My Travel

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Jama Masjid : This striking mosque (camera Rs 150, Rs 20 minaret top) is the largest in India and the final architectural extravagance of Shah Jahan. Begun in 1644, it wasn't completed until 1658. The mosque has three gateways, four angle towers and two minarets standing 40 m high, and is constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble. The main entry point is Gate No 3.

The courtyard of the mosque can hold 25 000 people. From the top of the southern minaret one can get superb views of the city.

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India Gate is at the eastern end of Rajpath (Kingsway), while the western end is Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's house), which is flanked by the two secretarate buildings (North block & South block). These three buildings sit upon a small rise, known as Raisina hill.

India Gate, a 42 m high stone memorial arch, bears the names of around 90 000 Indian army soldiers who died in WWI, the northeast frontier operations of the same time and the 1919 Afghan fiasco.

The building at the end of Sansad Marg is Sansad Bhavan (Parliament House). The building is a circular, colonnaded structure 171 m in diameter.

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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).