New Delhi, India

Sunny's trip to india, originally uploaded by sunpreet28.

Delhi is a truly cosmopolitan city which has brought within its fold people of all ethnic groups and their traditions and culture, reflected in a variety of arts, crafts, cuisines, festivals and lifestyles.Delhi offers the tourist a range of tourist attractions -from historical monuments to modern architectural marvels, from traditional bazaars to mega malls and from parks to spiritual centers.

The monuments in the city, which now have got the status of historical tourist attractions in Delhi, are replete with the ancient history of Delhi. The historical tourist attractions in Delhi are the Qutb Minar, in Mehrauli in South Delhi, famous as the highest stone tower ever raised in India and a symbol of the Delhi Sultanate. Near it is an amazing iron pillar from Gupta times, which has stood for millennia without rusting . The Qutb Minar along with the Humayun's Tomb, is enlisted as UNESCO'S World Heritage Site. It is believed to have influenced the design of the later mughal monuments including the TajMahal. Another attraction is the Red Fort, on the banks of river yamuna,from where the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation every Independence Day. Purana Quila is another good example of medieval Indian military architecture. Another fort that is worth visiting is the Tughlaqabad Fort, which looks colossal and magnificent even in its ruined state. Planned by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan so that his daughter could shop for all that she wanted, Chandini Chowk or 'light of the moon'is a fascinating bazaar even for the modern day tourist interested in shopping in Delhi.

Delhi also has many reminders of the British rule in India. Among the colonial tourist attractions, the foremost is the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.Once the erstwhile residence of the Viceroy of India, it is now the residence of the ruling President of India. The stretch from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan to the India Gate is called the Rajpath is where the Republic Day parade is held. Another tourist attraction within the Rashtrapati Bhavan is the Mughal Gardens. Straight down from the Rashtrapathi Bhavan is the India Gate. This 42-meter high arch was designed by Edwin Lutyens, as a war memorial to commemorate the Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the First World War and the Afghan War of 1919. Their names can be seen inscribed on the arch. Delhi has many modern architectural marvels. The most unique among the modern tourist attractions is the Lotus Temple Reputed as the Taj of modern India; it is a serene house of meditation built by the Bahai community. The Garden of Five Senses is among the latest tourist attractions in Delhi inaugurated only in 2003. One of the every few Amusement Parks in India, Appu Ghar offers exciting games and rides and even ice games. The Dilli Haat, a food and crafts bazaar,provides the ambience of a traditional Rural Haat or village market, in the heart of the city. The Parliament House, an elegant building with its wide pillared walkways and large halls, in Central Delhi, is where India's lawmakers and statesmen decide the future of India.

Delhi also has some important spiritual attractions for the spiritually inclined tourist. One is the Lakshmi Narayan Temple built by the renowned business family of the Birlas, better known as the Birla Temple. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated in this temple complex in 1948. Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in New Delhi is another famous temple. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib sees thousands of devotees every day not only of Sikh faith but also from other religious beliefs and faiths.

The Delhi visit is not complete without a trip to the memorials, museums and parks in Delhi. On the bank of the legendary river Yamuna, which flows past Delhi, there is Raj Ghat, the last resting place of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.Lying close to the Raj Ghat, the Shanti Vana (literally, the forest of peace) is the place where India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was cremated.The National Museum is the biggest museum in India and the most apt place to learn about the history, culture and heritage of Delhi. The Rail Transport Museum is among popular tourist attractions in Delhi, which helps to trace the history of 150 years of railways in India. The National Musuem of Modern Art, located in central Delhi, has a permanent collection of over 14,000 works of art by both modern Indian and Western artists. Jantar Mantar, the astronomical observatory is located near Connaught Place in the center of Delhi with instruments, which were used to observe and measure the movements of celestial objects. Lodi Gardens, located in South Delhi, contains the tombs of the Lodi Sultans of Delhi and is now a venue for fitness walkers and a popular picnic spot.

Many tourists who visit Delhi make excursions from Delhi to Agra and Jaipur on their India tour. Agra is the city immortalized by the architectural marvel in marble, the

Taj Mahal
. Jaipur or the rose-pink city, founded by Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693-1743), is the capital of Rajasthan. Fatehpur Sikri said to be a copy of the mosque in Mecca is the best example of the culmination of Hindu and Muslim architecture.