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Delhi Information
Delhi is the capital of India, its third-largest city and North India's industrial hub. Old Delhi was the capital of Muslim India between the 17th and 19th centuries, and a legacy of mosques, monuments and forts testifies to this. New Delhi was built as the imperial capital of India by the British. It is a spacious, open city and contains embassies and government buildings. The newer, wealthy suburbs are mostly to the south of New Delhi, and an ever-growing belt of poorer suburbs and jhuggis (slums) stretches in all directions.
In addition to its historic interest and role as the government centre, Delhi is a major travel gateway. It is one of India's busiest entrance points for overseas airlines, the hub of the North Indian travel network, and a stop on the overland route across Asia. The city of Delhi covers most of Delhi state.
Few travellers have much that is good to say about India's fastest growing city; the intense air pollution and persistent touts often make it an unsettling experience for newcomers. It does, however, have a long and fascinating history and there's a tangible energy and confidence that only comes with a history as rich and varied as Delhi's.
There is no smoking in public, especially around monuments and religious sites, but it's acceptable in restaurants and bars. Most sights are open sunrise to sunset, although following the dramatic price hikes of 2000, many have become poor value.
HISTORY
Delhi hasn't always been the capital of India, but it has played an important role in Indian history. The settlement of Indraprastha, which featured in the epic Manabharata over 3000 years ago, was approximately on the site of present-day Delhi. Over 2000 years ago, Pataliputra near modern-day Patna) was the capital of Asoka's empire. The Mughal emperors made Agra the capital during the 16th and 17th centuries. Under the British, Kolkata (Calcutta) was the capital until the inauguration of New Delhi in 1931.
There have been at least eight cities around modern Delhi, and the old saying that whoever founds a new city in Delhi will lose it has come true every time - most recently for the British who lasted only 16 years. The first fo
ur cities were to the south, around the area where the Qutb Minar stands.Indraprastha The earliest known Delhi, Indraprastha was centred near present-day Purana Qila. At the beginning of the 12th century, the last Hindu kingdom of Delhi was ruled by the Tomara and Chauthan dynasties and was also near the Qutb Minar and Surajkund, now in Haryana.
Siri Built by Ala-ud-din near present-day Hauz Khas in the 12th century.
Tughlaqabad Now entirely in ruins, Tughlaqabad stood 10km south-east of the Qutb Minar.
Jahanpanah Dating from the 14th century, Jahanpanah was also a creation of the Tughlaqs. It also stood near the Qutb Minar.
Firozabad This city was at Firoz Shah Kotla in present-day New Delhi. Its ruins include an Ashoka pillar, moved from elsewhere, and traces of a mosque where Tamerlane prayed during his attack on India.
Purana Qila Near India Gate in New Delhi, Purana Qila was created by Emperor Sher Shah, the Afghan ruler who defeated the Mughal Humayun and took control of Delhi.
Shahjahanabad Constructed by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, in the 17th century, thus shifting the Mughal capital from Agra to Delhi; Shahjahanabad roughly corresponds to Old Delhi today and is largely preserved, including the Red Fort and the majestic Jama Masjid.
New Delhi Constructed by the British. The move from Kolkata (Calcutta) to New Delhi was announced in 1911 but construction was not completed, and the city officially inaugurated, until 1931.
Delhi has seen many invaders through the ages. Tamerlane plundered it in the 14th century; the Afghan Babur occupied it in the 16th century; and in 1739 the Persian emperor, Nadir Shah, sacked the city and carted the Kohinoor Diamond (now part of the British royal family's crown jewels) and the famous Peacock Throne off to Iran. The British captured Delhi in 1803, but during the Indian Uprising of 1857 it was a centre of resistance to the British. Prior to Partition, Delhi had a very large Muslim population and Urdu was the main language. In 1947, it became the capital of truncated India, and Hindu and Sikh refugees poured in from Pakistan Now Hindu Punjabis have replaced many of the Muslims, and Hindi predominates.
William Dalrymple's excellent City of Djinns is a wonderfully entertaining introduction to Delhi's past and present.
ORIENTATION
Delhi is a relatively easy city to find your way around, although it is very spread out. The section of interest to visitors is on the west bank of the Yamuna River and is divided into two basic parts - the tightly packed streets of Old Delhi and the spacious, planned areas of New Delhi.
Old Delhi is the 17th-century walled city of Shahjahanabad, with city gates, narrow alleys, constant traffic jams and terrible air pollution, the enormous Red Fort and Jama Masjid, temples, mosques, bazaars and the famous street known as Chandni Chowk. Here you will find the Old Delhi train station and, a little farther north, the main Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) near Kashmiri Gate. Near New Delhi train station, and acting as a sort of buffer zone between the old and new cities, is the crowded market area of Paharganj. This has become the budget travellers' hang-out, and there are many popular cheap hotels and restaurants in this area.
New Delhi is a planned city of wide, tree-lined streets, parks and fountains, but still has the Indian touches of doe-eyed cows calmly ignoring the traffic and squatter hovels on waste land. It can be subdivided into the business and residential areas around Connaught Place to the north and the government areas around Rajpath to the south. At the eastern end of Rajpath is the India Gate memorial and at the west end is Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the Indian president.
The hub of New Delhi is the great circle of Connaught Place and the streets that radiate from it. Here you will find most of the airline offices, banks, travel agents, state and national tourist offices, more budget accommodation and several of the big hotels. The Regal Cinema, at the south side of the circle, and the Plaza Cinema, at the north, are two important landmarks and are useful for telling taxi or autorickshaw drivers where you want to go.
Janpath and Sansad Marg (Parliament St) are the two main streets running off Con-naught Place, here you'll find more tourist offices, hotels, airlines and a number of other useful addresses.
South of the New Delhi government areas are Delhi's more expensive residential areas, with names such as Defence Colony, South Extension, Lodi Colony, Greater Kailash and Vasant Vihar. Many of the better (and more expensive) cinemas and shopping centres are found here. The Indira Gandhi International Airport is to the south-west of the city, and about halfway between the airport and Connaught Place is Chanakyapuri, the diplomatic enclave. Most of Delhi's embassies (and the prime minister's house) are concentrated in this strikingly tidy area and there are several major hotels here.
Across the Yamuna River (heavily polluted for the nine months of the year that the monsoon is not flushing it) lie many new industrial and residential areas, as well as some of the grimmest slum areas.
The 250-page Eicher City Map (Rs 270) includes 174 area maps, and is a good reference if you are venturing farther into the Delhi environs. It's available at most larger bookshops and modern fuel stations.
INFORMATION
Tourist Offices
The Government of India tourist office (tel 3320005) at 88 Janpath is open from 9 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am to 2 pm Saturday. The office has a lot of information and brochures on destinations all over India, but you have to ask for it. It has a good give away map of the city, and the staff can also help with accommodation. Some have been known to try to sell overpriced taxi tours.
There are tourist offices in the arrivals nails of the international (t 5694229) and domestic (t 5665296) airports that are open wound the clock. Here, too, staff can help you find accommodation although, like many other Indian tourist offices, they may tell you the hotel you choose is 'full' and steer you somewhere else.
There is a Delhi Tourism Corporation office (t 3313637) in N-Block, Connaught Place, open from 7 am to 9 pm Monday to Friday, and another (with a pleasant coffee shop and garden) near the state emporiums on Baba Kharak Singh Marg. There are also counters at New Delhi, Old Delhi and Nizamuddin train stations, as well as at the ISBT at Kashmiri Gate.
Official guides are available at the major sites (around Rs 100 for half a day) and through the above tourist offices. Unofficial guides will also offer their services.
There are several city guides available from newsstands - Delhi City Guide, Delhi this Fortnight and Delhi Diary among them. First City (Rs 30) is a monthly magazine with gossip on what the city's upper-class 'tiger ladies' are up to, but also has good listings and reviews of cultural events and restaurants. Try www.delhigate.com for information about the city, and www.delhil23.com has news, events, venues, weather and more.
Most of the state governments have information centres in Delhi, staffed by a mix of helpful people and surly babus (bureaucratic bureaucrats):
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (t 6871443) 12 Chanakyapuri
Andhra Pradesh (t 3382031) Andhra Bhavan, 1 Ashoka Rd
Arunachal Pradesh (t 3013956) Arunachal Bldg, Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri
Assam (t 3342064) Bl Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Bihar (t 3368371) 216-217 Kanishka Shopping Plaza, Ashoka Rd Goa (t 4629967) 18 Amrita Shergil Marg
Gujarat (t 3734015) A6 Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Haryana (t 3324910) Chandralok Bldg, 36 Janpath
Himachal Pradesh (t 3325320) Chandralok Bldg, 36 Janpath
Ja mm u & Kashmir (t 3345373) Kanishka Shopping Plaza, Ashoka Rd
Karnataka (t 3363862) Karnataka State Emporium, Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Kerala (t 3368541) Kanishka Shopping Plaza, Ashoka Rd
Madhya Pradesh (t 3341187) Kanishka Shopping Plaza, Ashoka Rd
Maharashtra (t 3363773) A8 Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Manipur (t 3344026) State Emporium Bldg, Baba Kharak Singh Marg Meghalaya (t 3014417) 9 Aurangzeb Rd
Mizoram (t 3012331) Mizoram State Government House, Circular Rd, Chanakyapuri
Nagaland (t 3343161) Nagaland Emporium, Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Orissa (t 3364580) B4 Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Punjab Kanishka Shopping Plaza, Ashoka Rd
Rajasthan (t 3383837) Bikaner House, Pandara Rd
Sikkim (t 6115346) New Sikkim House, 14 Panchsheel Marg, Chanakyapuri
Tamil Nadu (t 3735427) State Emporium Bldg, Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Tripura (t 3793827) Tripura Bhavan, off Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri
Uttar Pradesh (t 3322251) Chandralok Bldg, 36 Janpath
West Bengal (t 3732840) A2 Baba Kharak Singh Marg
Money
The major offices of all the Indian and foreign banks operating in India can be found in Delhi, where it's possible to get cash around the clock. If you do need to change money outside regular banking hours, Citibank and Standard Chartered Grindlays have 24-hour branches in Connaught Place and Thomas Cook also has 24-hour branches at New Delhi train station and at the airport. There are also plenty of ATMs dotted around.
At other times there's plenty of choice. In Paharganj, Chequepoint foreign exchange on Main Bazaar exchanges cash and travellers cheques without commission between 9.30 am and 8 pm daily.
American Express (AmEx; t 3324119) has its office in A-Block, Connaught Place, and is open from 9 am to 7 pm daily. Thomas Cook has more branches in C-Block, Con-naught Place and at The Imperial hotel, which is open from 9.30 am to 6 pm.
Other banks (most with ATMs) include:
Bank of America (t 3722332) DCM Bldg, Barakhamba Rd
Banque Nationale de Paris (t 3314848) 2nd floor, Hansalya Bldg, Barakhamba Rd
Citibank (t 3712484) Jeevan Bharati Bldg, Outer Circle, Connaught Place
Deutsche Bank (t 3712028) 15 Tolstoy House Tolstoy Marg '
HongKong & Shanghai Bank (t 3314355) ECE House, Kasturba Gandhi Marg
Standard Chartered Grindlays (t 3721242) 10 H-Block, Connaught Place; (a 3732260) 17 Sansard Marg. Connaught Place
Post & Communications
There are small post offices in Paharganj and A-Block, Connaught Place, but the main post office is on the roundabout on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, 500m south-west of Connaught Place. Poste restante mail can be collected here from 10 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Saturday. Ensure mail is addressed to New Delhi, otherwise it will go to the Old Delhi post office. Mail can also be sent to the Government of India tourist office on Janpath.
There are plenty of private STD/ISD call offices around the city, many of which also have fax and email facilities. The telecom centre in the Arunachal Building, Barakhamba Rd has fax and phone facilities, and the central telegraph office at Eastern Court has multimedia facilities. Both are open from 10 am to 7 pm Monday to Saturday.
Internet access around Connaught Place tends to be more expensive than elsewhere. Hub Internet Centre in B-Block is modern and has plenty of terminals for Rs 30 per hour (minimum time). DSIDC Cyber Cafe, next to Delhi Tourism Corporation in N-Block. is smaller and more expensive, charging Rs 30/50 per half hour/hour, but you get a free drink. It's open from 9 am to 8 pm. There are a couple of smaller places around Ringo Guest House that also charge Rs 30/50.
In Paharganj a few guesthouses have 24-hour Internet access at around Rs 20 per hour, and there's a whole heap of other places on Main Bazaar and in the lanes running off it. If your guesthouse doesn't have Internet access, you can enjoy a beer while you surf the Web at Hotel Gold Regency. Internet access costs Rs 20 per hour but the system is electronically timed and can cut off half way through sending a message. To the west along Main Bazaar down the small lane east of Khosla Cafe is a really good place open 24 hours. It's a bit pricier at Rs 30 per hour but access is fast. There's another good place with fast access opposite the Malhotra restaurants that is open until 9 pm.
Internet Resources
Following are some useful Internet resources for Delhi:
delhigate City listings site with a query page.
http://www.delhigate.com/ delhi123 City listings site with news, events,
venues, weather and more.
http://www.delhil23.com/
Visa Extensions & Other Permits
You will find the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office (FRRO; t 3319489) in Hans Bhavan, near the Tilak Bridge train station. Come here to get permits for restricted areas such as Mizoram in the north-eastern region. The office is open from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and 2 to 4 pm Monday to Friday.
The FRRO can issue 15-day visa extensions for free if you just need a few extra days before you leave the country. To apply for a maximum one-month extension on a six-month visa is more complicated. First you need a very good reason, then you must collect the long-term visa extension form from the Ministry of Home Affairs at Lok Nayak Bhavan in Khan Market (t 4693334), on Subramania Bharati Rd. The office is open from 10 am to noon Monday to Friday. It's a typical Indian government office, so be prepared to wait. Once you've collected the form, you then need to take it, along with four photos, to the FRRO, which is about a Rs 20 rickshaw ride away. A one-month extension costs USS30. When (or if) the extension is authorised, the authorisation has to be taken back to the Ministry of Home Affairs, where the actual visa extension is issued.
Since it's difficult to get an extension on a six-month visa, you may be approached by people offering to forge your visa for a longer stay. Don't fall for this one - the authorities will check your details carefully against their computer records when you leave India. There are heavy fines if you're caught and you won't be allowed to visit India again.
If you need a tax clearance certificate before departure, the Foreign Section of the Income Tax Department (t 3317826) is at Indraprastha Estate. Bring exchange certificates with you, though it's entirely likely nobody will ask for your clearance certificate when you leave the country. The office is closed from 1 to 2 pm.
Export of any object over 100 years old requires a permit. If in doubt, contact the Director, Antiquities, Archaeological Survey of India (t 3017220), on Janpath, next to the National Museum.
Travel Agencies
In the ITDC Hotel Janpath, the Student Travel Information Centre (t 3327582) is used by many travellers and is the place to renew or obtain student cards (Rs 200), although their tickets are not usually as cheap as elsewhere.
Some of the ticket discounters around Paharganj and Connaught Place are real fly-by-night operations, so take care. Those that have been recommended by readers include the following:
Aa Bee Travels (t 3510172, aabee@mail.com) Hare Rama Guest House, Paharganj
Cozy Travels (t 3312873) BMC House, 1 N-Block, Connaught Place
Don't Pass Me By Travels (t 3352942) 1st floor, Ringo Guest House
VINstring Holidays (t 3368717) YWCA International Guest House, Sansad Marg
Vin Tours (t 3348571) YWCA Blue Triangle Family Hostel, Ashoka Rd
Y Tours & Travel (t 3711662) YMCA, Ashoka Rd
Hotel Namaskar (t 3621234), just off Main Bazaar, Paharganj, and the travel agency at the Hotel Ajanta (t 3620927), Arakashan Rd, have also been recommended (see Places to Stay later in this chapter).
For more upmarket travel arrangements, both within India and for foreign travel, there are a number of agencies that are mostly located around Connaught Place. These include Cox & Kings (t 3320067) in H-Block and Sita World Travels (t 331-1133) in F-Block.
Photography
I There are lots of places around Connaught Place at which you can buy and process film. The Delhi Photo Company, at 78 Jan-path, close to the Government of India tourist office, competently processes both print and slide film. Kinsey Bros in A-Block, Con-naught Place is a bit quicker but is also a bit more expensive.
There are plenty more camera and film shops for snap-happy tourists. Sanjay Studio
next to Diamond Cafe is convenient for those staying in Paharganj, but if you really treasure good quality snaps you should make the trek to Connaught Place.
Bookshops
Connaught Place and Khan Market are the main places to look for interesting Indian books or to stock up with hefty paperbacks to while away those long train rides. Some of the better shops include:
Bahri & Sons Khan Market
The Bookshop Khan Market, Subramania
English Book Store 17L Radial Road No 5, Connaught Place
New Book Depot 18 B-Block, Connaught Place
There are plenty of pavement stalls in various places around Connaught Place, particularly on Sansad Marg, near the Kwality Restaurant, and in Paharganj. Most stalls have a good range of cheap paperback books, and will often buy them back from you if they are returned in a reasonable condition. Almost next door to the Kwality Restaurant is People Tree, which sells books about the environment as well as ecofriendly crafts.
Prabhu Book Service in Hauz Khas Village has an interesting selection of secondhand and rare books. Bookshops in deluxe hotels are more expensive but have a good selection of novels, glossy art books and historical works.
Libraries & Cultural Centres
Delhi has a fair selection of libraries and cultural centres, including Delhi Public Library, opposite the (Old) Delhi Train Station on SP Mukherjee Marg, open 8.30 am to 8.30 pm daily, except Sunday.
Others include:
Alliance Francaise (t 6258128) D-13 South Extension Part II
American Center (t 3316841) 24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Connaught Place. Open 10 am to 6 pm Thursday to Saturday and Monday to Tuesday.
British Council Library (t 3711401) 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Connaught Place. Open 10 am to 6 pm Tuesday to Saturday. This is better than the US equivalent, but officially you have to join to get in.
India International Centre (t 4619431) Near the Lodi tombs. The centre has weekly lectures on art, economics and other contemporary issues by Indian and foreign experts.
World Wide Fund for Nature India (t 469-3744) 172-B Lodi Estate. This organisation has excellent computerised environmental records, a good library, and an ecoshop selling handicrafts and books. It's open 9.30 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday.
For Sangeet Natak Akademi, a performing arts centre with substantial archive material, Lalit Kala Akademi, the academy of fine arts and sculpture, and Sahitya Akademi, the literature academy, see Museums & Galleries later in this chapter.
Laundry
Most hotels and guest houses have a laundry service. You'll save a bit of cash by taking your laundry to the parcel office next door to Hare Rama Guest House, where t-shirts/trousers are machine washed for around Rs 5/10 per garment. There are several other laundries around Connaught Place and the suburbs; most of these will also do dry-cleaning.
Left Luggage
Most hotels will store baggage for a nominal fee or for free. Otherwise gear can be safely stored at The Luggage Room (T 3618971), in a lane east of Hare Rama Guest House in Paharganj, for Rs 4 per day It won't store cash, cameras or walkmans and you'll need your passport for both de-posit and collection, which is possible between 8 am and 8 pm daily. Shota Tours and Travel above Diamond Cafe charges a rupee or two more for the same service.
Medical Services & Emergency
The Indraprastha Apollo Hospital (t 692 5858), Sarita Vihar, Mathura Rd, is one of the best hospitals in Delhi, if not India. The East West Medical Centre (t 4623738,4699229) near Delhi Golf Course, at 38 Golf Links Rd, is popular with travellers. All rickshaw-wallahs know where these hospitals are Reputable government hospitals include Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (t 335 5525), Baba Kharak Singh Marg, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (t 6561123), Ansari Nagar. Embassies have lists of recommended doctors and dentists.
There is a 24-hour pharmacy (t 3310163, ext 180) at Super Bazaar in Connaught Place. The ambulance service can be reached on tel 102.