India Travel

The enclaves and villages spread across the vast area of South Delhi offer countless eating options. Trendy Hauz Khas. with its Village Bistro restaurant complex comprising several eateries, is renowned as one ot Delhi’s best areas for dining out. Chanakya market holds a cluster of Tibetan dhabas selling excellent momos (dumplings) and thukpa (soup). The alleys and lanes of the medieval village of Nizamuddin conceal cafes and a range ot restaurants, while Pandara Road Market’s restaurants and snack bars, close to India Gate, stay open until 2am. and the expensive coffee shops in the five-star hotels are all 24hr.

Asian Games Village, Siri Fort, Khelgoon Road. A clutch of restaurants including Angeethi, with desert decor and live Rajasthani music in the evenings, specializing in delicious tandoori dishes; ACS, a coffee shop with a Mexican theme good for snacky meals and a cold beer; and Chopsticks, a smart Chinese restaurant. Barista.M Block Market. Greater Kailash II. Trendy young cafe with a snacky menu: good cakes and coffee. Fab Cafe next door is equally good but a little more formal.

Basil & Thyme, Santushti Shopping Complex. Popular with Delhi’s “ladies who lunch", serving Western and Parsi food at reasonable prices, despite the chic location. Bengali Sweet House, Bengali Market. More than a sweet shop: a busy cafe whose menu ranges from dosas to onion kulcha and channa (bread and chickpeas), plus ice creams and milk shakes. Also takeaway makki-ki-roti (combread) with sarson ka sag (mustard-leaf spinach) and yoghurt in winter.

Dasaprakash,/lmtassa fort fofe/, Sujan Singh Park. Considered by many Delhi-ites to be one of the best south Indian restaurants in Delhi, dishing up terrifc dosas. Expensive.
The Dhaba, Claridges Hotel, 12 Aurangzeb Rd,

Designed to look like a trucker’s cafe, with a reconstructed truck to add atmosphere - for those who want really good dhaba cooking without the grime of a roadside truck stop.
Dilli Haat, Safdarjang. Shop and snack at the exhibition ground popular with Delhi-ites, at small,inexpensive restaurants from every state in India,although standards vary.

Ego, Community Centre. New Friend’s colony Authentic and imaginative Italian, with good beer,cocktails and loud music.

Flavours, 52c Moolchand Flyover, Banks Complex,Defence Colony Well-kept Delhi secret near Humayun’s Tomb, serving excellent Italian food including risotto and delicious tiramisu: run by a Naga-ltalian couple.

Fujiya, Malctia Marg Market, Chanakyapuri. A pilgrimage place for homesick Chinese tourists and well worth the queues. Superb, piping-riot Chinese dishes and fast service.
Karim’s, Nizamuddin. Unmissable Mughlai cooking, although nol as good as its Old Defhi counterpart. The sumptuous food is very rich, offering much-renowned specialities, plus kebabs, korma and rumaliroti (super-thin bread) Moats. Defence Colony Market This very popular restaurant serves excellent Kashmiri - try the dum aloo, paneer shashlik and mirchi korma - plus Mughlai and Thai cuisine; another branch can be found on Mathura Road,

Nathu Sweets, 23-25 Bengali Market. Popular and clean, recently revamped inexpensive vegetarian cafe with an assorted menu including great thalis. masala dosas on banana leafs and a mean kulfi falooda. They also have a patisserie a few doors down good for snacks and cold coffee.

Osaka. Main Square. Hauz Khas Village. Chinese and Japanese food with a pleasant ambience; gentle on the pocket.

Rampur Kitchen. 8A Khan Market. A must for connoisseurs of Muslim haute cuisine, run by a famous chef. The food can be very rich indeed; order half-portions to sample the dishes and if the biriyani is too rich try some of the breads to soak up the spices.
Sagar, Defence Colony Market. Delicious, inexpensive south Indian food - sample the dahi vadas, and the masala dosas The service is fast and the decor nondescript but it is popular; there’s another branch at the Lodi Hotel where you need to book ahead.

Tea House of the August Moon, Taj Palace Hotel. 2 Sardar Patel Marg. Named in honour of the Goon Show, this place serves excellent Chinese cooking and does a good-value lunch including a glass of wine or beer for around Rs500.

TGIF, Modern Bazaar. Vasant Vihar. Tex-Mex, pasta, burgers and ribs and the best cocktails in town -the happy hour every evening from 6pm-7.30pm is especially good value. There’s a new branch at CP.

Triveni Kala Sangam, 205 Tansen Marg. near Bengali Market. Small art-centre cafe serving Indian food. Go for lunch, but be prepared to share a table and put up with indifferent service. Village Bistro Complex, Hauz Khas Village. Choose excellent Indian cuisine from any of the three menus offered in six different dining-halls. The outdoor Top of the Village balcony is the most pleasant, with good views over South Delhi. Yellow Brick Road, Ambassador Hotel, Sujan Singh Park. Themed coffee shop with an excellent snack menu: a great place for a coffee after shopping at Khan Market nest door.

Above the foundations of Lai Kot, settled in the eighth century by the Tomara Rajputs and developed in the twelfth century by the Chauhans, the first monuments of Muslim India, now known as the Qutb Minar Complex (daily dawn to dusk; Rs 10), stand in well-tended grounds 13km south of Connaught Place; to get here take bus #505 from Ajmeri Gate. One of Delhi’s most famous landmarks, the fluted red sandstone tower of the Qutb Minar tapers upwards from the ruins, covered with intricate carvings and deeply inscribed verses from the Koran, to a height of 72.5m.

Work on the Qutb Minar started in 1199 as Qutb-ud-din Aibaks victory tower, celebrating the advent of the Muslim dominance ot Delhi (arid much of the subcontinent) that was to endure until 1857. For Qutb-ud-din, who died four years after gaining power, it marked the eastern extremity of the Islamic faith, casting the shadow of God over east and west. It was also a minaret, from which the muezzin called the faithful to prayer. Only the first storey of the Qutb Minar has been ascribed to Qutb-ud-din’s short reign; the other four were built by his successor Iltutmish, and the top was restored in 1369 by Firoz Shah, who used marble to face the red sandstone. Access to the balconies via the staircase inside has been closed after a spate of accidents and suicides.

Adjacent to the tower lie the ruins of India’s first mosque, Quwwat-ul-Islam (’"the might of Islam"), built by Qutb-ud-din using the remains of 27 Hindu and Jain temples and the help of Hindu artisans - their influence can be seen in the detail of the masonry and the indigenous corbelled arches. Steps lead to an impressive courtyard flanked by cloisters and supported by pillars unmistakably taken from a Hindu temple and adapted to accord with strict Islamic law forbidding iconic worship — all the races’ of the decorative figures carved into the columns have been removed. Especially fine ornamental arches, rising as high as 16m, remain of what was once the prayer hall. Beautifully carved sandstone screens, combining Koranic calligraphy with the Indian lotus, form a facade immediately to the west of the mosque, facing Mecca. Iltutmish and his successors extended the mosque, enlarging the prayer hall and the cloisters and introducing such Islamic architectural traditions as geometric designs, calligraphy, glazed tiles set in brick, and squinches (arches set diagonally to a square to support a dome).

In complete contrast to the mainly Islamic surroundings, an Iron Pillar (7.2m) stands in the corner of the mosque, bearing fourth-century Sanskrit inscriptions of the Gupta period attributing it to the memory of King Chandragupta II (373-413). Once topped with an image of the Hindu bird god. Garuda. the extraordinary and virtually rust-free pillar, made of 98 percent pure iron, is a puzzle to metallurgists. It must have been transplanted here, but its origins remain hazy. Tradition has it that anyone who can encircle the column with their hands behind their back will have their wishes granted, although today the pillar is fenced off from eager fortune-seekers.

Ala-i-Darwaza, a mausoleum-like gateway with stone lattice screens, was added by Ala-ud-din Khalji (1296-1316). Its inlaid marble embellishments are owed to an influx of Pathan artisans from Byzantine Turkey, and the import of Seljuk influences - the true arches were the first in India. The south entrance to the complex is marked by yet another tower, Alai Minar. Planned as grander and larger than the Qutb Minar, it was loft abandoned after the construction of its 24.5-metre-high first storey.

On a plinth west of Quwwat-ul-Islam, the tomb of Iltutmish. built m 1235 by the ruler himself, was the first Muslim mausoleum in India - something new to the subcontinent, as Hindus cremate their dead rather than bury them. A relatively plain exterior blending Indian and Muslim styles, with three ornate arches, hides an interior 9m square with geometric arabesque patterns combined with calligraphy and lotus and wheel motifs. The square red sandstone chamber was once covered by the dome that now lies in pieces around the site; only its corbelled squinches bear witness to a flawed method of early Indo-Islamic building. Ala-ud-din Khalji’s tomb and madrasa (theological college), lie on the southwest perimeter of Quwwat-ul-Islam, their L-shaped structure reflecting the Seljuk influence. To the southeast of the Ala-i-Darwaza is the small and attractive tomb of the Sufi saint Imam Muhammad Ali, better known as Imam Zamin, a native of Turkestan who came to India during the reign of Sikaudar Lodi (1488-1517).

The octagonal Moghui tomb of Muhammad Quh Khan, one of Akbar’s courtiers, perched above the scrubland 150m southeast of the Qutb Minar. was occupied and converted by Charles Metcalfe, resident at the Moghui court, into a country house but is now in ruins. Another crumbling Rajera house nearby still boasts a very ornamental English fireplace and swimming tank. Outside the complex, north of the Qutb Minar. Adham Khan’s tomb stands on the remains of the walls of Lai Kot. A general in Akbar’s army, Khan was hurled from the ramparts of Agra Fort on the orders of the emperor after some murderous court feuding. You can get a particularly good view of both the tomb and the Qutb complex from the roof of the Church of St John, an incongruous little chapel with an Anglican nave, monastic cloisters and a Hindu chhapra (rower), tucked down a lane opposite the tomb entrance.

Above the foundations of Lai Kot, settled in the eighth century by the Tomara Rajputs and developed in the twelfth century by the Chauhans, the first monuments of Muslim India, now known as the Qutb Minar Complex (daily dawn to dusk; Rs 10), stand in well-tended grounds 13km south of Connaught Place; to get here take bus #505 from Ajmeri Gate. One of Delhi’s most famous landmarks, the fluted red sandstone tower of the Qutb Minar tapers upwards from the ruins, covered with intricate carvings and deeply inscribed verses from the Koran, to a height of 72.5m.

Work on the Qutb Minar started in 1199 as Qutb-ud-din Aibaks victory tower, celebrating the advent of the Muslim dominance ot Delhi (arid much of the subcontinent) that was to endure until 1857. For Qutb-ud-din, who died four years after gaining power, it marked the eastern extremity of the Islamic faith, casting the shadow of God over east and west. It was also a minaret, from which the muezzin called the faithful to prayer. Only the first storey of the Qutb Minar has been ascribed to Qutb-ud-din’s short reign; the other four were built by his successor Iltutmish, and the top was restored in 1369 by Firoz Shah, who used marble to face the red sandstone. Access to the balconies via the staircase inside has been closed after a spate of accidents and suicides.

Adjacent to the tower lie the ruins of India’s first mosque, Quwwat-ul-Islam (’"the might of Islam"), built by Qutb-ud-din using the remains of 27 Hindu and Jain temples and the help of Hindu artisans - their influence can be seen in the detail of the masonry and the indigenous corbelled arches. Steps lead to an impressive courtyard flanked by cloisters and supported by pillars unmistakably taken from a Hindu temple and adapted to accord with strict Islamic law forbidding iconic worship — all the races’ of the decorative figures carved into the columns have been removed. Especially fine ornamental arches, rising as high as 16m, remain of what was once the prayer hall. Beautifully carved sandstone screens, combining Koranic calligraphy with the Indian lotus, form a facade immediately to the west of the mosque, facing Mecca. Iltutmish and his successors extended the mosque, enlarging the prayer hall and the cloisters and introducing such Islamic architectural traditions as geometric designs, calligraphy, glazed tiles set in brick, and squinches (arches set diagonally to a square to support a dome).

In complete contrast to the mainly Islamic surroundings, an Iron Pillar (7.2m) stands in the corner of the mosque, bearing fourth-century Sanskrit inscriptions of the Gupta period attributing it to the memory of King Chandragupta II (373-413). Once topped with an image of the Hindu bird god. Garuda. the extraordinary and virtually rust-free pillar, made of 98 percent pure iron, is a puzzle to metallurgists. It must have been transplanted here, but its origins remain hazy. Tradition has it that anyone who can encircle the column with their hands behind their back will have their wishes granted, although today the pillar is fenced off from eager fortune-seekers.

Ala-i-Darwaza, a mausoleum-like gateway with stone lattice screens, was added by Ala-ud-din Khalji (1296-1316). Its inlaid marble embellishments are owed to an influx of Pathan artisans from Byzantine Turkey, and the import of Seljuk influences - the true arches were the first in India. The south entrance to the complex is marked by yet another tower, Alai Minar. Planned as grander and larger than the Qutb Minar, it was loft abandoned after the construction of its 24.5-metre-high first storey.

On a plinth west of Quwwat-ul-Islam, the tomb of Iltutmish. built m 1235 by the ruler himself, was the first Muslim mausoleum in India - something new to the subcontinent, as Hindus cremate their dead rather than bury them. A relatively plain exterior blending Indian and Muslim styles, with three ornate arches, hides an interior 9m square with geometric arabesque patterns combined with calligraphy and lotus and wheel motifs. The square red sandstone chamber was once covered by the dome that now lies in pieces around the site; only its corbelled squinches bear witness to a flawed method of early Indo-Islamic building. Ala-ud-din Khalji’s tomb and madrasa (theological college), lie on the southwest perimeter of Quwwat-ul-Islam, their L-shaped structure reflecting the Seljuk influence. To the southeast of the Ala-i-Darwaza is the small and attractive tomb of the Sufi saint Imam Muhammad Ali, better known as Imam Zamin, a native of Turkestan who came to India during the reign of Sikaudar Lodi (1488-1517).

The octagonal Moghui tomb of Muhammad Quh Khan, one of Akbar’s courtiers, perched above the scrubland 150m southeast of the Qutb Minar. was occupied and converted by Charles Metcalfe, resident at the Moghui court, into a country house but is now in ruins. Another crumbling Rajera house nearby still boasts a very ornamental English fireplace and swimming tank. Outside the complex, north of the Qutb Minar. Adham Khan’s tomb stands on the remains of the walls of Lai Kot. A general in Akbar’s army, Khan was hurled from the ramparts of Agra Fort on the orders of the emperor after some murderous court feuding. You can get a particularly good view of both the tomb and the Qutb complex from the roof of the Church of St John, an incongruous little chapel with an Anglican nave, monastic cloisters and a Hindu chhapra (rower), tucked down a lane opposite the tomb entrance.

On a rocky escarpment, 8km east of Qutb Minar and 15km southeast of Connaught Piace on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, stand the crumbling 6.5-kilometre-long battlements of the third city of Delhi. Tughluqabad. built during the short reign of Ghiyas-ud-dinTughluq (1321-25).After the kings death the city was deserted, probably due to the lack of a clean water source nearby. The huge ruins are almost entirely abandoned, overgrown with scrubland and home to nomadic Gujars and rhesus monkeys - which is seen by some as a fulfilment of a curse by the Sufi saint. Sheikh Nizamuddin Aulia.

Divided into three main portions, Tughluqabad had its high-walled citadel to the south near the present entrance off the main road; only a long underground passage, the ruins of several halls and a tower now remain. The grid pattern of some of the city streets to the north is still traceable, while the palace area is to the southwest. The southernmost of its thirteen gates still looks down on a causeway, breached by the modern road, which rises above the flood plain, to link the fortress with Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq’s tomb. Itself resembling j small fortress, it has withstood the ravages of tune, rising beyond a massive red sandstone gateway on a high plinth, surrounded by pentagonal stone walls.The distinctive mausoleum consists of sloping walls topped with a marble dome and contains the graves of Ghiyas-ud-din, his wife, their son Muhammad Shah II. and even what is purported to be Ghiyas-ud-din’s favourite dog - although dogs are traditionally held to be unclean.The later fortress of Adilabad, built by Muhammad Shah II in much the same style as his father’s citadel and now in rums, can be seen on a hillock to the southeast.
Tughluqabad is awkward to get to by bus; either take #460 from Jantar Mantar to Badarpur, and change onto a Mehrauli-bound service, or take #505 to Mehrauli/Qutb Minar Complex, and catch a bus going east.

The emperor Ashoka’s Rock Edict was discovered in 1966, engraved on a rock overlooking the Yamuna near Srinivaspuri, 11km southeast of Connaught Place, not far from Kalkaji. A ten-line epigraph in the ancient Brahmi script, one of many such placed at important sites and crossroads throughout Ashoka’s vast empire, the inscription proves that Delhi was occupied during the Mauryan period, prior to both Muslim and Rajput settlement. It states that the emperor’s exertions in the cause of dharma had brought the people of India (Jambudvipa) closer to the gods; and that through their efforts, irrespective of their station, this attainment could be increased even further.

Often compared to the Sydney Opera House, on open ground atop Kalkaji Hill 12km southeast of Connaught Place, Delhi’s modern Baha’i Temple (daily: April-Sept 9am—7pm; Oct—March 9.30am-5.30pm; closed to tourists during morning and evening prayers Tues-Sun 10am-4pm) has become yet another symbol of the city attracting a steady stream of visitors. Dominating the haphazard suburban sprawl, 27 spectacular giant white petals of Rajastham Macrana marble in the shape of an unfolding lotus spring from nine pools and walkways, to symbolize the nine unifying spiritual paths of the Baha’i faith. You’re welcome to meditate inside the impressive but plain central hall, which rises to a height ot 34.27m without the distraction ot supporting columns. In each of the petal alcoves are thought-provoking extracts of the Baha’i holy scriptures. Set amid well-maintained gardens, the temple is at its most impressive when the rays of the setting sun catch the lotus petals. You’ll be asked to remove your shoes on entering, and remain silent, although don’t expect solitude as this is a popular place.

The domed twelve-sided skakti Kalkaji temple (also known as Kalika or Kalka Devi) lies on the same hill as the Baha’i temple. Though of no architectural significance, this popular Kali shrine is at the heart of a village that has somehow ignored the march of time, and the Hindu worship of its mahants (important sadhus) makes a fascinating contrast with the brash new faith of the Baha’is. There is a festival at the temple every October, drawing thousands of devotees. Kalkaji is a major bus depot - among buses from the centre are #433 and #440 from Connaught Place.

Firoz Shah’s Khirki-ki-Masjid, “The Mosque of Windows", famous for its heavy stone lattice windows, lies in the middle of one of South Delhi’s villages close to the site of jahanpanah, Delhi’s fourth city, 4km east of Qutb Minar and 13km south of Connaught Place. The battered bastions of the squat double-storeyed mosque, flanked by short minarets, give it a fortress-like aspect. Its unusual roof- there are only two covered mosques in north India - consisting of 25 squares capped by domes and flat sections, is open at the centre to allow light into a dark pillared courtyard, plagued by bats.

The Moth-ki-Masjid, built during the reign of Sikandar Lodi (1488-1517), is now all but abandoned, isolated in a rural setting within the rapidly spreading suburbs of south Delhi, 2km from Hauz Khas off the Delhi—Mehrauli Road. A milestone in the evolution of the Moghul mosque, its three-domed prayer hall, ornate mihrab and arches stand on a raised plinth, enclosed by walls pierced by an elegant red sandstone gate to the east. Legend has it that Sikandar Lodi picked a grain of moth (a type of lentil) which was then sown by his minister Miyan Bhuwa; the bumper crop multiplied again and again and so financed the construction of the mosque. Some houses in the village of the same name still have mangers.

Hauz Khas, the Soho ot Delhi, is a wealthy suburban development, packed with boutiques and restaurants, 12km southwest of Connaught Place.The “village", as it is known, is just of Aurobindo Marg (or the Delhi—Mehrauli Road), which leads from die centre to the Qutb Minar Complex, and adjacent to a pleasant deer park. The road through the shopping enclave leads to the ruins of Ala-ud-din-Khalji’s large tank (enclosed reservoir) known as Hauz-i-Alai, built early in the fourteenth century to supply the inhabitants of Sin, Delhi’s second city. It was expanded almost fifty years later by Firoz Shah Tughlak, who added a two-storey madrasa (seminary), and a mosque at its northern end. The L-shaped madrasa providing grand views of the tank was constructed with latticed windows, and deep stone niches for books.

In among the anonymous tombs scattered throughout the area is that of Firoz Shah himself, situated on the edge of the tank. Its high walls, lofty dome, and doorway spanned by a lintel with a stone railing outside, are fine examples of Indian traditions effectively blended with Islamic architecture. At dawn every day, the surrounding woodlands and the bed of the immense tank, once the site of Timur’s camp, come alive with Delhi-ites out walking, practising yoga and jogging; in the evenings, Hauz Khas’s salubrious restaurants attract diners from all over the city

The tomb of Safdarjang (daily dawn to dusk; Rs5). die Moghul viceroy ot Avadh under Muhammad Shah (1719-48), and the father of the Nawab of Avadh, Shuja-ud-Daula. stands at the junction of Lodi Road and Aurobindo Marg, 5km southwest of Connaught Place; take bus #560 from Jantar Mantar. Built between 1753 and 1774, it is one of the last in the tradition of Moghul garden tombs. At the centre of another charbagh. reached through a grand dou-ble-storeyed gateway off a busy main road to the east, the double-storeyed mausoleum, built ot red and buff sandstone and relieved by marble, rises on a dramatic platform overlooking the adjacent airport of the Delhi Flying Club. However, its inordinate height and bulbous dome somehow lack the grandeur of Humayun’s Tomb. A single cenotaph in the square central hall marks the underground tombs of Safdarjang and his wife. Immediately to the south is the site of the battlefield where Timur (Tamerlane) routed Muhammad Shah Tughluq in 1398.