Archive for the ‘Delhi’ Category
May 12th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Location: Near Gole Market,
Mandir Marg, Connaught Place
Nearest Metro Station: RK
Ashram Marg
Timings: 6am to 10pm (best to
visit during morning and evening
aarti)
Entry: Free
Days Closed: None
Photography: Not allowed in
prayer hall
Laxmi Narayan Temple, also known as Birla Mandir, is one of Delhi’s major temples and a major tourist attraction. Built by the industrialst G.D. Birla in 1938, this beautiful temple is located in the west of Connaught Place.
The temple is dedicated to Laxmi (the goddess of prosperity) and Narayana (The preserver). The temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi on the condition that people of all castes will be allowed to enter the temple.
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Day 1 Arrival
Arrival in Delhi, meet our representative at the airport and transfer to hotel. Night stay in Delhi.
Day 2 Delhi
After breakfast proceed for sightseeing tour of Old & New Delhi. A sight-seeing tour of Old Delhi would list visiting the Raj Ghat – the memorial site where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated; Jama Masjid – the largest mosque in India. A detailed sight-seeing tour of New Delhi would include a visit to the Humayun’s Tomb, the Qutub Minar, a drive along the ceremonial avenue – Rajpath, past the majestic India Gate, Parliament House, the President’s Residence and would end with a drive through the Diplomatic Enclave. Night stay in Delhi.
Day 3 Delhi – Agra
After breakfast, morning drive to Agra, on arrival transfer to hotel. Later proceed for city sight seeing tour visiting the world famous Taj Mahal, built by the Mughal Emperor Shahjehan in 1630 for his queen Mumtaz Mahal to enshrine her mortal remains. Also visit Agra Fort, containing the Pearl Mosque – the rusty and majestic red- sandstone fort of Agra stands on the banks of the river Yamuna and the construction was started by Emperor Akbar in 1566. At the Diwan-I-Khas (hall of private audience) where marble pavilions with floral inlays lend an ethereal ambiance, the Emperor sat on his gem-studded peacock Throne and met foreign ambassadors and rulers of friendly kingdoms. Also visit Itmad-up-Dau’s tomb, built by Noorjehan in memory of her father. Night stay in Agra.
Day 4 Agra – Jaipur
Check out the hotel and proceed to Jaipur enroute visiting Fatehpur Sikri, built by Emperor Akbar in 1569 to commemorate the birth of his son and later abandoned due to scarcity of water. Visit the remains, it fortifications within the city including Jama Masjid, Tomb of Salim Chisti, Panch Mahal and other palaces. On arrival transfer to hotel. Night stay in Jaipur.
Day 5 Jaipur
After meal in the hotel, start the day with excursion to Amber Fort. Elephant ride ascent to the fort. Amber is the classic romantic Rajasthani fort palace. Its construction was started by Man Singh I in 1592, and completed by his descendant Jai Singh I. Its forbidding exterior belies an inner paradise where a beautiful fusion of Mughal and Hindu styles finds it’s ultimate expression. Continue sight-seeing. Next we move to City Palace- a delightful blend of Mughal and traditional Rajasthani architecture, the City Palace sprawls over one-seventh of the area in the walled city. It houses the Chandra Mahal, Shri Govind Dev Temple and the City Palace Museum. Jantar Mantar is the largest and the best preserved of the five observatories built by Jai Singh II in different parts of the country. This observatory consisting of ancient astronomical instruments is still in use. Hawa Mahal is a prominent landmark in Jaipur. The five-storey structures of sandstone plastered pink encrusted with fine trellis work and elaborate balconies. The palace has 953 niches and windows. Built in 1799 by Pratap Singh, the Mahal was a royal grandstand for the palace women. Night stay in Jaipur.
Day 6 Jaipur – Udaipur
Morning drive to Udaipur- an oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan enroute visiting Pushkar. Pushkar boasts temples, though few are as ancient as you might expect at such an important pilgrimage site, since many were deserted by Aurangzeb and subsequently rebuilt. The most famous is the Brahma Temple, said to be one of the few temples in the world dedicated to this deity. It’s marked by red spire, and over the entrance gateway is the hans, or goose symbol, of Brahma, who is said to have personally chosen Pushkar as its site. Arrive Udaipur and transfer to hotel. Night stay in Udaipur.
Day 7 Udaipur
After breakfast in the hotel, morning city sight seeing tour of Udaipur. The city is built in 1559 A.D. by Maharaja Udai Singh and has been described as the most romantic spot on the continent of India by Col. James Todd. Visit the City Palace museum, the Jagdish temple, Sahelion Ki Bari ( Queen’s resort for their friends) Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandir ( Folk art museum) and the Pratap Memorial. Rest of the day at leisure. Night stay in Udaipur.
Day 8 Udaipur – Jodhpur
After breakfast drive to Jodhpur. On arrival transfer to hotel. Night stay in Jodhpur.
Day 9 Jodhpur
After a relaxed breakfast proceed for city sight seeing tour of Jodhpur. Jodhpur – the stronghold of the fierce Rathore clan, was founded in 1459 by Prince Jodha. Visit the Mehrangarh Fort, situated on a low sandstone hill. Within the fort, visit Moti Mahal and Phool Mahal. Also visit Jaswant Thada, an imposing marble cenotaph, built in memory of Maharaja Jaswant singh II around 1899 and Umaid Public gardens. Night stay in Jodhpur.
Day 10 Jodhpur – Jaisalmer
Morning drive to Jaisalmer, on arrival transfer to hotel. Evening at leisure. Night stay in Jaisalmer.
Day 11 Jaisalmer
Morning city sightseeing tour of Jaisalmer. Throbbing in the heart of the Thar, the burnished sandstone, is an intricately molded wonderland in place of a barren land, today stands a city of gilded magic. The origins of Jaisalmer go back to the 12th century, when Rawal Jaisal abandoned his old fort at Ludarwa and laid the foundation of a new city. Visit the magnificent fort, the Patwon Ki Haveli and Salim Singh Ki Haveli, with their carved balconies and brackets which are supreme examples of the art. Evening camel ride to visit sand Dunes. Night stay in Jaisalmer.
Day 12 Jaisalmer – Bikaner
After food, drive to Bikaner. On arrival transfer to the hotel. Later city sight seeing tour. Bikaner is named after its founder Rao Bikaji in 1488. But long before this, the city was trade center on the caravan routes from Africa and West Asia. Bikaner’s dominant features are rippling sands and abundant sunshine. The city stands on an elevation, enclosed by a 7 Kms wall, which can be entered from 5 gate. Bikaner City is bolstered by imposing walls and has a 16th century fort housing old palaces, temples and mosque. Founded by Raja Rai Singh the fort is distinguished by its long range of 37 pavilions, a line of balconies and aerial windows of varying designs. Also visit Lallgarh Palace, the museum, Bhanda Sagar Jain and Deshnoke Rat temple. Night stay in Bikaner.
Day 13 Bikaner – Mandawa
Morning drive to Mandawa, on arrival transfer to the hotel. Later visit Mandawa, founded 1755 by Thakur Nawal Singh and still the home of his descendants, has beautiful frescoes, havelis and mansions. Mandawa castle one of the finest castles of Rajasthan, is now a hotel and house of collection of armories, costumes of ancestors, canons from 1820 ancient coins, numismatic collection and many other interesting items, preserved in a museum. Night stay in Mandawa.
Day 14 Mandawa – Delhi
Departure Morning drive to Delhi and transfer to airport for onward journey.
The Jantar Mantar was built in 1710 by Raja Jai Singh II of Jaipur (1699-1743) in Delhi. This is an observatory consisting of mason-built astronomical instruments to chart the course of the heavens. Jai Singh, who was a very scholarly king with a very keen interest in astronomy and astrology, had other observatories built too – in Ujjain, Jaipur, Mathura (which no longer survives) and Varanasi.
The first among these was this one in Delhi. The yantras (instruments, which has been distorted to Jantar) are built of brick rubble and plastered with lime. The yantras have evocative names like, samrat yantra, jai prakash, ram yantra and niyati chakra; each of which are used to for various astronomical calculations.
It seems that even when he was far from being a king Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq had dreamed of raising his city, Tughlaqabad. Earlier, Ghiyas-ud-din had been a general (he rose to being the governor of an important province like Punjab, but that’s another story) in Ala-ud-din Khalji’s army. Once while on the road with Ala-ud-din, Ghiyas-ud-din, on spotting this area, mentioned to the sultan what an ideal setting it seemed to provide for a new city. Upon this the king indulgently (and, knowing Ala-ud-din, also perhaps patronizingly) replied, ‘When you become king, build it.’ Knowing full well, as every boss, that while he was around there was not a shadow of a chance of anyone else taking his place. After the death of Ala-ud-din various events conspired to put the general on the throne at last. Then he fulfilled his long-cherished dream.
Romanticism apart, Tughlaqabad also made perfect strategic sense. Those were the times the Mongols were a real menace to society and generally a pain in the neck for all the sultans of the Delhi Sultanate. Almost everything that the sultans built was aimed baffling the Mongols with sheer structural magnificence (read somewhere to duck in and hope for the best).
Tughlaqabad fort, situated as it was on high rocky ground, was ideally located to withstand sieges. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq helped matters along by putting up formidable walls which, though short on aesthetic value, are excellent examples of solid unimaginative masonry and not the type that any invading army could hope to scale in a hurry. Tughlaq put ramparts towering at heights of anywhere between 9m (30ft) to 15.2m (50ft), and rising up to 29.8m (98ft) around the citadel, between himself and the Mongols.
The fort is half-hexagonal in shape and Ghiyas-ud-din seems to have built defenses around and in it till he was blue in the face. The outer walls are built around the silhouette of the surrounding land and, what with their height and width, add formidably to the natural barriers. They were also well defended. On the north, east and west sides it is protected by trenches that go far down, and in the south a lake acts sentinel.
¤ Humayun- The Mughal Emperor Costructed The Fort
When the second Mughal emperor Humayun decided to make a city of his own he decided on the site of the ancient city of Indraprastha. Humayun was quite a scholar with a fine grasp on such matters and so it is certain that the site was chosen deliberately. When his Sher Shah Suri overthrew him, he destroyed most of Dinpanah (refuge of the faithful) as the city of Humayun was called to make way for his own Dilli Sher Shahi or Shergarh. Incidentally, Humayun was probably the only emperor in history who built a city in Delhi and did not give it his own name – this was typical of Humayun’s rather sophisticated and dreamy character. The Layout of The Massive Colossal.
In plan the Old fort, now simply called Purana Qila by Delhites, is irregularly orbital. The walls of the immense Qila tower down on the road that takes one to Pragati Maidan from the height of 18m, and run on for about 2km. It has three main gates – the Humayun darwaza, Talaqi darwaza and Bara darwaza (which one uses to enter the fort today). The double-storeyed gates are quite huge and are built with red sandstone. of all the gates entry was forbidden from Talaqi (forbidden) darwaza, the northern gate. It is not clear why this was so. Other Attractions of The Fort.
Sher Shah Suri and his successor could not complete the city, and when Humayun defeated Sher Shah’s son to take back his city, he did not deal with Dilli Sher shahi as the latter had done with Dinpanah. In fact the Mughal emperor very handsomely completed the city and even used several of the buildings like the Sher Mandal, a rather pretty two-storeyed octagonal building. Humayun used this as his library and, then tripped to his death from its steps.
Built during the reign of Shah Jahan, the Lal Qila (or Red Fort) has been a mute witness to innumerable conspiracies, scandals, battles….. Completed in a span of nine years, it cost about ten million rupees , with about half the sum going towards the building of palaces.
The fort is octagonal in shape, like most Islamic buildings in India. The north of the fort is connected to the smaller Salimgarh fort. The Red Fort is an intimidating structure. It measures 900m by 550m, with its rampart walls covering a perimeter of 2.41km. It towers at a height of 33.5m. On the outside, you can still see the moat that was originally connected with the Yamuna River.
Besides the Lahori Gate, the entry point is the Hathipol (elephant gate), where the king and his visitors would dismount from their elephants. The other major attractions of the Red Fort are the Mumtaz Mahal, the Rang Mahal, the Khas Mahal, the Diwan-i-Am, the Diwan-i-Khas, the Hamam and the Shah Burj.
Every year, on the 15th of August, the National Flag of India is hoisted at the Red Fort by the Prime Minister , celebrating India’s independence.
The Khirkee mosque was built by Khan-i-jahan Junan Shah the prime minister of Feroze Shah Tughlaq in 1380. The mosque gets its name from its exquisite windows or khirkees.
Gordon Risley Hearn in his The Seven Cities of Delhi (1906) after describing the mosque as ‘a very fine one’ says:
In plan it is square and within the encircling wall there is a colonnade; but the interior, instead of being left open, as other mosques of the time were, has arcades in the shape of a cross; four courts are thus left open… the windows in the outer walls are closed by heavy sand stone grilles… (the) mosque is well worthy of inspection…
The Great Interior Work
The inner courtyards, which attracted the attention of Hearn, are indeed very fascinating for an architecture and history student. Two covered passages go across it and intersect each other, bang in the middle, at right angles and so the courtyard is divided into four squares. The roof is supported by massive monolithic columns, which were typical of this period. The gateways and prayer niche are flanked by sloping towers.
Near the Red Fort about 500m away is the Jama masjid, the biggest mosque in India. It was begun by Shah Jahan in 1650 and completed six years later and the whole cost about a million rupees. It is hard to imagine a building more suited to evoking the awe of the majesty of Allah in man. The mosque stands on a rocky elevation. Its huge gateway looks down at you like fastidious connoisseur from an immense platform which has steps that lead up to it.
Constructed in Sandstone and white marble, Jama Masjid can be entered from both the directions – North and the South Gates. The eastern gateway is supposed to remain open in Friday and was used by the emperor himself. Jama Masjid is cluttered by devotees who offer namaz, especially during Muslim Festival. For those who don’t belong to non – Muslim community, a specified time is mentioned to enter the mosque.