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BIRLA MANDIR
 It
is another landmark close to Connaught Place and was built by
industrialist Raja Baldev Birla in 1938. The temple is an
important prayer site and contains idols of several deities.
Interestingly Mahatma Gandhi, who inaugurated the temple, was
also a regular visitor to it and would often pray there.
LOTUS TEMPLE
 Is
a very recent architectural marvel of the Bahai faith and is
visible from several spots in south Delhi. Located in Kalkaji in
the south of Delhi, it is lotus shaped and has rightly been
given the name. It is made of marble, cement, dolomite and sand.
It is open to all faiths and is an ideal place for meditation
and obtaining peace and tranquility.
RED FORT
Another marvel of architecture is
the Red Fort and it could perhaps be singled out as yet another
monument, which should not escape the tourist's eyes. Known as
lal qila (lal means red and qila means fort). It is laid out
along the river Yamuna as an irregular octagon.
It is surrounded by a wall of about 2.4 Kilometers in
circumference and is built of Red Sandstone. The Mughal King
Shah Jahan transferred his capital from Agra to Delhi and the
fort was completed in 1648, nine years after the king shifted to
this city. The fort has two main entrances, the Delhi Gate and
the Lahori Gate, which faces the famed Chandni Chowk market.
Shah Jahan, incidentally was also the king who built the Taj
Mahal of Agra. The fort has the Diwan-e-am, where the king would
grant audience to the public to listen to their problems. The
other feature is the Diwan-e-Khas (khas means special) where the
king would grant audience to important people.
Besides this, is the Rang Mahal, the water-cooled apartment for
the royal ladies. In the basement of the fort is a market where
several traditional Indian goods can be purchased at nominal
rates. Another attraction is the Light and Sound Show held in
the evenings.
BANGLA
SAHEB
Near Connaught Place in New Delhi, a
vast and magnificent building that once belonged to Raja Jai
Singh of Amber now stands stately Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, in
memory of Guru Har Krishan ji. Guru Har Rai ji had two sons, Ram
Rai was elder and the younger Har Krishan.
 Ram
Rai had displeased his father on account of his manifesting
miracles despite strict instructions not to do so as it was
against the Sikh faith. Guru Har Rai ji had thus ordained
Guruship to his younger son Har Krishan. Through a cunning and
crafty design, the deranged and distraught Ram Rai involved
Emperor Aurangzeb against the succession. The Emperor ordered
Raja Jai Singh to get Guru Harkrishan ji to see him in Delhi.
The Raja was a great devotee of the Sikh Guru's and he knew the
true story of the succession too. The Raja instead of presenting
the Guru before the King, made him his own guest. It so happened
that at time Delhi was inflamed with the epidemic of smallpox
and people in large gatherings had been visiting the Guru
continuously. The Guru thus could not escapee the attack of
smallpox and he left for his heavenly abode in 1664 at the
tender age of just eight. It is at this place where the Guru
breathed his last and the big palace was converted into an
inspiring Gurdwara now known as Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, which is
a sacred place for pilgrimage with the Sikhs
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