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 Delhi has known many conquerors but it was the fusion of Islamic and Hindu influences some 800 years ago which created Delhi s most distinctive characteristics- Indo -Islamic architecture, the poetic language of Urdu , and the singular styles of music , dance, dress and cuisine .
New Delhi , purpose-build as the seat of government, was completed in 1931, its consderate design ensuring that the new capital s broad avenues linked with the great monuments of the old city . In both Old and New Delhi shops are well stocked with hand-woven carpets, crisp cottons, soft silks, intricately embroidered shawls, pottery, paintings,leather goods , sandalwood carvinges, gems , jewellery and much more .Chandani Chowk is a maze of little lanes containing shops dealing in brocades, braids , perfumes, silver and pearls, jewellery and gold- and you may well be buying from descendants of the merchants who once supplied the royal households .
As an introduction to Delhi there are several tours we recommend . The Delhi Tour visits the Moghul Red Fort, Mahatma , Gandhi s memorial at Rajghat, Jama Masjid Mosque, Humayun s Mausoleum and Qutub Miner, the victory memorial built in 1199. Try our half-day visit to the Bahai Temple- surrounded by landscaped gardens, this lotus-shaped hilltop sharine is carved in marble and is reminiscent of a modern day Taj Mahal, see the ruins of Tughalaqabad- the 600- year old testimony to the architectural achievements of the Tuglaq dynasty- and experience the food of Idia - as well as that of Chinese, Moghul and European cuisine- at Bistro Village , where eight separate resaurants surround an open- air auditorium in which , after dinner , classical dances are performed .
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