India Gate Delhi

India Gate is the national monument of India. India Gate is an arch of 42 meters hight built in the memory of 90,000 soldiers who sacrificed their lives in 1st world war. It was memorial built in order to commemorate these soldiers. One can get a good sight of the Rashtrapati Bhavan from the base of the arch. This monument is beautiful and fascinates people. Its low base is made of the red stone of Bharatpur.It is the largest war memorials in India.

In the middle of the crossroad it is an "Arc-de-Triomphe" like Archway. It is situated in the heart of the capital city of India and it is easily accessible by the tourists. For local people it is a great relaxing place and it offers a variety of entertainment. It is also called as the 'All India War Memorial'. The planning of India gate was made by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Duke of Connaught
laid the foundation stone of the marvelous India Gate of Delhi.

Under the hood of now-vacant canopy a statue of King George V stood in front of the India Gate which was removed with the other statues in Coronation Park. After Independence it became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of Unknown Soldier known as the Amar Jawan Jyoti. There is a shrine which is black with a rifle placed in in its barrel and it is crested by the soldier's helmet. Since 1971 burning in a shrine beneath the arch that is under the arch of India Gate is the Amar Jawan Jyoti i.e the flame of the immortal warrior. Aamar Jawan is inscribed in each face of the cenotaph. The cenotaph has four corners four torches which are kept alive that was unveiled in 1931.

Viceroy, Lord Irwin dedicated this monument to the nation 10 years later. One of the memorial Amar Jwan Jyoti was added later on after India's Independence. It is the flame that burns under the arch day and night for the remembrance of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Indo-Pakistan War. Above the monument INDIA is inscribed on both the side. Lutyens was the person who designed and constructed India Gate.

13,516 names are engraved on the foundations and the arch and it forms a separate memory to the British and Indian soldiers who were killed on the North-West Frontier in the war of Afghan in 1919. The shallow domed bowl on the top was made with the intention to fill with the burning oil but is rarely done.

Whole day you can spend watching and viewing the performance of the monkey, riding camels and bubbles of the soap blown all over the lawn of India Gate. India Gate is crowded in the evening with the tourist and the walkers and vendors. One can taste the typical Indian fast food bhelpuri and fruit chaat.In India Gate the names of Param Veer Chakra Gallantry Award winners are also mentioned on India.

Lotus Temple Delhi

Lotus Temple is the major tourist attractions in New Delhi located in South Delhi at Mandir Marg. This is also called as the Bahai Temple. Its significance is that it is built in the shape of half-opened lotus flower. This is the place which is being visited by almost all religious faiths. It is
an ideal place for meditation. It has benn rightly named as the Lotus Temple as it in the lotus shape. It is constructed and made up of marble dolomite, sand and cement.

It is a architectural marvel of the Bahai faith. Its structure is the blend of both the modern and the traditional expertise of the engineers. The brainchild for the building this temple is a Canadian architect named Fariborz Sahba. For the planning, designing and implementing it took him 10 years. This temple encircled with the sparkling pools. In order to protect it from rust it is made up of steels. These shells have 6 to 8 centimeter thickness. It was inaugurated in the year 1986. There was a team of 800 technicians, engineers, workers brought to the completion of the construction of the Lotus temple.

For the general visit by the masses it is opened from 9:00 am to 7:00 in the evening in summer and from 9:30 morning till 5:30 in the evening during winter. It remains closed on Monday. By many of them it is termed as the Taj of modern India. It is surrounded by the landscape and garden and its a symbol of peace. It height is 40 m. There are 27 white petals springing from 9 pools. It is the symbol of spiritual path of the Bahais faith. It looks more divine in night. It is composed with the three ranks 9 petals all of them springing from the podium. The two ranks are curved in such a way that it is embracing the inner dome inside.It is located near Bahapur village and is a 7 th Bahais House of worship in the world.

Jantar Mantar Delhi

For the tourist prospective Jantar Mantar is one of the most popular and its structure is a masterpiece of the architecture of India which gives the scientific significance and acumen of ancient India. It is situated very close and it is nearby Parliament Street. It is also called as the Delhi Observatory. The maintenance of the Jantar Mantar is done and it is looked after by the Jaipur government as it was built in 1710 A.D. by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur. Jantar Mantar is constructed of bricks rubble that is plastered in lime.

Its structure and the infrastructure is made in such a way that it consisting of fourteen geometric devices which is used for the measurement of time checking out the behavior of the planet and forecasting whether changes and hlelpful to find extraterrestrial altitude. All these devices are having a fixed structure and is pointed to exact and in a specific direction. There is
an instrument called as the Samrat Jantar which is 90 feet high and it is shadow is spread in such a way that it shows the exact time of the day. A small domed structure called the Hindu Chatri helps to ascertained the weather changes or the onset of monsoon.

Its structure is made of constructed with the stone and marble having astronomical scale engraved on it. It got the status of national monuments in 1948. Historians, Architects and Scientists are always attracted towards this monuments. Maharaja Jai Singh studied the astronomy work from the Hindus, Muslims and from the European astronomy.

This Maharaja Jai Singh was an astronomer himself. The tables which were used by the Pundits was not appropriate and did not give the actual prediction of eclipses so he thought of finding exact means that could make the exact prediction of the measuring parameters. It was by his effort and his own inspiration that gave complete shape to such an instruments. Whatever observatories which was built by him gave exact calculations. He thought and wanted to be completely satisfied about the accuracy of the instruments and for that it took him almost seven years to built the whole structure before it was fully operational. Jantar Mantar was used to observe the movements of the sun moon and the stars.

There are some major instruments at Jantar Mantar:-
'Prince of Dials' The The Samrat Yantra is the Largest Device.
The tow circular buildings 'The Ram Yantra'.
The Jai Prakash.
North-West to the Samrat Yantra is The Misra Yantra.
Pillars situated on the southwest of Mishra Yantra is used to measure the longest and the shortest days of the year.

1)A huge sundial 'Prince of Dials' The Samrat Yantra is used to measure the accurate time of the day. It is also used to measure the declination of the sun which is seen by the structures shadow moving around the structure.

2)The Jai Prakash gives the position of the sun at the time of equinox. At the bottom of the structure there is a hole which is witnessed by the sunshine once in a year on 21st March which is called vernal equinox.

3)Ram Yantra one of the important structure consisting of two large buildings with open top forms a complete device. It is used to measure the altitude for measurement of the altitude of stars which is equal to the longitude and latitude on the earth.

4)The Prakash Yantra to the north-west is and instrument or the structure called Mishra Yantra consists of five instruments. The Pillars constructed on the southwest of Mishra Yantra is helpful to measure shortest day that is 21 December and the longest day 21 June of the year.

The entry of the amazing astronomical observatory is free and it is open to public from 10 am to 6 pm. It is situated adjacent to Connaught Place. Do not forget to get the glimpse of Jantar Mantar a beautiful creation of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur if you visit the capital city of India Delhi.

Qutub Minar Delhi

The construction of Qutub Minar was done by Qutb-ud-din Aibak in the 12th century inorder to celebrate the Mohammed Ghoris Victory over the Rajputs which was completed by his successors in 13 century. Its structure was built as a Minar or as a place of prayer.The word Qutub itself is known as the 'pole of justice'. This was made of the red stone and minar rises to 230 feet i.e. 42.5 meters and circular stairways of 379 steps that lead to a spectacular view of the city. This monuments diameter gradually tapers from 14.3 meters at the bottom to 2.7 meters at the top. This Qutub Minar has five stories separated by balconies. From the bottom till the third stories it is made of the red stone and the rest two stories are made up of marble and sand stone and this fourth and fifth story was restored by Firoz Shah Tughlaq in 1368. Its walls are in carved with the verses of Quran.

Qutab Minar is famous and among the tallest towers of the world. The history book describes that Minar was started by Prithviraj or his uncle Vigraharaja who got the victory and won Delhi from the Tomar Rajputs. The completion of this Minar was done in 1200 A.D. from that time the tall structure has been upright and is very much pretty and is helpful to keep an eye on Delhi like sentry.

Counting the stairs inside the Minar is always the wonderful experience and fun for the visitors as it has 378 steps and takes a long time and a good energy to reach to the top. To the left of the Minar you can see the Hauz Khaz and to its right is the walls of the Jahanpanah and Siri. Khilji and Tughlaq kings used to watch the wild Mongols when they threatened Delhi. Other monuments are also visible from this Qutub Minar. Humayun's Tomb, Purana Qila, Walls of Tughlaqabad, Jama Masjid and Firoz Shah Kotla.

It was also damaged due to the earthquakes and it was renovated by the rulers. Two top floors of the minar was damaged due to the earthquake which was repaired by Firoz Shah. In 1505 Sikandar Lodi did the renovation which have been damaged due to the earthquake. Again in 1794 it was Major Smith an engineer who repaired the affected parts of the huge Minar.The pavilion was removed by the Lord Hardinge in 1848.

Minar is not straight and erect as it used to be because because of the wear and tear of the of the past many years. Having a close glance gives you the idea that it is little bit tilted towards one side. It is looked by the authorities with eh great sincerity like the other monuments. It is listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site. This monument is one of the very good example of the Indo-Islamic Architecture.

Qutb-ud-din Aibak initially started to built the Qutub Minar in 1193 but it was not possible for thim to complete the basement Iltutmish his successor added three more stories in 1368 and the fifth storey was constructed by Firuz Shah Tughluq. The outer Iron Piller in bears an inscription in Sanskrit in script of Brahmi. It was very much clear that it was very very close to the sultanate's heart as lots and repeated efforts were made for keeping it in a perfect shape.

Red Fort of Delhi

Red-fort is made with the red sand stones along the river Yamuna. About 2.4km of the circumference is surrounded by a wall. Shah Jahan Built this fort. The two main entrances are the Delhi Gate and the Lahori Gate which is facing Chandni Chowk market. The Diwan-e-Aam, and Diwan-e-Khas of the fort where was a place where the king granted audience to important people respectively Adjacent to this is the Rang Mahal, for the ladies which was called as the water cooled apartment.The Red fort in Delhi was called as the Urdu - I- Mu'alla or the Qila - I- Mu'alla (the 'fort of exalted dignity') and this was called by the almighty emperor Shahjahan. Travel to this red sandstone monument that serves as the reminder of the Mughal Emperors. During the British colonial rule The fort came to be known as the 'Lal Qila'.

In Old Delhi, you might visit the ramparts of the Red Fort. Decision for the Construction of Red Fort was taken in 1639, when Shahjahan thought of taking and shifting his capital from Agra to New Delhi. The time span which took eight years, when Shahjahanabad was completed with the Red Fort-Qila-i-Mubarak New Delhi's seventh fort. It was the last fort built in New Delhi and it witnessed the splendor and the defeat and fall of the Mughals and British rule and there was a dawn of the Independence day.

Red Fort is one of the most magnificent place of the world. History of India is also very closely linked with this fort. Mughal ruler the last ruler Bhadur Shah Zafar was disposed off from here by the British bringing to the end of the three century long Mughal rule. First Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, who announced that the nation was free form colonial rule. The mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, who was ruling in Agra decided to shift to Delhi and laid the foundation of Red Fort in Delhi in 1618. For the purpose of its inauguration in 1647, main halls of the fort were draped in rich tapestry and it was covered with silk which was brought from china and velvet from Turkey. Its circumference is almost one and a half miles, the fort is an irregular octagon and is having two entrances, the Lahore and Delhi Gates.

The Red Fort construction began in the year 1639 during Shah Jahan's rule in Delhi. The structure was completed in the year 1648.In Yamuna river used to flow right next to the eastern edge of Red-Fort . People in those days used to enter the fort by crossing wooden drawbridges either on elephant back or horseback. Within the Red Fort the places of interest that deserved a special mention are the Chatta Chowk, Naubat Khana, Diwan-I-Khas, Diwan-I-Aam and the Rang Mahal which was especially made for the ladies of the royal families.

A special audience hall called Diwan-I-Khas where the Emperor used to meet his important guests. The most magnificent feature of the Diwan-I-Khas used to be the jewel studded Peacock Throne.

The river Yamuna changed its course and now it cannot be seen anymore from the fort. The Red Fort is an attractive place that offers diversity to its visitors. In the evening one can visit the light and sound show. Thought it is not interesting but it tells the history of the fort in an intriguing manner.