rashtrapati bhavan

The Mughal dynasty practically came to an end when in 1803, the native rulers defeated by General Lake of East India Company near Patparganj. The East India appointed first resident of Delhi as the 'Protector' of battered Mughal crown. In the early years the British and their troops settled within the walled city around the Red Fort and Kashmere Gate. The city underwent drastic transformations after the war of 1857. One third of the city was razed to rubble in 1858 and the East India Company transferred the rule to the British Crown.

On 12^th December, 1911, at the historic Delhi Durbar, the George V, the Emperor of the British Empire proclaimed the shifting of the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. After announcement of Delhi as the Capital of India, the preparation for the building a new city started with majesty, pomp and show. Thus came up a vary special city, New Delhi, the dream of Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, city planners and architects. Built on the area in and around Raisina Hills, the new city housed among the landmarks, the Rastrapathi Bhawan, (Viceroy's House), the North and South Blocks of the Secretariat, and a Council Chamber which now houses India's Parliament, the 42 meters high memorial arch India Gate, Cannought Place and numerous roads, parks and other structures.

On the site where Delhi stands today, several cities have risen and decayed in the past. Their relics illustrate important phases in the architectural history of the country and are visible symbols of Delhi's glorious past. New Delhi, the capital of India's British rulers, was the eight in the series of city built one after another by successive lines of rulers. The national government, which took over on the attainment of independence in August, 1947, has not built another city. New Delhi, has, however, expanded manifold and is rapidly undergoing transformation.  It is from New Delhi that most visitors form their first impression of the city.  Much of the New Delhi was built between 1920-1930.

After independence, Delhi became the capital of new nation. With the advent of independence, its importance has increased manifold and Delhi has now became the political, economic and culture capital of country. The built - up heritage of Delhi are to be found in groups in the successive cities. Those which should not be missed by a visitors are the Qutub Minar and its adjuncts; Tughlagabad, Humayun's Tomb and shrine of Nizam-ud-Din; Sher Shah's fortS (Purna Qila), Red Fort and the Jama Masjid. To these might be added Kotla Feroz Shah, Safdarjung Tomb, Hauz-Khas, and the Lodi Tombs.

Indeed, millennium come and go, Delhi goes on forever. As Pt. Jawharlal Nehru said, "Even the stones of Delhi whisper in our ears of the ages of long ago and the air breathe is full of the dust and fragrance of the past, as also of the fresh and piercing winds of the present.. The traditions of millennia of our history surrounds us at every step and the procession of innumerable generations passed before our eyes."

Akshardham

One of the most popular and amazing tourist attractions in the Indian nation is Akshardham temple.

Known for its beauty and wide area Akshardham has several attributes that defines the existence and motive of human. Destiny of humankind along with universe details comprises the history of Akshardham temple. Researchers do not call this place only as temple as it is the place of enlightenment, education and entertainment. The entire area of Akshardham spreads over 23 acres and it includes parks, rides, lakes, sculptures and shrines flooded over the complete area of temple. All these things collectively describe the entire experience of India’s rich heritage and culture. Akshardham temple history devotes its existence to Lord Swaminarayan and has its inspiration from Pujya Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Thousands of people and volunteers have invested their money and service to establish this miraculous architecture of Akshardham that explores the rich culture of religion.

The followers of Lord Swaminarayan work over here by spreading and enhancing the flavor of spirituality and devotion with complete peace of mind. This monument based on authentic and modern techniques present the perfect impression or imprint of Indian architecture with religious culture. The architecture comprises of pink sandstone that comes from Rajasthan. More than thousands of these exclusive stones are carved with historical imprints that narrate the rich culture of India through pictures and carvings. The artists and builders have not used cement or metals like steel so that monument lives for years to come.

The history of Akshardham temple suggests that there are about 93 pillars that are sculpted and more than 40 windows having carving from either sides that allows patterns to look outstanding. The carving done on pillars and the walls of temple are actually poetic and looks wonderful in narrating the aura of devotion towards the culture. This particular temple has its name in the book of records in world, Guinness and it includes all the basic amenities and features that allow offering a prayer. Akshardham Temple history is available on stores and internet for the people having interest in this religious monument. The temple does not ask you to follow particular God rather it just asks people to pray their mentor or teacher that is to whom they owe their existence. All these theories by Lord Swaminarayan were compiled together and the place called Akshardham came in to origin. People here come to practice self-peace of mind and soul as per historical aim of this temple.

National Zoological Park

The Delhi Zoo was opened on 1st November 1959 and was later renamed as National Zoological Park in 1982. Popularly known as ‘Chiriyaghar’ among the Delhi residents, the zoo is spread over an area of 176 acres and houses more than 127 species of animals and birds.  As soon as you enter the portals of the National Zoological Park, you encounter animals like Hippopotamus, Chimpanzee, Spider monkey and Zebras. The other section includes migratory birds from across the nation like peafowl, storks and ducks. In the centre of the Zoological Park is the underground reptile house.  Delhi Zoo is a part of a conservation breeding scheme run by the Central Zoo Authority for animals like the Royal Bengal tiger, Indian Rhino, Asiatic lion, Swamp deer, brow antlered deer and red jungle fowl. The breeding program for the brow antlered deer proved to be such a success that just from a pair of these deer in 1962, a number of their offspring can now be found in zoos of various cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mysore to name a few. Some of the marvels of the National Zoological Park include the elephant that plays harmonica, the White Tiger from Reva, and many endangered species. Other highlights are the Lion-Tailed Macaque, Leopard Cat, Black Buck and Indian Gazelle.  Delhi Zoo also facilitates the visitors a canteen, drinking water counters and battery operated vehicles at reasonable prices but the actual fun in exploring the National Zoological Park is on foot! The visit to the Zoo is not only fun but also educational, so don’t miss on this one!

Best time to visit The best time to visit the National Zoological Park is from October to March as the weather is quite pleasant to explore Delhi.

Trivia The minimum time required in exploring the zoo is 2 hours.  No eatables are allowed inside the zoo except water bottles. Feeding & teasing the animals is strictly forbidden.

Timing The summer timings (April - October) for Delhi Zoo are 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. The winter timings (November - March) are 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.  The park is open on all days except Friday

HUMAYUN'S TOMB

HUMAYUN'S TOMB IN DELHI
 Humayun's tomb is the tomb of great Mughal Emperor Humayun. It is situated at Delhi. You might have heard about this tomb but do you know the history of Humayun's tomb? Who constructed it? Do you know the charges for entrance in Humayun's tomb and timing for visitors. All the above things I will tell you in this article about Humayun's tomb.


  Humayun's tomb was built in 1572 by his be his widow Bega begum who is also known as Haji Begum. Hindu king Hemu defeated Mughal forces in delhi and agra and in this fight Mughal emperor Humayun was dead. on 20th January 1556 Humayun was dead and his body was buried in Purana kila at delhi. In 1965 after nine year of Humayun's death His widow Bega Begum gave the order of construction of Humayun's tomb and it was completed in 1972. Mirak Mirza was the architect of Humayun's tomb. Unfortunately Mirak Mirza was dead and because of that his son Sayyed Mirza  completed his father's design. This tomb was built in 1.5 million rupees. All money for construction of Humayun's tomb was given by Bega begum. This was the History of Humayun's tomb.


   Humayun's tomb is one of the best historical places of India. It is included in UNESCO's world heritage list in 1993. It derives Millions of visitors every year. If you have not visited Humayun's tomb yet then visit this place just once in your life. If you are planning to visit Humayun's tomb then follow the given travel guide which is given below.

Travel Information for Humayun's tomb
Location Delhi
Timings 6:00 am to 6:00 pm
Entry Fees Rs 10 for Indian people
Rs 250 for foreigners
Camera fee Rs 25
 

    So friends these was all information about Humayun's tomb which is situated at Delhi. I hope you liked this article. Share it with your friend.

The Garden of the Five Senses

The Garden of the Five Senses is one of the recently developed gardens in Delhi. Inaugurated in February 2003, this wonderful garden is located in the Said-ul-Ajaib village, near Mehrauli-Badarpur Road. As the name connotes, the Garden of the five Senses is developed in a way to stimulate the five senses of human beings with its beauty and creativity. There are five human senses such as Hear, Touch, Taste, Smell and Sight. The garden of the five senses offers everything for all our five senses to be able to use them and enjoy to the fullest.

Spread over 20 acres of area, this garden opens all days in week. The garden comes into full bloom during different festivals that are held here. Some such festivals that the garden serves as a venue are namely Garden tourism festival, Food festivals, Dandiya festivals etc. Besides, the garden also hosts various cultural programs during several occasions.

The Garden of Five Senses has a host of flowers that bloom during different seasons. Some of them even blossoms all through the year. Here, you can see innumerable variety of flowers like Antirrhinum flower, Pansy flower, Dahlia flower, Aster flower, Dianthus flower, Petunia flower and so on. The flowers on display also include Orchids, tulips, Roses, shrubs etc.It can truely be said that Garden of the Five Senses is the perfect place for leisure and to understand and value our responsibilities of human beings towards the environment.

The beautiful flowers that surrounds the garden of the five senses make a splash of colours, which can be experienced only after visiting this garden.

The garden is divided into separate sactions. Some of the sactions are namely khas bagh, neel bagh, color garden, courts of specimen plants, solar energy park, food and shopping court etc. The Khas Bagh is a formal garden patterned on the lines of the Mughal Garden with water cascade in waterways along side.

Other attractions of the garden of the five senses include the 25 sculptures and murals of skilled craftsmen and artisans of India. The Neel Bagh consists of a large number of colorful plants with a pool of water lilies in the center. Like wise, the Color Gardens consists of a beautiful arrangement of ordinary blossoming shrubs and ground covers.

Courts of Specimen Plants is the area where you will find some of the rare species of plants and herbs. Than there is the Solar Energy Park, which was set up to promote awareness about renewable sources of energy. This area has on display two buses, bicycles, cars, a computer, etc that run on solar energy.

The food and shopping court in the garden of the five senses offers you unique taste of various exotic delicacies and at the same time, here you can also shop for your knick-knacks.

Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar is an important landmark of Delhi and a unique edifice. It is an observatory built by Sawai Jai Singh II, the erstwhile ruler of the princely state of Amber and a contemporary of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The various abstract structures within the Jantar Mantar are, in fact, instruments that were used for keeping track of celestial bodies. Nevertheless, the Jantar Mantar is not only a timekeeper of celestial bodies: it also tells a lot about the technological achievements under the Rajput kings and their endeavor to unravel the mysteries pertaining to astronomy.

JANTAR MANTAR - THE MAKING

The Jantar Mantar of Delhi is only one of the five observatories built by Sawai Jai Singh II, the other four being located at Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain and Mathura. All of these were built as far back as AD 1724-1730 during the period generally known as the dark age of Indian history, when the last great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had died and the Mughal Empire was declining rapidly.
During this period of chaos, Muhammad Shah ascended the throne of the Mughal Empire. As many enemies surrounded him, he sought the alliance of the Hindu rulers. Of these, the most notable was Sawai Jai Singh II of Amber, who came into limelight since the days of Aurangzeb. When Jai Singh ascended the throne of Amber in 1699, he was barely eleven, but sharp and shrewd far beyond his years. The then Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was so impressed with the young ruler that he gave Jai Singh II the title of Sawai, meaning one and a quarter of an average man in worth. As Jai Singh repeatedly proved himself as a worthy ally of the Mughals, Muhammad Shah, who was seeking a dependable ally, zeroed in on Jai Singh and duly raised him to the rank of governor of Agra and later, of Malwa.
Jai Singh was passionate about two things-the arts and the sciences, chiefly astronomy. Once, at the court of Muhammad Shah, he found the Hindu and Muslim astrologers embroiled in a heated argument over certain planetary positions. It was imperative that the positions be known accurately to determine an auspicious hour for the emperor to set out on an expedition. Jai Singh offered to rectify the then available astronomical tables, an offer that was readily accepted by the Mughal emperor. The result: an onsite Jantar Mantar in Delhi, an astronomical observatory where the movements of sun, moon and planets could be observed. Jai Singh's idea was to create a renaissance in practical astronomy among the Indian masses and practicing astronomers. However, the lofty ideals of the Jantar Mantar remained unfulfilled as the country at that time was in turmoil and the full potential of this observatory was never realized.

To start with, Jai Singh tried to use brass instruments in this observatory, but soon gave them up because of several inherent flaws. They were too small, for one thing, their axes were unstable so the center often got displaced. He next decided to follow the style adopted by the renowned Arab astronomer, Prince Ulugh Beg, builder of the famous 15th-century observatory at Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The massive masonry instruments at Samarkand suited Jai Singh's architectural tastes and promised to be more accurate because of sheer size. In 1730, Jai Singh sent a mission to the king of Lisbon. On its return to Jaipur, the mission brought back a telescope and no less a person than the court astronomer himself, by the name of Xavier de Silva.

JANTAR MANTAR - MONUMENT OF INDIA 

This unique observatory was completed in 1724 and remained operational only for seven years. Astronomical observations were regularly made here and these observations were used for drawing up a new set of tables, later compiled as Zij Muhammad Shahi dedicated to the reigning monarch. Jai Singh named his observatory Jantar Mantar (actually Yantra Mantra, yantra for instrument and mantra for formula). It is dominated by a huge sundial known as Samrat Yantra, meant to measure the time of the day accurate to within half a second and the declination of the sun and other heavenly bodies. Jai Singh himself designed this yantra. Other yantras were also meant for the study of heavenly bodies, plotting their course and predicting eclipses. The two pillars on the southwest of Mishra Yantra are meant to determine the shortest and longest days of the year. Interestingly, in December one pillar completely covers the other with its shadow while in June it does not cast any such shadow at all.

Spurred on by the completion of the first Jantar Mantar and with a view to verifying astronomical observations made at Delhi, Jai Singh built similar, if smaller observatories, at other important Indian cities-Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Mathura. The state of these observatories is bad; the one in Mathura was demolished, while those in Ujjain and Varanasi are in state of decay. But the observatory at Jaipur is the best preserved of all because in 1901 Raja Ram Singh, the then ruler of Jaipur, refurbished it with the help of a British engineer. All the masonry instruments were lined with marble so that the graduations on them are not worn out.

The Jantar Mantars may have fallen into disuse but they remain an integral part of India's scientific heritage. The Jantar Mantar in Delhi is often projected in travel books, brochures, on postage stamps and was the logo of the 1982 Asian Games. The Jantar Mantar shows that the spirit of scientific enquiry was not dead in India and would have yielded rich results if only an opportunity had been given to it to fructify. The Jantar Mantar on the Parliament Street remains one of the most intriguing structures of the capital, one that explodes in a burst of questions in the mind of the inquisitive tourist.

HOW TO REACH JANTAR MANTAR 

Tourists can reach the Jantar Mantar in many ways. They can either take local buses from various points within the city to reach this monument, which is located in Connaught Place, the heart of the city, or they can hire auto-rickshaws and taxis for the purpose. One can take buses from the bus termini located at Kashmere Gate and Sarai Kale Khan to reach this monument. Local guided tours conducted by Delhi Tourism and private operators covers this important monument.

Some of the major instruments at Jantar Mantar are:

The Samrat Yantra 'Prince of Dials' (the largest device)
The Ram Yantra - two circular buildings
The Jai Prakash
The Misra Yantra (north-west to the Samrat Yantra)
Pillars on the southwest of Mishra Yantra used to measure the shortest and longest days of the year.
The Samrat Yantra measured the accurate time of the day. It also measured the declination of the sun which can be seen by the shadow moving around the structure.


The Jai Prakash shows the sun's position at the time of equinox. There is a hole near the bottom of the structure which witnesses sunshine only once in a year that is on 21 march, called vernal eqinox.


Another important structure called the Ram Yantra, consists of two large buildings with open top. Both these two buildings form a complete device. The device is used to measure the altitude of stars which is equivalent to the latitude and the longitude on the earth.


To the north-west of the Prakash Yantra, there is a structure or instrument called Mishra Yantra. It consists of five instruments. Pillars on the southwest of Mishra Yantra are used to measure the shortest day (21 December) and the longest day (21 June) of the year.


It is no denying the fact that the structure does represent the scientific heritage of India, though not being used in the modern scientific research. Having said that, we must give accreditation to the Jantar Mantar for its scientific acumen which could have reaped more fruits had there been appropriate motivation and resource given for research and development.

Etymology - The term 'Jantar Mantar' is derived from the Sanskrit word-'Yantra Mantra' meaning instruments and formulae. The 'Yantra Mantra' literally means 'Magical Device'.

Location- The Jantar mantar, the observatory in Jaipur is located near the gate of the illustrious City Palace of Jaipur in Rajasthan.

History- The Jantar Mantar was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur and the Rajput ruler of Amber, between 1728 and 1734. For being a reputed astronomer, Jai Singh was commissioned by Emperor Muhammad Shah, to correct the astronomical tables and to confirm the data that was available on the planetary positions. He took nearly seven years to finish the Jantar Mantar. It was restored in 1901 and in 1948 the famous observatory was declared a national monument.

Description- The observatory consists of 13 different instruments of various geometrical forms for calculating the time of day, the heights of heavenly bodies, predicting eclipses and the situations of constellations. These instruments are of gigantic sizes so that accurate readings can be obtained. The instruments can make accurate measurements within one second. Jantar Mantar consists of the Jaiprakash Yantra, Samrat Yantra, Ram Yantra and the Composite instrument which contains a sundial and an enormous hemisphere on the northern wall.

The colossal Samrat Jantar is the sun dial that is 90 feet high and its shadow is carefully contrived to tell the time of a day. The small domed cupola (chhatri) at the top is used for predicting eclipses and the coming of monsoons.

Till dated , the instruments of Jantar Mantar are used for forecasting weather, the duration of seasons, the intensity of the monsoon, and the prospects of flood or famine. The Jantar Mantar stands as a testimony to the wisdom of the former epoch and awaits the visit of every tourist.

india gate

The India Gate is located in the center of New Delhi, the capital of India. It was made by Edwin Lutyens In 1921. This landmark in Delhi commemorates the members of the erstwhile British Indian Army who sacrificed their lives fighting for the Indian Empire in the Afghan Wars and World War.

After India got its independence, India Gate became the site of Amar Jawan Jyoti -Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is counted among the largest war memorials in India.

The Shrine of the Amar Jawan Jyoti is burning since 1971. It represents the flame of the immortal warrior that marks the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The shrine is made of black marble with a rifle placed on its barrel. This rifle is crested by a soldier's helmet. The words- "Amar Jawan" (Immortal Warrior) is inscribed in gold on each face of the cenotaph which is placed on an edifice. The edifice has four torches on its four corners, these torches are kept alive.

This shrine of the India Gate in Delhi was uncovered on January 26, 1972 by the Prime Minister of India during that time- Indira Gandhi. Since then, it is customary for the President and the Prime Minister to pay homage at the site during State ceremonies. Even while guests visit the state, they come here to visit the India Gate in Delhi India and pay homage at the site.