ITC Maurya, A Luxury Collection Hotel, New Delhi

Edwin Landseer Lutyens had originally intended the Kingsway ( Rajpath ) to slope up to the Viceroy’s palace. However, Herbert Baker, his colleague, felt it necessary to level the space between the two secretariat buildings, thus creating the great central vista called the North & South Block. The two secretariat buildings are raised on a plinth so as to be level with the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The secretariat buildings are now the offices of the Government of India. The Home affairs & Finance ministries are in the North Block and the Prime Minister’s office, External Affairs Ministry and the Defence Ministry are in the South Block. The vast open space at the base of the slope is called “Vijay Chowk” meaning victory square. The Beating the Retreat” ceremony takes place here on 29 January each year.

The foremost responsibility of the National Gallery of Modern Art is to ensure quality and to set and maintain standards of excellence. The aesthetic and educational purposes are not only defined in the aims and objectives of the National Gallery of Modern Art, but efforts are also being made so that they become implicit in its organization and pervade all its activities.

The garden is laid out around the beautiful tombs of the Lodi Sultans who ruled North India in the 15 century. The gardens were laid out in 1936 and called Lady Willingdon Park. It was renamed Lodi Garden in 1947 and landscaped by J.A. Stein and Garrett Eckbo in 1968. Timings: 06:00 – 19:00 Hrs. Open on all days.

At the centre of New Delhi stands the 42 m high India Gate, an "Arc-de-Triomphe" like archway in the middle of a crossroad. Almost similar to its French counterpart, it commemorates the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army during the World War I. The memorial bears the names of more than 13,516 British and Indian soldiers killed in the Northwestern Frontier in the Afghan war of 1919.

The Baha’i house of worship is one of Delhi’s most innovative modern structures. The Baha’i sect originated in Persia and this temple has been designed by a Persian architect, Fariburz Sahba. Work on the temple began in 1980 and was completed in 1986. The edifice is in the shape of an unfurling 27 petalled whitemarble lotus, and hence the name “Lotus Temple”. The temple is surrounded by nine pools and about 25 acres of landscaped and well manicured lawns. The temple looks spectacular after dark when the lights give the marble a very luminous quality. Timings: 09:00 – 17:00 Hrs. (Oct-Mar) & 09:00 – 19:00 Hrs. (Apr-Sep) Closed on Mondays & Public Holidays.

The Red sandstone walls of the massive Red Fort (Lal Qila) rise 33-m above the clamour of Old Delhi as a reminder of the magnificent power and pomp of the Mughal emperors. The walls, built in 1638, were designed to keep out invaders, now they mainly keep out the noise and confusion of the city.

The Qutab Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world and an excellent example of Indo-Islamic architecture. The tower is in the Qutab complex at Mehrauli in South Delhi. The Qutab Minar and its monuments are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Qutub Minar is 72.5 meters high (237.8 ft) with 399 steps leading to the top. Entry inside the minaret is however closed. The diameter of the base is 14.3 meters wide, while the top measures 2.75 meters in diameter. Construction began in 1193 AD and the fifth & final storey was competed in 1368 AD. The Iron Pillar of Delhi, one of the world’s foremost metallurgical curiosities, also stands in the famous Qutab complex. Timings: 09:00 – 17:00 Hrs. Open All Days.