Delhi

The crowded, colourful and unruly heart of India.

The capital of the largest democracy in the world is also one of the oldest cities in the world. There is evidence of continuous human habitation from at least 2000 BC, and the remains of seven major cities have been unearthed. Delhi has not only seen empires rise and fall but has been the capital of several of them.






Delhi is two entirely separate cities: the city of the Mughals - Old Delhi: and New Delhi - an inspired grand design by the great British architect, Lutyens. Two broad central boulevards bisect each other.

The Rajpath runs from the magnificent presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan, to India Gate, a spectacular 42 m (140 ft) arch commemorating the 90,000 or more Indian soldiers who died fighting British wars.

The Janpath leads to the main shopping district, Connaught Place, a series of elegant colonnaded terraces in concentric circles, modelled on Royal Crescent in Bath. It is all splendid and indeed familiar, with the road congestion typical of all major cities.

Old Delhi is altogether another world. Chandni Chowk, the main thoroughfare, leads you into a compelling web of mysterious dark lanes and teeming bazaars, a maelstrom of traffic and people, and pariah dogs and flies, and everywhere the smell of dust and incense, spices and sewage.

After weaving your way through the street hawkers, mendicants, naked vagrants, wandering cows, bullock carts, snake charmers, cycle rickshaws, bedraggled women, waif-like children, the Red Fort is a soothing place to recover from sensory overload - a magnificent 17th century Mughal seat of power, with walls 2 km (1.25 mi) long, acres of garden and Chatta Chowk covered bazaar.



Nearby is Jama Masjid India's largest mosque with two 40 m (130 ft) tall minarets. The 13th century Qutab Minar is even taller at 72.5 m (238 ft). Delhi is a complex, challenging city - infuriating, fascinating, baffling, loathsome and wonderful in equal measure. It has to be seen to be believed. And having been once, you want to go back for more.