Delhi At Present
The new age Delhi, also known as Lutyens’ Delhi has wide lanes, architecturally brilliant buildings, huge historical monuments and many more in its fold. Thought it was officially inaugurated in 1931, this place began to be formed right when the British moved the national capital to Calcutta.
The entire capital is a perfect blend of ancient architecture and modern state-of-the art buildings. The serene and rich historical monuments, the age-old wholesale markets and the dilapidated structures co-exist in perfect harmony with highly developed shopping malls, entertainment facilities, theme parks, towering buildings and sprawling greenery in most of the places.
The Change
The diverse cultures that exist in Delhi today are a result of the huge changes in management that the city witnessed ever since its formation. Lots of rulers fought for power in this place and with every dynasty leaving behind some cultures and lifestyle patterns in the state. The diversity that is found in Delhi is a perfect representation of the nation’s diversity. Today, there are two main parts of Delhi: Old Delhi that is Islam dominated and New Delhi that was set up by the British.
Old Delhi, known as Shahjahanabad in the olden days, has such culture and architectural richness embedded within it that it is beyond description. Chandni Chowk, one of the oldest wholesale markets in the country, is situated here and it is still considered as an example of the historical richness of the place. The Lal Qila or Red Fort is an example of the architectural brilliance that existed during those times. The noon prayers that can be heard from Jama Masjid, the soothing Gurubani that is heard from the Sisganj Gurudwara and the chiming bells from the nearby church make this place a truly historic treasure.
A walk through the narrow and crowded streets of Old Delhi is filled with variety of shops, each specialising in one thing or the other. The delicacies available here taste divine. The buildings and Havelis that are found along the streets talk volumes about the rich history that was available in those days. It was in one of the Havelis here, Ghalib Ki Haveli, that Mirza Ghalib, one of the most renowned Urdu and Persian poets wrote some of his masterpieces. A walk through the streets of Old Delhi is enough to make one realise the perfect combination of past richness and present technology that exists peacefully here. Old Delhi can be best experienced by cycle-rickshaws or better still, by foot. The huge crowds and the narrow, messy lanes may demotivate the traveller, but it is the best way to know about the culture and history of the place.
New Delhi, on the contrary, is exactly what Old Delhi is not. It is neat, planned, wide and quite luxurious. All the buildings are set up according to old, Victorian style of architecture and they are well planned out. These remarkable buildings are a result of careful planning during the 19th century and intricate implementation during the 20th century.
New Delhi was considered to be the imperial seat of British and they did a phenomenal job in constructing some of the greatest buildings of today like Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Parliament House, India Gate, blocks at the North and South side and the famous Connaught Place with its sprawling gardens in and around the vicinity.
The Government of India currently considers New Delhi as its hot seat as there are number of government offices in wonderfully constructed buildings that adorn the wide and neat streets of Delhi. In terms of number of trees, Delhi ranks third in the country.
This place is known as Dilli by the local people. This word simply means “straight from the heart”. Delhi is a place that is visited by tourists from all over the globe as it offers something for everybody who comes into its fold. Historians, food lovers, adventure lovers, tourists who come for sight-seeing etc. have something in the city that satisfies their search. The modern technology along with the old age architecture co-existing with each other attracts lots of visitors.
Though the place of Delhi has gone through lots of urbanization and commercialization over the years, it has not lost its charm even one bit and has still managed to carry on the legacy of its historical richness till date. Some of the world famous and ancient educational institutions like IIT, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, AIIMS, Jamia Milia Islamia etc. are in Delhi. It is also the hub of fashion, IT, sports, business, finance and many such high profile industries.
Delhi Demographics
The demographics of Delhi have passed through many cycles of evolution over the years, right from the time when many rulers were ruling here. With the coming and going of every age, each ruler belonging to a specific dynasty has come, ruled over the place and left his indelible impressions and handed it over to the person who took over. Therefore, Delhi is a place that still bears traces of some of the greatest kings who ruled over it many centuries ago.
Most of the people in Delhi followed Hinduism in the earlier days and they were traders by profession. They carried on their business with nearby holy cities, Varanasi and Allahabad and used Yamuna as their main source of transit. However during the 12th century, Muslim rulers took control over the place. They ruled the place quite aggressively and threatened all the people to take up Islam after giving up on their original religions. Since then there was a flurry of Mughal invasions into the city, lots of people started embracing Islam in order to save their lives.
A major turnaround in the city occurred in 1947 during the Independence struggle of India. Along with Independence, came partition as well and Delhi was the focal place where lots of people from Pakistan’s Punjab and Sind provinces, sought refuge. Lots of people started migrating to Delhi since then and people from not-so-developed nearby states starting settling down in Delhi which explains the surging population in the capital even today.
Do you think Delhi is the most developing Capital in the world?