Delhi Travel Guide

The national capital of the country, Delhi is the primary gateway to India. The glory of the metropolis is well reflected in the standards of lifestyles and the pace of the mechanism that drag along a multitude of systems. Beyond the confines of the metropolis this territory is greener and better. The facilities and opportunities available in Delhi have attracted Indians from far-flung corners of the country, making it a melting pot of sorts.

Climate
The summer season lasts from mid-March to the end of June, with average maximum and minimum temperatures of 36º C and 25º C. The monsoon season, following the hot summer, continues until the end of September, with an average rainfall of about 26 inches. The winter season extends from late November to mid-February. The coldest month is January, when both the mean maximum temperature and the mean minimum temperature are at their lowest--21º C and 7º C, respectively.

A tour of New Delhi usually starts with a visit to India Gate, the War Memorial situated at the east end of Rajpath. Designed by Lutyens, it commemorates more than 70,000 Indian soldiers who died in World War I. The arch (43 m high) stands on a base of Bharatpur stoe and rises in stages. Under the arch is the Amar Jawan Jyoti, commemorating the Indian troops lost in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Nearby the Secretariats stand on both sides of Raisina Hill, now called Vijay Chowk. North Block houses the Home and finance ministries, South Block the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These long classical buildings, topped by Baroque domes designed by Baker, were derived fro Wren's Royal Naval College at Greenwich.

Business Center
The business and shopping hub of New Delhi is Connaught Place, lying at the northern end. It's a vast traffic circle with an architecturally uniform series of colonnaded buildings around the edge mainly devoted to shops, airline officers and the like. A short stroll down Snasand Marg leads to Jantar Mantar, Maharshtra Jai Singh's observatory, constructed in 1715. It is dominated by a huge sundial known as the Prince of dials. The Lakshmi Narayan Mandir or Birla Temple, not far away, is one of Delhi's few striking examples of Zhindy architecture.