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New Delhi, city, Northern India. The country’s capital city, New Delhi is located in the state of Delhi, on the India Gate, Delhi

Yamuna River. New Delhi was built between 1912 and 1929 on a site adjacent to Delhi, or Old Delhi, which had been chosen to replace Calcutta as the capital of India in 1911; New Delhi was inaugurated as the new capital in 1931. Predominantly an administrative center, the city also has textile mills, printing plants, and small manufacturing establishments.

The streets of New Delhi are laid out symmetrically, according to the city plan drawn by the English architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens. Lutyens also designed the majestic red sandstone and marble Rashtrapati Bhawan, formerly the palace of the viceroy and now the residence of the president, which is in the center of the city, as are parliament and other important government buildings.

The architecture of these buildings is mainly European, with details of indigenous Indian styles. Another building that combines Indian and Western styles is the United States embassy designed by the American architect Edward Durell Stone. The Raj Path, a wide boulevard bordered by trees and canals, runs east from the palace to a war memorial arch. The streets of the commercial center, Connaught Place, northeast of the palace, are laid out in a radial pattern.

India Gate
At the center of New Delhi stands the 42m high India Gate, an "Arc-de-Triomphe" like Archway in the middle of a crossroad. Almost similar to its French counterpart war memorial. It commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during the First World War and bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919. The foundation stone was laid by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught in 1921 and was designed by Edwin Lutyens.
Qutab Minar
Among all the monuments in Delhi, perhaps this is the most famous. 15 kms south of Delhi, stands the soaring tower of victory, the Qutab Minar. The buildings in this complex, date from the onset of Muslim rule in India. The construction of the tower began in the year 1193, immediately after the defeat of the last Hindu Kingdom in Delhi. Qutb-ud-din may have started to build this just as aparticularly large minar associated with the mosque for calling people to prayer, or it may have been built as a victory tower. It is nearly 73 meters high and tapers from a 15-meter-diameter base to just 2.5 meters at the top. The tower has five distinct storeys, and each storey is marked by a projecting balcony. The first three storeys are made or red sandstone, the fourth and fifth of marble of sandstone.
Red Fort / Lal Quila
The Red Fort with red sandstone walls, popularly known as the Lal Quila extends for two kms and varies in height from 18 metres on the river side to 33 metres on the city side. Shah Jahan started construction of the massive fort in 1638 and it was completed in 1648. He was deposed and imprisoned in Agra Fort by his son Aurangzeb, before he could move his capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad in Delhi. Entry to the fort is Rs 0.50; free on Friday.
Lotus Temple
Located in Kalkaji in the south of Delhi, it is lotus shaped and has rightly been given the name. It is made of marble, cement, dolomite and sand. It is open to all faiths and is an ideal place for meditation and obtaining peace and tranquility.
Jama Masjid
Situated in the ancient town of Old Delhi, this pride of the Mughals was built by five thousand artisans. The mosque stands on Bho Jhala, which is one of the old Mughal capital cities of Shahjahanbad. Originally called the Masjid-i-Jahanuma, or "mosque commanding view of the world", this magnificent structure is the largest and most exquisite mosque in India and is made up of alternate vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble.
Jantar Mantar
The fabled Connaught Place area created and envisioned by the legendary architect, Lutyens, boasts of an observatory of yore in the form of Jantar Mantar. According to the rays of the Sun falling on it, it helped the people calculate to some extent the time of the day. Jantra(yantra-meaning instrument) and mantra-formula) was built in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur, who later built observatories on the same lines in Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura. According to historical records, the Maharaja found the then existing astronomical instruments to record totally accurate observations and so he decided that such bigger structures should be constructed. The instruments at Jantar mantar are fascinating for their novel approach, though as opf today, they cannot be relied upon to give the kind of accuracy that they gave then because of the growth of multistoreyed structures around it which block the avenues of measurement. At one time the lawns in the area were used as a spot for protestors who found it convenient to reach Parliament House from there. But recently a host of them were removed from there and the area restored to its pristine glory.
Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's tomb lies on the Mathura road near its crossing with the Lodi Road. High rubble-built walls enclose here a square garden divided initially into four large squares separated by causeways and channels, each square divided again into smaller squares by pathways ('Chaharbagh') as in a typical Mughal Garden. The lofty mausoleum is located in the centre of the enclosure and rises from a podium faced with series of cells with arched openings. The central octagonal chamber containing the cenotaph is encompassed by octagonal chambers at the diagonals and arched lobbies on the sides, their openings closed with perforated screens. Three emphatic arches dominate each side, the central one being the highest. This plan is repeated on the second storey, and a 42.5m high double dome of marble surmounts the roof with pillared kiosks ('chhatris') placed around it. The structure is built with red sandstone, but white and black marble has been used to relieve the monotony, the latter largely in the borders.
Birla Mandir
The Laxmi Narayan Mandir (temple) built by B.D. Birla is a modern Hindu temple dedicated to Laxmi (goddess of wealth) and Narayana (the preserver). It was inaugurated by Gandhi with the stipulation that it should be open to all castes (including the untouchables) and all faiths.

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