The major attractions of Delhi are its gardens, museums, monuments and holy places. Gardens like Mughal and Lodhi quite popular amongst tourists. And places like India Gate, Jantar Mantar, Qutub Minar, Red Fort are must on Delhi itinerary. Being a spacious city, Delhi encompasses some of the phenomenal architecture of the past .

Jantar Mantar
Location: Near Parliamentary Street, New Delhi.

A Masonry of Instruments
Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory with mason ary instruments, built in 1724 by Jai Singh, the mathematician and astronomer king. The Samrat and Yantra supreme instrument, the largest structure shaped like a right-angled triangle, is actually a huge sun-dial; the other five instruments are intended to show the movements of the sun, moon etc.

At first sight, the Jantar Mantar appears like a gallery of modern art. It is, however, an observatory. Sawai Jia Singh II of Jaipur (1699-1743), a keen astronomer and a noble in the Mughal court, was dissatisfied by the errors of brass and metal astronomical instruments. Under patronage from the emperor, he set on himself the task of correcting the existing astronomical tables and updating the almanac with more reliable instruments.

Delhi's Jantar Mantar is the first of the five observatories that he built with large mason ary instruments. The observatory has the Samrat Yantra, a simple equal hour sun dial, the Ram yantra for reading altitudinal angles; Jai Prakash for ascertaining the position of the sun and other celestial bodies, and the Misra Yantra which is a combination of four scientific gadgets.

India Gate
Location: Rajpath, New Delhi

India Gate is perhaps one of the most impressive structures built in the capital of India, Delhi with lush green lawns in the backdrop. This historic monument was built as a memorial to commemorate the 90,000 Indian soldiers killed in the first world war . This wonder monument was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The construction was completed in 1931 A.D.

Located on Rajpath, the road which leads to the magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan, the gate is 160 feet high with an arch of 138 feet.The monument was dedicated to the nation 10 years later by the then Viceroy, Lord Irwin.

Qutub Minar
Location- 15 km south of New Delhi.

Qutub Minar is not only an important tourist spot in New Delhi rather it is an exquisite example of the Mughal Architecture. What the Leaning Tower is to Pisa or the Eiffel Tower to Paris, is the Qutub Minar to New Delhi - its landmark. Qutub Minar is the highest stone tower in India as well as one of the finest Islamic structures ever raised. The famous monuments around the Qutub area form the Qutub Complex which can be visited by the tourists.

A window to the brief history of the monument
In 1199 AD, Qutub-ud-Din Aibak laid the foundation of Qutub Minar for the use of Mu'azzin (crier) to give calls for prayer. However, only the first story was completed by Qutub-ud-din. The other stories were built by his successor and son-in-law, Shams -Ud -Din IItutmish (1211-36 AD). The two circular stories in white marble were built by Ferozshah Tughlaq in 1368, replacing the original fourth storey. This towering structure in red sandstone has a diameter of 14.32m at the base and about 2.75m on the top with a height of 72.5m.


Parliament House
Location: Close to Rajpath

The Parliament of India is also known as the Sansad bhawan and it is basically bicameral in nature. The Parliament house is segmented into two houses - Lok Sabha and the second one is Rajya Sabha. There are in total 552 members in the house that are directly elected. The upper house is also known as the Rajya Sabha and the lower house is known as the Lok Sabha. Parliament house is the final form of Baker's conception, an odd circular form in a predominantly orthogonal planning scheme.

Red Fort
Location: right next to Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi.
Derives it's name as it has been made of red sand stone, the Red Fort is one of the most magnificent palaces in the world. Indian history is also closely linked with this fort. It was from here that the British deposed the last Mughal ruler, Bhadur Shah Zafar, marking the end of the three century long Mughal rule. It was also from this virtuous place that the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawharlal Nehru, delivered the famous speech "Tryst with destiny" at the stroke of midnight hour when India achieved freedom on 15 Aug 1947.