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Delhi
is the capital of India, its third-largest city and north
India's industrial hub. Old Delhi was the capital of Muslim
India between the 17th and 19th centuries.
In Old Delhi you will find many mosques, monuments and
forts relating to India's Muslim history. New Delhi was
built as the imperial capital of India by the British.
It is a spacious, open city and contains many embassies
and government buildings.
In addition
to its historic interest and role as the government centre,
Delhi is a major travel gateway. It is one of India's busiest
entrance points for overseas airlines, the hub of the north
Indian travel network, and a stop on the overland route
across Asia. The city of Delhi covers most of the Delhi
Union Territory, a federal district similar to Washington
DC.
New
Delhi is a planned city of wide, treelined streets, parks
and fountains, but still with the Indian touches of doe-eyed
cows calmly ignoring the traffic and squatter hovels on
waste land. It can be further subdivided into the business
and residential areas around Connaught Place and the government
areas around Rajpath to the south. At the eastern end of
Rajpath is the Indian Gate memorial and at the west end
is Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the Indian President.
The
hub of New Delhi is the great circle of Connaught Place
and the streets that radiate from it.
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| Language |
Hindi, English |
| When to visit |
October to
March |
| Airports |
Palam, Indira Gandhi International
Airport |
| Climate |
Summer
Winter
Mansoon |
45oC
20oC
June-Sep |
35oC
7oC |
| Most Popular |
Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Lotus Temple, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Connaught Place |
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Here
you will find most of the airline offices, banks, travel
agents, state tourist offices and the national one, more
budget accommodation and several of the big hotels. The
Regal Cinema, at the south side of the circle, and the
Plaza Cinema, at the north, are two important land marks
and are useful for telling taxi or auto-rickshaw drivers
where you want to go.
Janpath, running off Connaught Place to the south, has
the Government of India tourist office, the Student travel
information Centre in the Imperial Hotel and a number of
other useful addresses.
South
of the New Delhi government areas are Delhi's more expensive
residential areas, with names like Defence Colony, South
Extension, Lodi Colony, Greater Kailash and Vasant Vihar.
Many of the better (and more expensive) cinemas and shopping
centres are found here. The Indira Gandhi International
Airport is to the South-West of the city, and Connaught
Place is Chanakyapuri, the diplomatic enclave. Most of
Delhi's embassies (and the Prime Minister's House) are
concentrated in this strikingly tidy area and there are
several major hotels here.
The
west bank of Yamuna River is divided basically into two
parts - the tightly packed streets of Old Delhi and the
spacious, planned areas of New Delhi
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