BRIEF SUMMARY

Delhi is a metropolis in northern India. The name Delhi also refers to the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), which is a special union territory jointly administered by the Central government, the NCT elected government and three municipal corporations. The metropolis of Delhi and the National Capital Territory of Delhi are coextensive and for most practical purposes they are considered to be the same entity. New Delhi, an urban area within the metropolis of Delhi, is the seat of the Government of India. Delhi is the sixth most populous metropolis in the world with a population of 15.3 million (2005 figure). Delhi's metropolitan area, informally known as the National Capital Region (NCR), comprises the NCT and the neighbouring satellite towns of Faridabad and Gurgaon in Haryana, and Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh making it the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world, with an estimated population of 19.7 million.

LOTUS TEMPLE

The Lotus Temple, located in New Delhi, India, is a Bahá'í House of Worship completed in 1986. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent and has become aprominent attraction in the city. The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.

Like all other Bahá'í Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion, or any other distinction, as emphasized in Bahá'í texts. The Bahá'í laws emphasize that the spirit of the House of Worship be that it is a gathering place where people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions. The Bahá'í laws also stipulate that only the holy scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith and other religions can be read or chanted inside in any language; while readings and prayers can be set to music by choirs, no musical instruments can be played inside. Furthermore no sermons can be delivered, and there can be no ritualistic ceremonies practiced.

JANTAR MANTAR

The Jantar Mantar is located in the modern city of New Delhi. It consists of 13 architectural astronomyinstruments. The site is one of five built by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur, from 1724onwards, as he wasgiven by Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah the task of revising the calendar and astronomical tables. There is a plaque fixed on one of the structures in the Jantar Mantar

observatory in New Delhi that was placed there in 1910 mistakenly dating the construction of the complex to the year 1710. Later research, though, suggests 1724 as the actual year of construction.

The jantars have evocative names like Samrat Yantra, Jai Prakash, Ram Yantra and Niyati Chakra; each of which are used to for various astronomical calculations. The primary purpose of the observatory was to compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets.

RED FORT

The Red Fort was the residence of the Mughal emperor of India for nearly 200 years, until 1857. It is located in the centre of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political centre of Mughal government and the setting for events critically impacting the region.

Constructed in 1648 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital

Shahjahanabad, the Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone and is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546. The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions, connected by a water channel known as the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-Behisht). The fort complex is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal creativity under Shah Jahan and although the palace was planned according to Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains architectural elements typical of Mughal buildings that reflect a fusion of Timurid and Persian traditions. The Red Fort’s innovative architectural style, including its garden design, influenced later buildings and gardens in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kashmir, Braj, Rohilkhand and elsewhere. With the Salimgarh Fort, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.

QUTAB MINAR

Qutub Minar, at 74 meters, is the second tallest minar in India after Fateh Burj in Chappar Chiri at Mohali, which measures 100 meters in height. Qutb Minar, along with the ancient and medieval monuments surrounding it, form the Qutb Complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower is located in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India. Made of red sandstone and marble, Qutub Minar is a 73 meter (240 feet) tall tapering tower with a diameter measuring 14.32 meters (47 feet) at the base and 2.75 meters (9 feet) at the peak.Inside the tower, a circular staircase with 379 steps, leads from the bottom to the top storey. Entry to the tower has remained restricted since 1981, when a stampede inside Qutb Minar left 45 visitors dead.

In 1199 CE Qutub-ud-Din Aibak, the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the bottom storey of Qutub Minar. Around 1220, Aibak's successor, and son-in-law Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, added three storeys on top of Aibak's first. In 1369, lightning struck the top storey, destroying it completely. Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the 19th emperor of Delhi (1351-1388) carried out restoration work and replaced the damaged storey with two new storeys, made of both red sandstone and white marble.

CHAR MINAR

The Charminar (Telugu: చార్మినారు), built in 1591 CE, is a monument and mosque located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The landmark has become a global icon of Hyderabad, listed among the most recognized structures of India. The Charminar is situated on the east bank of Musi river. To the west lies the Laad Bazaar, and to the southwest lies the richly ornamented granite Makkah Masjid. It is listed as an archaeological and architectural treasure on the official "List of Monuments" prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India under the The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.
The English name is a translation and combination of the Urdu words Chār and Minar',translating to "Four Towers"; the eponymous towers are ornate minarets attached and supported by four grand arches.
Some of the popular myths that are recorded in accord with the monument's architectural appearance are as follows.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the current caretaker of the structure, mentions in its records that, "There are various theories regarding the purpose for which Charminar was constructed. However, it is widely accepted that Charminar was built at the center of the city, to commemorate the eradication of plague",a deadly disease which was wide spread at that time . as Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah had prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to build a Mosque at the very place where he prayed. According to Jean de Thévenot, a French traveller of the 17th century whose narration was complemented with the available Persian texts, the Charminar was constructed in the year 1591 CE, to commemorate the beginning of the second Islamic millennium year (1000 AH). The event was celebrated far and wide in the Islamic world, thus Qutb Shah founded the city of Hyderabad to celebrate the event and commemorate it with the construction of this building.
Historian Masud Hussain Khan says that the construction of Charminar was completed in the year 1592, and that it is the city of Hyderabad which was actually founded in the year 1591. According to the book "Days of the Beloved", Qutb shah constructed the Charminar in the year 1589, on the very spot where he first glimpsed his future queen Bhagmati, and after her conversion to Islam, Qutb Shah renamed the city as "Hyderabad". Though the story was denied by the historians and scholars, it became popular folklore among the locals.
Qutb Shah was also among the early poets of Dakhani Urdu, while laying the foundation of Charminar performed the prayers in Dakhini couplets, which are recorded as follows.

History

The Indian capital city of delhi .Delhi has a long history, and has been an important political centre of India as the capital of several empires. Much of Delhi's ancient history finds no record and this may be regarded as a lost period of its history. Extensive coverage of Delhi's history begins with the onset of the Delhi Sultanate in the 12th century. Since then, Delhi has been the centre of a succession of mighty empires and powerful kingdoms, making Delhi one of the longest serving Capitals and one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It is considered to be a city built, destroyed and rebuilt several times, as outsiders who successfully invaded the Indian Subcontinent would ransack the existing capital city in Delhi, and those who came to conquer and stay would be so impressed by the city's strategic location as to make it their capital and rebuild it in their own way. The core of Delhi's tangible heritage is Hindu, Islamic (spanning over seven centuries of Islamic rule over the city) with some British-era architecture in Lutyens Delhi dating to the British rule in India.
References to Delhi's history in ancient literature are based on myths and legends. According to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, a city called Indraprastha, “City of the God Indra”, was the capital of the Pandavas. There is a strong belief that Purana Qila was built over the site of ancient Indraprastha. Northern Black Polished Ware (c700-200 BC) have been excavated at the site, and pieces of Painted Grey Ware were found on the surface, suggesting an even older settlement, possibly going back to ca. 1000 B.C.

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