Edwin
Lutyens, the world famous
architect, would have neverset his mind on designing New Delhi
and the famed Connaught Place shopping centre in the heart of
India’s capital, had it not been for the glorious past that it
could boast of.
The British Empire had termed India as the land" where the sun
never sets" and to add flavour to this phrase Lutyen called his
creation as the "Rome of Hindoostan".
Lutyen perhaps
could have drawn inspiration from the Persian inscription on the
ceiling of the Diwan-e-Khas (Hall of Nobles) at the glorious Red
Fort which says" If there be a paradise on Earth; it is this, oh
it is this, oh it is this". The couplet was rendered into such
beautiful verse by the noted poet, Firdaus, in the court of the
Mughal Emperor, Shahjahan. What could have made him weave such a
magical extract must surely have been the trance and magnetism
that the city of Delhi had for the lovers of good things.
As much as it
can boast of its chequered present, Delhi has an equally if not
better past.
The ancient history of Delhi manifested in the landmarks and
memorials still stands testimony to the present history. The
times when the epic Mahabharata was written refers to Delhi as
Indraprastha and was supposed to have been founded by the
Pandavas in as early as 1450 B.C. whose remains have been
excavated within the ramparts of the Old Fort (Purana Qila) .
The Gupta and
the Maurya dynasties, around 320 A.D. when India was known as
the Golden Bird, were mesmerised by the elegant vistas of Delhi
and made their presence felt for a long time while ruling from
Indraprastha. This was followed by the Muslim Kings in the
latter half of the 12th century and then by the slave Kings and
the Khaljis who ruled for over a century and built a new capital
Siri, in 1302 A.D. where today stands the imposing Siri Fort
area and the Asian Games Village. After the Khaljis came the
Tughlaks in the early 15th century who gave an additional
impetus to the building activity in Indraprastha with the
shaping of the Tughlakabad Fort built by Ghyias-ud-din Tughlak.
This was not the end of the new revival initiated by the
Tughlaks and was followed by the setting up of the cities of
Jahanpanah( asylum of the world) and Firozabad (Kotla Ferozeshah)
by the successors of Ghyias-ud-din.
The first
Mughal conqueror and emperor , Babar, had a liking for Agra
where he set up his capital, although his son, Humayun, returned
to Delhi and built the Purana Qila as his fort and seat of
governance. Then came the Suri dynasty wherein Sher Shah Suri
opted yet again for Dilli as the capital which he built in 1542
A.D. And it had its epicentre as the very same Purana Qila. For
the first time then the capital got its name Dilli, though some
historians say that the brain behind giving this name was Raja
Dillu who was supposed to have ruled in this area as far back as
100 B.C. Although the next Mughal emperor, Akbar, preferred to
shift to Agra and Fathepur Sikri, his son, derived an affable
penchant for Delhi and began work on building the historic Red
Fort (Lal Qila) in 1638 A.D. Much before all this during the
11th century A.D., a Hindu King, Anangpal is said to have built
the first city, Lal Kot and much after the Lodi dynasty was said
to have been credited with the setting up of the sixth of the
seven cities in the form of the Lodi tombs.
The seven
cities, each with a unique characteristic of its own were Lal
Kot, Siri, Tughlakabad, the ruined fortress east of the imposing
Qutab Minar.
 Tughlakabad
was said to have become a ghost city 15 years after it was built
following a supposed curse from the Sufi saint, Azam-ud-din. The
other cities were Jahanpanah, Ferozeshah Kotla, Lodi Tombs and
the Purana Qila.
In 1911, the
British asked Lutyens to give a new meaning to city development
which is reflected in the architectural designs and
sophistication that buildings in New Delhi like Parliament
House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate, Connaught Place and
various administrative buildings like the South and North blocks
along the breathtaking view available from Raj Path.
Modern Delhi
has something for everyone and that is amply reflected in the
cosmopolitan culture that nurtures festivals of all faiths and
religions, places of worship. You can take a stroll at your own
leisurely pace, or a jog or a run and move faster than the
common man. This is also reflected in the market places, the
dhabas and restaurants or the gorgeous five-star hotels.
Theatre, drama and entertainment of all sorts including the best
of discotheques are all there. Delhi is one city from where you
can branch off to any corner of the country either by a
well-connected system of railways or by road and air. The rest
is for you to explore.
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...................Hotels in New Delhi.................
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