar : When Ala ud din made his additions to the mosque, he also conceived a far more ambitious construction programme. He would build a second tower of victory, exactly like the Qutb Minar, except of would be twice as high!. By the time of his death the tower has reached 27 m and no one was willing to continue the project. The incomplete tower stands to the north of the Qutb Minar and the mosque.

Ala ud din's Alai darwaza gateway is the main entrance to the whole complex. It waa built of red sandstone in 1310 and stands just southwest of the Qutb Minar. The tomb of Imam Zamin is beside the gateway, while the tomb of Altamish, who died in 1235, is by the northwestern corner of the mosque. The largely ruined madrasa of Ala ud din stands at the rear of the complex.