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INDIA GATE • India Gate is the pride of Delhi. An imposing structure, the gate was built in memory to the of the 90,000 Indian soldiers who laid down their lives during World War I. Situated at the at the end of Rajpath, the India Gate is 42 meters high and is a popular as a relaxation area during the summer evenings and a popular picnic spot during winter. Initially called All India War Memorial, the gate was designed and built by Lutyens who is also credited with the designing of New Delhi, the capital of India.
RED FORT • The history of Red Fort Delhi cannot be summed up in words as its history is connected with centuries of Mughal rule in country. Mughal ruler Shah Jahan had varied needs of this fort and it was made according to those needs. The mammoth sized fort made a distinguished presence in the medieval time of India and is related to the time line of this country to this date. • In 1639, when Mughal ruler Shah Jahan transited his capital from Agra to Delhi, the construction of Red Fort was ordered by him in the north-eastern side of the newly founded city of Shahjahanabad. Shahjahanabad in present day is known as Old Delhi. The construction took nearly a decade to complete, and Yamuna water was used to feed the moat built all around the fort.
RASHTRPATI BHAVAN • The splendour of the RashtrapatiBhavan is multi-dimensional. It is a vast mansion and its architecture is breathtaking. More than these, it has a hallowed existence in the annals of democracy for being the residence of the President of the largest democracy in the world. Few official residential premises of the Head of the State in the world will match the RashtrapatiBhavan in terms of its size, vastness and its magnificence. • The present day RashtrapatiBhavan was the erstwhile residence of the British Viceroy. Its architect was Edwin Landseer Lutyens. The decision to build a residence in New Delhi for the British Viceroy was taken after it was decided in the Delhi Durbar of 1911 that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in the same year. It was constructed to affirm the permanence of British rule in India. This building gave the impression, in the words of a critique, the setting of a perpetual Durbar. The building and its surroundings were supposed to be 'an empire in stone', 'exercising imperial sway' and containing in it, "the abode of a disinterested elite whose rule was imposed from above". That 'empire in stone' and the perpetual Durbar was transformed to be the permanent institution of democracy on 26th January 1950 when Dr. Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India and occupied this building to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of India. It was from that day that this building was renamed as RashtrapatiBhavan - the President's House.
QUTUB MINAR • Built in the early 13th century a few kilometres south of Delhi, the red sandstone tower of QutbMinar is 72.5 m high, tapering from 2.75 m in diameter at its peak to 14.32 m at its base, and alternating angular and rounded flutings. The surrounding archaeological area contains funerary buildings, notably the magnificent Alai-Darwaza Gate, the masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art (built in 1311), and two mosques, including the Quwwatu'l-Islam, the oldest in northern India, built of materials reused from some 20 Brahman temples.
