Visiting New Delhi - the Capital of India

                                                            Red Fort - New Delhi

Whether you are an Indian travelling to the Capital City or an international tourist travelling from New York or New Zealand, you will have same curiosity and attraction towards visiting New Delhi! The Metro is knownfor Parliament, Residences of Prime Minister & Member of Parliaments, President House, and all Government Offices is also a good tourist place!

The Red Fort, Qutb Minar, India Gate, Humayun’s Tomb, Lotus Temple and Akshardham Temple are the key places a tourist should cover during the Delhi Tour. Delhi is a common name used for this City, which is also a Union Territory is jointly administered by the Central Government and the local government of Delhi. Delhi along with the neighbouring Cities has a special status of National Capital Region (NCR).

The City is spread over 1484 sq. km of area. This City is probably in existence in some or other form since 6^th Century B.C. and has a lot of historical importance. Raj Ghat is a memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and one can visit this place also.

Red Fort in Delhi is at the centre of Delhi and this was the residence of Mughal emperor for almost 200 years until 1857. This is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007. The fort is really huge and is made of big size red sandstones. When you have a close look at the construction, you will keep wondering about the way this must have been built in the days of having no construction machinery around. The fort is now hosting multiple museums.

Qutb-Minar is the highest tower in India made with red and buff sandstone. It has a diameter of 14.32 m at the base and about 2.75 m on the top and the height is 72.5 m. Qutbu'd-Din Aibak laid the foundation of Minar in AD 1199 to which were added three more storiesby his successor and son-in-law, Shamsu'd-Din Iltutmish. The Minar has numerous inscriptions carved on it in Arabic and Nagari characters.

India Gate is a memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War in different countries. Though it is a war memorial, it is also a great architectural style. In 1971, following the Bangladesh Liberation war, a small simple structure called as ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ was constructed below the Archway.

Humayun’s Tomb was built in 1565 A.D. after the death of the Mughal Ruler Humayun. Inside the walled enclosure of this Tomb, you will see a lush green garden and freely roaming deer.

Lotus Temple - The Lotus Flower shaped temple is the 7^th major Bahai Temple built around the World. This is made up of White Marble and is an architectural marvel. The environment inside the temple auditorium gives you a refreshing experience of visiting a really calm and peaceful place in the heart of a busy City like Delhi.

Akshardham Temple is a huge newly constructed Temple similar to Akshardham temple in Gujarat. This shows the history of 10,000 years of Indian culture through art and sculptures and the total construction was completed in only 5 years.

Being the Capital city of India, you have a great choice of Hotels, Restaurants and Shopping Markets in this City. You can explore the City for many days depending on your availability. The weather is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Still, October to March is generally considered as the best time to visit Delhi. Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Paharganj and Khan Market are the retail markets in Delhi and if you love street shopping, you must visit at least a few of them.

Delhi is a starting point for many tours in North India and you can do a famous tour of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur (also known as Golden Triangle) while you are in Delhi. For going to Himachal Pradesh also, most of the connecting flights and trains will drop you at Delhi and from there, you can start these tours.

Kingdom of Dreams

It is a life entertainment theatre and leisure destination in Gurgaon (Haryana) in the NCR region (Near New Delhi). You enter a dreamlandwhen you enter this spectacular theatre and food mall. The speciality of this Kingdom is you get food items from all states under one roof (By the way, the roof which resembles Sky is also artificial). This food court is known as ‘Culture Gully’. The live entertainment show is of Bollywood style and it is a combination of dance, music, circus, drama, everything. The auditorium is excellent and can accommodate more than 800 people for each show.

This leisure park was inaugurated on 29^th Jan 2010 and was built at a cost of 2 billion Indian Rupees! In the food court also you will see frequent live entertainment shows by well-trained artists. Overall a great experience to visit Kingdom of Dreams. This is on the New Delhi Agra Road, so you can take a halt at Gurgaon while travelling from Delhi to Agra and visit this place. It takes about 4 to 5 hours to visit this place. Prior booking is required and make sure to confirm the show timings. You can plan your dinner over here after the live show (a musical comedy) also.

You can cover this place under your Delhi-Agra-Jaipur (known as Golden Triangle Tour) also.