A Tour of New Delhi’s Architectural Landmarks

Here’s the story of Qutub Minar, the tower to Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque: the founder of the Mamluk dynasty, Qutb-ud-Din, built the first three floors of the tower and his son-in-law Iltutmish emblazoned it with stones and added a fourth story. On getting damaged due to lightning, King Firoz Shah Tughlaq commissioned repair and added the fifth story. The first three floors are made of red sandstone and the two above are made of marble and sandstone. There are intricate carvings of words from the Quran on each floor.

Would you believe it if you were told that the Red Fort was once white? It was originally made with lime plaster, but as it began to peel off, the British painted the fort red. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb made the Pearl Mosque near his chamber. A confluence of Persian, European, and Indian architectural style can be seen all throughout the Red Fort campus.

The Purana Qila has a harmony of Muslim and Hindu architectural styles. Sher Shah built the Qila with a city spread around it. The fort has three main gates—Humayun Darwaza, Talaqi Darwaza, and Bara Darwaza. Each double-tier rampart was made of sandstone. The gates were surrounded by a moat through which, once upon a time, river Yamuna used to flow.

The most recent addition of monuments in Delhi, the Mutiny Memorial was built by the British army, and its design was highly criticized. It was commissioned and sponsored by the Public Works Department at the government’s expense in 1863. The Victorian gothic-style architecture is not the only thing that makes Mutiny Memorial interesting: some people say it is haunted.

Situated inside Purana Qila, Sher Mandal was built by Mughal emperor Humayun as an observatory, library, and a pleasure house. Octagonal in structure, Sher Mandal consists of two storys and marble floorings, and is built of local red sandstone. Both floors are crowned with a verandah running all around the perimeter.

A much less talked about, but no less remarkable structure in Delhi is the haveli of the legendary poet Mirza Ghalib. Ghalib’s home has sandstone floors and Lakhori bricks, and there are arched corridors on three sides enclosing a courtyard. The structure is a depiction of the architectural style at the tail end of the Mughal era. Sadly, only a portion of the haveli was acquired by the government and restored, the rest is a dilapidated mess.