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Modern Delhi
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Delhi
has traveled a long way from the ancient past of bricks and
stone structures to the sprawling modern city of cement and
concrete. Modern Delhi is in a striking contrast to the Historic
Delhi. If you are looking for the enormous edifices built
at the fancy of some emperor, your wishes may not be fulfilled.
Nevertheless, you will find some very interesting attractions
in Modern Delhi to keep you busy. The buildings of the Modern
Delhi show grace, sophistication and technology in their construction.
The National Museum is an integral part of the Modern
Delhi where you can travel back in time to know about the
glorious past. The antiquities on display at the museum have
an affluent variety ranging from ancient, medieval and modern
histories of India as well as the world. On display are the
pottery, rare coins, art objects, components of architecture,
costumes, sculptures, paintings of different schools of art,
manuscripts, religious scriptures, gems and jewelry. There
are both permanent as well as temporary galleries at National
Museum. One of the most well exhibited and popular permanent
galleries is the Indus Valley Gallery. Here you will find
excavated objects including potteries, cooking utensils, ornaments,
busts, terracottas, religious objects and playing objects
from the Indus Valley cities like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal,
Kalibangan, Ropar etc. The two most prized collections in
this gallery are the Dancing Girl and the Burial of a Woman.
Shankar's International Dolls Museum is a unique gift
to the Modern Delhi. K. Shankar Pillai founded the museum
in 1957 and boasts of one of the largest collections of costume
dolls in the world. The museum started with just a thousand
dolls but today it houses more than 6,500 exhibits from over
85 countries. The museum is divided into two sections, one
displaying dolls from Europe, America and Australia and the
other from Asia and Africa. The interesting dolls on display
include a 250-year-old doll from Switzerland; Maypole Dancer
from Hungary; Flamenco Dancers from Spain; Kabuki Dancer from
Japan; Ramayana scene from Thailand; Bridal Pairs from Indonesia;
Kandy Perahera Festival from Sri Lanka; Mexican Aborigines;
Australian Maoris; Ballet Dancers from South Korea; Dolls
in Folk Costumes from Bulgaria and the Dancing Dolls of Tamil
Nadu.
The Rail Transport Museum is another special attraction
in Modern Delhi. Spread over 10 acres, the museum has a large
collection of locomotives and carriages rolling over the 150
years of the railways in India. The locomotives are displayed
in open while the museum is the storehouse of information
on the history of railways in India. The vintage trains on
display are the Viceregal Dining Car (1889) and the Prince
of Wales Saloon (1875), Maharaja of Mysore's Saloon (1899)
and Maharaja of Baroda's Saloon (1886). The model of the first
steam engine that ran from Mumbai to Thane in 1853 is also
on display.
The
Lakshmi Narayan Temple is the contribution of the Birla
Family to the Modern Delhi. Therefore it is known more as
the Birla Temple. Dedicated to Lord Lakshmi Narayan or Vishnu,
The temple took 6 years to complete from 1933 to 1939. Raja
Baldev Das Birla patronized the construction of the temple,
which is modern in concept, construction and architecture.
The Lotus Temple is amongst the contemporary landmarks
of Modern Delhi. Built of marble, cement, dolomite and sand,
the Lotus Temple is the place of worship of the Bahai Faith
but is open to all the faiths. An Iranian based in Canada,
Fariborz Sahba spent ten years in designing this architectural
and engineering marvel. 800 engineers, technicians, artisans
and laborers realized the dream on the paper into reality.
The Lotus Temple comprises of three ranks of nine petals each
springing from a pulpit providing the height to the building
from the surrounding plain. The first two ranks curve inward
to embrace the inner dome and the third layer curves outward
to form canopies over the nine entrances. Nine reflecting
pools surround the building on the outside giving an impression
of the green leaves of the lotus flower.
Iskcon (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Temple is itself an ultra-modern temple of Modern Delhi.
Dedicated to lord Krishna, the temple was completed in 1998.
Besides peace, solace, spirituality and meditation, you will
also a vegetarian restaurant and a library here. The Animatronics
Center has three screens, three computers and three robots
where you can see the show on the history of the temple and
the society. The latest addition to the temple is the upcoming
museum.
National Zoological Park is about environmentally aware
Modern Delhi. Designed by Major Weinman of Sri Lanka and Carl
Hagenbeck of West Germany, the National Zoological Park was
set up in 1959. Spread over an area of 214 acres, the Delhi
Zoo, as it is popularly called houses a number of wild animals
and different species of birds. Many of the animals are brought
from Africa, America and Australia.
Appu Ghar, the famous and most popular amusement park,
was the first theme park of Modern Delhi. Particularly build
to attract the children, you will find people of all the age
groups having a gala time here. You can take joy rides on
the Big Splash, Dodgem Cars, the Eerie Tunnel, My Fair Lady,
Appu Columbus etc. Oysters is the water park at Appu Ghar
where you can enjoy water games like, rain dance, water splash
and ice games like sledding, skiing and ice boating.
Opened only in 2003, The Garden of Five Senses is the
latest addition to the Modern Delhi. Spread over an area of
20 acres of varying landscape, the Garden of Five Senses is
located at Said-ul-Azaib near Mehrauli. As the name suggests,
it is about celebration of the five senses of vision, hearing,
smell, touch and taste. The garden is designed in such a way
to awaken each of the five senses of the humans. See the colorful
flowers, hear the soothing music smell their intoxicating
fragrance, touch the beautiful objects and tickle your taste
buds at the garden at the space specifically allocated to
a particular sense in the garden. Various sculpture and pieces
of art adds to the beauty of the garden and food court and
shopping zone provides popularity to the Garden of Five Senses.
India Golden Triangle offers online booking requests for tour
and tour packages to North India Golden Triangle.
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