Delhi, known locally as
Dilli ( , , ), and also by the official name
National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is the
largest metropolis by area and the
second-largest
metropolis by population in India
.
It is the
eighth largest
metropolis in the world by population with more than 12.25
million inhabitants in the territory and with over 15.9 million
residents in the National Capital Region area
(which also includes Noida
, Gurgaon
, Greater Noida
, Faridabad
and Ghaziabad).
The name
Delhi is often also used to include some urban areas near the NCT,
as well as to refer to New
Delhi
, the capital of India, which lies within the
NCT. The NCT is a federally administered
union territory.
Located on
the banks of the River
Yamuna
, Delhi has been continuously
inhabited since at least the 6th
century BC. After the rise of the
Delhi Sultanate, Delhi emerged as a major
political, cultural and commercial city along the
trade routes between northwest India and the
Indo-Gangetic plains. It is the
site of many ancient and medieval monuments, archaeological sites
and remains. In 1639,
Mughal emperor Shahjahan built a
new
walled city in Delhi which served
as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857.
After the
British East India
Company had gained control of much of India during the 18th and 19th
centuries, Calcutta
became the
capital both under Company
rule and under the British Raj,
until George V
announced in 1911 that it was to move back to Delhi.
A new
capital city, New
Delhi, was built to the south of the old city during the
1920s. When India gained
independence from British
rule in 1947, New Delhi was declared its capital and
seat of government. As such, New Delhi
houses important offices of the federal government, including the
Parliament of India.
Owing to the migration of people from across the country, Delhi has
grown to be a
cosmopolitan
metropolis. Its rapid development and
urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high
average income of its population, has transformed Delhi. Today
Delhi is a major cultural, political, and commercial center of
India.
Etymology
The etymology of "Delhi" is uncertain but many possibilities exist.
The most common view is that its
eponym is
Dhillu or
Dilu, a
king of the
Mauryan dynasty, who built the city
in 50 BC and named it after himself.
The Hindi/Prakrit word
dhili ("loose") was used by the Tuar Rajputs to refer to the city because the
Iron
Pillar
built by Raja Dhava had a weak foundation and was
replaced. The coins in circulation in the region under the
Rajputs were called
dehliwal. Some other historians
believe that the name is derived from
Dilli, a corruption
of
dehleez or
dehali—Hindi for 'threshold'—and
symbolic of city as a gateway to the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Another
theory suggests that the city's original name was Dhillika.
History
Human habitation was probably present in and around Delhi during
the second millennium
BC and before,
and
continuous
inhabitation has been evidenced since at least the
6th century BC. The city is believed to be
the site of
Indraprastha, legendary
capital of the
Pandavas in the Indian epic
Mahabharata. Settlements grew from the
time of the
Mauryan Empire (c. 300
BC). Remains of seven major cities have been discovered in Delhi.
The
Tomara dynasty founded the city of Lal
Kot in 736
AD.
The Chauhan
Rajputs of Ajmer
conquered
Lal Kot in 1180 AD and renamed it Qila
Rai Pithora. The Chauhan king Prithviraj III was defeated in 1192 by the
Afghan
Muhammad Ghori. In 1206,
Qutb-ud-din Aybak, the first ruler of the
Slave Dynasty established the
Delhi Sultanate.
Qutb-ud-din started
the construction the Qutub
Minar
and Quwwat-al-Islam (might of Islam), the
earliest extant mosque in India. After the fall of the Slave
dynasty, a succession of Turkic and Afghan dynasties, the
Khilji dynasty, the
Tughluq dynasty, the
Sayyid dynasty and the
Lodhi dynasty held power in the late medieval
period, and built a sequence of forts and townships that are part
of the
seven cities of Delhi.
In 1398,
Timur Lenk invaded India on the
pretext that the Muslim sultans of Delhi were too lenient towards
their
Hindu subjects. Timur entered Delhi and
the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins. Delhi was a
major centre of
Sufism during the Sultanate
period.
In 1526, Zahiruddin Babur defeated the last Lodhi
sultan in the First Battle of
Panipat and founded the Mughal
Empire that ruled from Delhi, Agra
and Lahore
.
The Mughal Empire ruled northern India for more than three
centuries, with a sixteen-year hiatus during the reign of
Sher Shah Suri, from 1540 to 1556. During
1553–1556,
Hemu
Vikramaditya acceded to the throne of Delhi by defeating forces
of Mughal Emperor Akbar at Agra and Delhi. However, the Mughals
reestablished their rule after
Akbar's army
defeated Hemu during the
Second
Battle of Panipat.
Shah Jahan built
the seventh city of Delhi that bears his name (
Shahjahanabad), and is more commonly
known as the
"Old City" or
"Old Delhi". The old
city served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1638. After
1680, the Mughal Empire's influence declined rapidly as the Hindu
Marathas rose to prominence. A weakened
Mughal Empire lost the
Battle of
Karnal following which the victorious forces of
Nader Shah invaded and looted Delhi, carrying
away many treasures, including the
Peacock Throne. A treaty signed in 1752 made
Marathas the protector of the Mughal throne at Delhi. In 1761,
after the Marathas lost the
third battle of Panipat, Delhi was
raided by
Ahmed Shah Abdali. In
1803, the forces of
British
East India Company overran the
Maratha forces near Delhi and ended the Mughal rule over the
city.
After the
Indian Rebellion of
1857, Delhi came under direct rule of the
British crown and was made a district
province of the
Punjab.
In 1911,
the capital of British India was
transferred from Calcutta to Delhi, following which a team of British
architects led by Edwin Lutyens
designed a new political and administrative area, known as New Delhi, to house the government buildings. New
Delhi, also known as
Lutyens' Delhi, was officially
declared as the capital of the
Union of
India after the country gained
independence on 15 August,
1947.
During
the partition of India, thousands
of Hindu and Sikh refugees
from West
Punjab
and Sindh
fled to
Delhi, while many Muslim residents of the city migrated to Pakistan
. Starting on October 31, 1984, approximately
three thousand Sikhs were killed during the four-day long
anti-Sikh riots after the Sikh body
guards of then-Prime Minister,
Indira
Gandhi, assassinated her. Migration to Delhi from the rest of
India continues, contributing more to the rise of Delhi's
population than the birth rate, which is declining.
The
Constitution Act, 1991
declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as
National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Act gave Delhi its own
legislative assembly, though
with limited powers. In December 2001, the
Parliament of India building in New
Delhi was
attacked by
armed militants resulting in the death of six security personnel.
India suspected the hand of Pakistan-based militant groups in the
attacks resulting in a major
diplomatic
crisis between the two countries.
Delhi again witnessed
terrorist attacks in October 2005 and September
2008
resulting in the deaths of 62 and 30 civilians
respectively.
Geography
River Yamuna near Delhi
The National Capital Territory of Delhi is spread over an area of ,
of which is designated rural, and urban. Delhi has a maximum length
of and the maximum width of . There are three local bodies
(statutory towns) namely, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (area is
), New Delhi Municipal Committee ( ) and Delhi Cantonment Board (
).
Delhi is an expansive area, in its extremity it spans from Sarup
Nagar in the north to Rajorki in the south. Najafghar is the
furthest point west, and the river Yamuna is its (relatively
conservative) eastern extremity. Places like Shahdara and
Bhajanpura are its eastern ends and are one of major shopping
centres in Delhi. The NCR encompasses points south and east of the
said border, namely Noida and DLF.
Oddly, the main expanse of Delhi does not follow a specific
geographical features (for example, converse to London, which
centered on the Thames, has its northern limit at its first Hill,
Hampstead Heath, and its southern limit at the river, similarly its
western limit is the bottom of a basin – Paddington) The main city
area of Delhi does not end until Saket in the South, whilst the
northern limit is easily the Connaught Place, and the western limit
is easily the NH8.The terrain of Delhi is widely erratic.
It
changes from plain agricultural fields in the north to dry, arid
hills (an offshoot of the Aravalli Hills
of Rajasthan
) in the south. There used to be large
natural lakes in the southern part of the city, but most of them
have dried up due to mining. The city is bordered by river Yamuna,
that separates the, although there is a good connectivity between
them, with a number of bridges and the
Metro subway, areas east of the river are not in
the City of Delhi. The entirety of the city, including New Delhi,
lies west of the river. East of the river still continues the NCR,
but is not Delhi.
Delhi is located at , and lies in
northern India.
It borders the Indian
states of Uttar
Pradesh
on East and Haryana
on West, North and South. Delhi lies almost
entirely in the
Gangetic plains.
Two
prominent features of the geography of Delhi are the Yamuna
flood plain
and the Delhi ridge. The
low-lying Yamuna flood plains provide fertile
alluvial soil suitable for agriculture.
However, these plains are prone to recurrent
floods. Reaching up to a height of 318 m (1,043 ft),
the ridge forms the most dominating feature in this region.
It
originates from the Aravalli Range
in the south and encircles the west, northeast and
northwest parts of the city. Yamuna, a sacred river in
Hinduism, is the only major river flowing
through Delhi.
Another river called the Hindon River
separates Ghaziabad from the eastern part of
Delhi. Delhi falls under
seismic zone-IV, making it
vulnerable to major
earthquakes,although
earthquakes are not so common in Delhi.
Climate
Delhi features an atypical version of a
humid subtropical climate, with
long very hot summers and brief mild winters. Summers are long and
extremely hot, from early April to mid-October, with the
monsoon season in between. Beginning of March sees a
reversal in the direction of wind, from the north-western
direction, to the south-western. These bring the hot waves from
Rajasthan, carrying sand and are a characteristic of the Delhi
summer. These are called
loo. The months
of March to May see a time of hot prickling heat. Monsoon arrives
at the end of June, bringing some respite from the heat, but
increasing humidity at the same time. Winter starts in late
November and peaks in January and is notorious for its heavy fog.
Extreme temperatures range from −0.6
°C
(30.9
°F) to . The annual mean
temperature is 25 °C (77 °F); monthly mean temperatures range from
13 °C to 32 °C (56 °F to 90 °F). The average annual rainfall is
approximately 714 mm (28.1 inches), most of which is during
the
monsoons in July and August. The average
date of the advent of monsoon winds in Delhi is 29 June.
Civic administration
As of July 2007, the National Capital Territory of Delhi comprises
nine districts, 27
tehsils,
59 census towns, 165 villages and three statutory towns
the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD); the New Delhi Municipal
Committee (NDMC); and the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB).
Map showing the nine districts of
Delhi
The Delhi metropolitan area lies within the National Capital
Territory of Delhi (NCT).
The NCT has three local municipal
corporations: Municipal
Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council
(NDMC) and Delhi
Cantonment Board
. MCD is one of the largest municipal
corporations in the world providing civic amenities to an estimated
13.78 million people. The capital of India, New Delhi, falls
under the administration of NDMC. The chairperson of the NDMC is
appointed by the Government of India in consultation with the
Chief Minister of
Delhi.
Delhi has four major satellite cities, which lie outside the
National Capital Territory of Delhi.
These are Gurgaon and Faridabad (in Haryana), and NOIDA
and Ghaziabad
, in Uttar Pradesh. Delhi is divided into
nine districts. Each district (division) is headed by a Deputy
Commissioner and has three subdivisions. A Subdivision Magistrate
heads each subdivision. All Deputy Commissioners report to the
Divisional Commissioner. The District Administration of Delhi is
the enforcing department for all kinds of State and Central
Government policies and exercises supervisory powers over numerous
other functionaries of the Government.
The
Delhi High
Court
has jurisdiction over Delhi. Delhi also has
lower courts: the
Small Causes
Court for civil cases, and the
Sessions Court for criminal cases. The
Delhi Police, headed by the
Police Commissioner, is one of
the largest metropolitan police forces in the world. Delhi is
administratively divided into nine
police-zones, which are further
subdivided into 95 local police stations.
Government and politics
Earlier known as a special
union
territory, the National Capital Territory of Delhi has its own
Legislative Assembly,
Lieutenant
Governor, Council of Ministers and
Chief Minister. The legislative
assembly seats are filled by direct election from territorial
constituencies in the NCT. However, the Union Government of India
and the
Government of National
Capital Territory of Delhi jointly administer New Delhi. New
Delhi, a city in Delhi, is the seat of both the National Capital
Territory of Delhi and the Government of India.
While services like transport and others are taken care of by the
Delhi government, services such as the police are directly under
the control of the Central Government. The legislative assembly was
re-established in 1993 for the first time since 1956, with direct
federal rule in the span. In addition, the
Municipal Corporation of
Delhi (MCD) handles civic administration for the city as part
of the Panchayati Raj act. New Delhi, an urban area in Delhi, is
the seat of both the State Government of Delhi and the Government
of India.
The Parliament of India, the Rashtrapati
Bhavan
(Presidential Palace) and the Supreme
Court of India
are located in New Delhi. There are 273
assembly constituencies and ten
Lok Sabha
(Indian parliament's lower house) constituencies in Delhi.
Delhi was a traditional stronghold of the
Indian National Congress, also
known as the Congress Party. In the 1990s, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of
Madan Lal Khurana came into power;
however in 1998, Congress regained power under
Sheila Dixit, the incumbent Chief Minister. The
Congress retained power in the Legislative Assembly in the 2003 and
2008 elections.
Economy
With an estimated net
State
Domestic Product (FY 2007) of
Rs.
1,182 billion (
US$24.5 billion) in nominal terms
and Rs. 3,364 billion (US$69.8 billion) in
PPP terms, Delhi is the largest
commercial center in
northern India.
In 2007, Delhi had a
per capita
income of Rs.
66,728 (US$1,450) at current prices, the
third highest in India after Chandigarh
and Goa
. The
tertiary sector
contributes 70.95% of Delhi's gross SDP followed by
secondary and
primary sectors with 25.2% and
3.85% contribution respectively. Delhi's workforce constitutes
32.82% of the population showing an increase of 52.52% between 1991
and 2001. Delhi's unemployment rate decreased from 12.57% in
1999–2000 to 4.63% in 2003. In December 2004, 636,000 people were
registered with various employment exchange programmes in
Delhi.
In 2001 the total workforce in all government (union and state) and
quasi government sector was 620,000. In comparison, the organised
private sector employed 219,000. Key service industries include
information technology, telecommunications, hotels, banking, media
and tourism. Delhi's manufacturing industry has also grown
considerably as many
consumer
goods industries have established manufacturing units and
headquarters in and around Delhi. Delhi's large consumer market,
coupled with the easy availability of skilled labour, has attracted
foreign investment in Delhi. In 2001, the manufacturing sector
employed 1,440,000 workers while the number of industrial units was
129,000. Construction, power, telecommunications, health and
community services, and real estate form integral parts of Delhi's
economy. Delhi has India's largest and one of the fastest growing
retail industries. As a result, land prices are booming and Delhi
is currently ranked the 7th most expensive office hotspot in the
world, with prices at $145.16 per square foot. As in the rest of
India, the fast growth of retail is expected to affect the
traditional unorganized retail trading system.
Utility services
The water supply in Delhi is managed by the
Delhi Jal Board (DJB). As of 2006, it
supplied 650 MGD (million gallons per day) of water, while the
water demand for 2005–06 was estimated to be 963 MGD. The rest
of the demand is met by private and public
tube wells and
hand
pumps.
At 240 MGD, the Bhakra storage is the
largest water source for DJB, followed by river Yamuna and Ganges
. With
falling
groundwater level and rising
population density, Delhi faces severely acute water shortage.
Delhi daily produces 8000
tonnes of solid
wastes which is dumped at three
landfill
sites by MCD. The daily domestic waste water production is
470 MGD and industrial waste water is 70 MGD. A large
portion of the sewerage flows untreated into the river
Yamuna.
The city's per capita electricity consumption is about
1,265
kWh but actual demand is much
more. In 1997,
Delhi Vidyut Board
(DVB) replaced Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking which was managed
by the MCD. The DVB itself cannot generate adequate power to meet
the city's demand and borrows power from India's Northern Region
Grid. As a result, Delhi faces a power shortage resulting in
frequent
blackouts and brownouts,
especially during the summer season when energy demand is at its
peak. Several industrial units in Delhi rely on their own
electrical generators to meet their electric demand and for back up
during Delhi's frequent and disruptive power cuts. A few years ago,
the power sector in Delhi was handed over to private companies. The
distribution of electricity is carried out by companies run by
Tata Power and
Reliance Energy. The
Delhi Fire Service runs 43 fire stations
that attend about 15,000 fire and rescue calls per year.
State-owned
Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and private enterprises like
Vodafone Essar,
Airtel,
Idea
cellular,
Reliance Infocomm,
and
Tata Indicom provide
telephone and cell phone service to the
city. In May 2008, Airtel alone had approximately 4 million
cellular subscribers in Delhi. Cellular coverage is extensive, and
both
GSM and
CDMA (from
Reliance and Tata Indicom) services are available. Affordable
broadband internet penetration is
increasing in the city.
Transport
Public transport in Delhi is provided by buses,
auto rickshaws and a metro rail system.
Buses are the most popular means of transport
catering to about 60% of the total demand. The state-owned
Delhi Transport Corporation
(DTC) is a major bus service provider for the city. The DTC
operates the world's largest fleet of environment-friendly CNG
buses. A
Bus rapid transit
network runs between
Ambedkar Nagar and
Delhi Gate.
The
Delhi Metro, a mass rapid transit system
built and operated by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), serves
many parts of Delhi as well as the satellite city of Noida in
neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. As of 2009, the metro consists
of three lines with a total length of and 78 stations while several
other lines are under construction. Line 1 runs between Rithala and
Shahdara, Line 2 runs between Jahangirpuri and the Central
Secretariat and Line 3 runs between Dwarka Sector 9 and Noida City
Centre. Phase-II of the network is under construction and will have
a total length of 128 km. It is expected to be completed by
2010. The Phase-I was built at a cost of US$2.3 billion and the
Phase-II will cost an additional US$4.3 billion. Phase-III and IV
will be completed by 2015 and 2020 respectively, creating a network
spanning 413.8 km, longer than that of the
London Underground.
Auto rickshaws are a popular means of
public transportation in Delhi, as they charge a lower fare than
taxis. Most run on
Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG) and are yellow and green in colour.
Taxi are not an integral part of Delhi public
transport, though they are easily available. Private operators
operate most taxis, and most neighborhoods have a taxi stand from
which taxis can be ordered or picked up. In addition,
air-conditioned
radio taxis, which can be
ordered by calling a central number, have become increasingly
popular, charging a flat rate of Rs. 15 per kilometre.
Delhi is a major junction in the
rail map of India and
is the headquarters of the
Northern Railway.
The four main railway
stations are Old Delhi, Nizamuddin
Railway Station
, Sarai Rohilla and
New Delhi
Railway Station
.Delhi is connected to other cities through
many highways and expressways. Delhi currently has three
expressways and three are under construction to connect it with its
prosperous and commercial suburbs.
The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway connects
Delhi with Gurgaon and the
international airport. The DND Flyway and Noida-Greater
Noida Expressway connect Delhi with two prosperous suburbs. Greater
Noida is to have the new airport while Noida is to have the Indian
Grand Prix.
Indira
Gandhi International Airport
(DEL) is situated in the western corner of Delhi
and serves as the main gateway for the city's domestic and
international civilian air traffic. In 2006–07, the airport
recorded a traffic of more than 23 million passengers, making it
one of the busiest airports in South Asia. A new US$1.93 billion
Terminal 3 is currently under construction and will handle an
additional 34 million passengers annually by 2010. Further
expansion programs will allow the airport to handle more than 100
million passengers per annum by 2020.
Safdarjung
Airport
is the other airfield in Delhi used for general aviation purpose.
Private vehicles account for 30% of the total demand for transport.
At 1922.32 km of road length per 100 km², Delhi has one
of the highest road densities in India. Delhi is well connected to
other parts of India by five
National
Highways:
NH
1, 2, 8, 10 and 24. Roads in Delhi are maintained by MCD (Municipal
Corporation of Delhi), NDMC, Delhi Cantonment Board, Public Works
Department (PWD) and
Delhi
Development Authority.
Delhi's high population growth rate, coupled with high economic
growth rate has resulted in an ever increasing demand for transport
creating excessive pressure on the city's existent transport
infrastructure. As of 2008. Also, the number of vehicles in the
metropolitan region, i.e., Delhi NCR is 112 lakhs (11.2 million).
In 2008, there were 85 cars in Delhi for every 1,000 of its
residents. In order to meet the transport demand in Delhi, the
State and Union government started the construction of a mass rapid
transit system, including the
Delhi Metro.
In 1998, the Supreme
Court of India ordered all public transport vehicles to use
compressed natural gas (CNG)
as fuel instead of diesel and other hydro-carbons.
Demographics
Many ethnic groups and cultures are represented in Delhi, making it
a cosmopolitan city. Being the political and economic hub of
northern India, the city attracts workers – both
blue collar and
white collar – from all parts of India,
further enhancing its diverse character. A diplomatic hub, home to
the embassies of 160 countries, Delhi has a large
expatriate population as well.
According to the 2001
Census of
India, the population of Delhi that year was 13,782,976. The
corresponding population density was 9,294 persons per km², with a
sex ratio of 821 women per 1000 men, and a
literacy rate of 81.82%. By 2004, the
estimated population had increased to 15,279,000. That year, the
birth rate,
death
rate and
infant mortality
rate (per 1000 population) were 20.03, 5.59 and 13.08,
respectively. As of 2007, the National Capital Territory of Delhi
had an estimated population of 21.5 million people, making it the
second largest metropolitan area in India after Mumbai. According a
1999–2000 estimate, the total number of people living below the
poverty line, defined as living on
$11 or less per month, in Delhi was 1,149,000 (which was 8.23% of
the total population, compared to 27.5% of India as a whole). In
2001, the population of Delhi increased by 285,000 as a result of
migration and by an additional 215,000 as a result of natural
population growth – this made Delhi one of the fastest growing
cities in the world.
By 2015, Delhi is expected to be the third
largest agglomeration in the world
after Tokyo
and
Mumbai
.
Dwarka
, Asia's
largest planned residential colony,
is located within the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Hinduism is the religion of 82% of Delhi's
population. There are also large communities of
Muslims (11.7%),
Sikhs (4.0%),
Jains (1.1%) and
Christians (0.9%) in the city. Other minorities
include
Parsis,
Anglo-Indians,
Buddhists and
Jews.
Hindustani language is the
principal spoken language while English is the principal written
language of the city. Other languages commonly spoken in the city
are dialects of Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The linguistic groups from
all over India are well represented in the city; among them are
Punjabi, Haryanvi, UP, Bihari, Bengali, Tamil, Rajasthani, Garhwali
,Telugu, North-East, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati
roughly in same order.
In 2005, Delhi accounted for the highest percentage (16.2%) of the
crimes reported in the 35 cities in India with populations of
one million or more.
The city also has the highest rate of crime against women (27.6
compared to national average rate of 14.1 per 100,000) and against
children (6.5 compared to national average of 1.4 per 100,000) in
the country.
Culture
Delhi's
culture has been influenced by its
lengthy history and historic association as the capital of India.
This is exemplified by the many monuments of significance found in
the city; the
Archaeological Survey of
India recognises 1200 heritage buildings and 175 monuments in
Delhi as national heritage sites.
The Old City is the site where the
Mughals and the Turkic rulers constructed several architectural
marvels like the Jama Masjid
(India's largest mosque) and Red Fort
. Three World
Heritage Sites—the Red Fort, Qutab Minar
and Humayun's Tomb
—are located in Delhi. Other monuments
include the India
Gate
, the Jantar Mantar
(an 18th century astronomical observatory) and the
Purana Qila (a 16th century
fortress). The Laxminarayan Temple, Akshardham
and the Bahá'í Lotus Temple
are examples of modern architecture.
Raj Ghat and
associated memorials
houses memorials of Mahatma Gandhi and other notable
personalities. New Delhi houses several government buildings
and official residences reminiscent of the British
colonial architecture.
Important structures
include the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the
Secretariat, Rajpath
, the Parliament of India and Vijay Chowk. Safdarjung's
Tomb
is an example of the Mughal gardens style.
Delhi's
association and geographic proximity to the capital, New Delhi, has amplified the importance of national events
and holidays. National events like
Republic Day,
Independence Day and
Gandhi Jayanti (Gandhi's birthday) are
celebrated with great enthusiasm in Delhi. On India's Independence
Day (15 August) the Prime Minister of India addresses the nation
from the Red Fort. Most Delhiites celebrate the day by flying
kites, which are considered a symbol of freedom. The
Republic Day Parade is a large cultural
and military parade showcasing India's cultural diversity and
military might.
Over the centuries Delhi is known for its
composite culture, and a festival that symbolizes it truly is the
Phool Walon Ki Sair, which takes
place each year in September, and where flowers and fans
embroidered with flowers, pankha are offered to the shrine
of 13th century Sufi saint, Khwaja
Bakhtiyar Kaki, along with the Yogmaya Temple
also situated in Mehrauli
.
Religious festivals include
Diwali (the
festival of lights),
Mahavir
Jayanti,
Guru Nanak's
Birthday,
Durga Puja,
Holi,
Lohri,
Maha Shivaratri,
Eid
ul-Fitr and
Buddha Jayanti.
The
Qutub Festival is a cultural event
during which performances of musicians and dancers from all over
India are showcased at night, with the Qutub Minar as the chosen backdrop of the event. Other
events such as Kite Flying Festival,
International Mango
Festival and
Vasant
Panchami (the Spring Festival) are held every year in
Delhi. The
Auto Expo, Asia's largest auto
show, is held in Delhi biennially.
The World Book
Fair, held biannually at the Pragati Maidan
, is the second largest exhibition of books in the
world with as many as 23 nations participating in the event.
Delhi is often regarded as the "Book Capital" of India because of
high readership.
Punjabi and
Mughlai delicacies like
kababs and
biryanis are popular
in Delhi. Due to Delhi's large cosmopolitan and migrant population,
cuisines from every part of India,
including
Rajasthani,
Maharashtrian,
Bengali,
Hyderabadi cuisines, and
South Indian food items like
idli,
sambar and
dosa are widely available. Local delicacies include
Chaat and
Dahi-Papri. There
are several food outlets in Delhi serving international cuisine,
including
Italian,
Japanese, and
Chinese.
Historically, Delhi has always remained an important trading centre
in northern India. Old Delhi still contains legacies of its rich
Mughal past, which can be found among
the old city's tangle of snaking lanes and teeming bazaars. The
dingy markets of the Old City have an eclectic product range, from
oil-swamped mango, lime and eggplant pickles, candy-colored herbal
potions to silver jewelry, bridal attire, uncut material and linen,
spices, sweets. Some of old regal
havelis (palatial
residences) are still there in the Old City.
Chandni Chowk, a three-century-old shopping
area, is one of the most popular shopping areas in Delhi for
jewellery and
Zari saris. Notable
among Delhi's arts and crafts are the
Zardozi (an
embroidery done with gold thread) and
Meenakari (the art
of enameling).
Dilli
Haat
, Hauz
Khas
, Pragati
Maidan offer a variety of Indian handicrafts and
handlooms. Over time Delhi has absorbed a multitude of
humanity from across the country and has morphed into an amorphous
pool of cultural styles.
Delhi has the following sister cities:
Delhi is also twinned with the following region:
Education
Schools and
higher educational institutions in Delhi
are administered either by the Directorate of Education, the NCT
government, or private organizations. In 2004–05, there were 2,515
primary, 635 middle, 504 secondary and 1,208 senior secondary
schools in Delhi.
That year, the higher education institutions
in the city included 165 colleges, among them five medical colleges
and eight engineering colleges, six universities—DU, JNU, JMI, GGSIPU, IGNOU
and Jamia Hamdard—and
nine deemed universities.
GGSIPU is the only
state university; IGNOU is for open/distance learning; the rest are all
central
universities.
Private schools in Delhi—which employ either English or Hindi as
the language of instruction—are affiliated to one of two
administering bodies: the
Council
for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the
Central Board for
Secondary Education (CBSE) and the
National Institute of Open
Schooling (NIOS). In 2004–05, approximately 15.29
lakh (1.529 million) students were enrolled in
primary schools, 8.22 lakh (0.822 million) in middle
schools and 6.69 lakh (0.669 million) in secondary
schools across Delhi. Female students represented 49% of the total
enrollment. The same year, the Delhi government spent between 1.58%
and 1.95% of its gross state domestic product on education.
After completing the ten-year secondary phase of their education
under the
10+2+3 plan, students
typically spend the next two years either in
junior colleges or in schools with
senior
secondary facilities, during which their studies become more
focused. They select a
stream of study—
liberal arts, commerce, science, or, less
commonly, vocational. Upon completion, those who choose to
continue, either study for a three-year undergraduate degree at a
college, or a professional degree in law, engineering, or medicine.
Notable
higher education or research institutes in Delhi include All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, Maulana Azad Medical College,
Lady Hardinge Medical
College, Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia
Hospital & PGIMER, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi, Netaji
Subhas Institute of Technology
, Delhi College of Engineering
, Guru Gobind Singh
Indraprastha University, Faculty of Management Studies,
Indian Law Institute, Delhi School of Economics,Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Agricultural
Research Institute and Indian
Institute of Foreign Trade
. According to a 2008 survey, about 16% of
all Delhi residents possessed at least a college graduate
degree.
Media
As the capital of India, New Delhi is the focus of political
reportage, including regular television
broadcasts of Parliament sessions. Many country-wide media
agencies, among them the state-owned
Press Trust of India and
Doordarshan, are based in the city. Television
programming in the city includes two free terrestrial television
channels offered by Doordarshan, and several Hindi, English and
regional-languages cable
channels offered by
multi system
operators.
Satellite
television, in contrast, has yet to gain large-scale
subscribership in the city.
Print journalism remains a popular news medium in Delhi. During
2004–05, 1029 newspapers in thirteen languages were published from
the city. Of these, 492 were
Hindi language
newspapers, including
Navbharat
Times,
Hindustan
Dainik,
Punjab
Kesari,
Dainik
Jagran,
Dainik
Bhaskar and
Dainik Desbandhu. Amongst the
English language newspapers,
The Hindustan Times, with
over a million copies in circulation, was the single largest daily.
Other major English newspapers include
Times of India,
The Hindu,
Indian Express,
Business Standard,
The Pioneer and
Asian Age in regional dailies include
Malayala Manorama. Radio
is a less popular mass medium in Delhi, although FM radio has been
gaining ground since the inauguration of several new
FM channels in 2006.A number of
state-owned and private radio stations broadcast from Delhi,
including
All India Radio (AIR), one
of the world's largest radio service providers, which offers six
radio channels in ten languages. Other city-based radio stations
include "Aaj Tak", "Radio City(91.1 MHz)", "Big FM(92.7 MHz)", "Red
FM(93.5MHz)", "Radio One(94.3 MHz)", "Hit FM(95 MHz)", "Apna
Radio", "Radio Mirchi(98.3 MHz)", "FM Rainbow(102.4 MHz)", "Fever
FM(104 MHz)", "Meow FM(104.8 MHz)", "FM Gold(106.4 MHz)".
Various news and general interest magazines are also published from
Delhi like India Today, Outlook, COVERT and many more.
Sports
Cricket is the most popular sport in Delhi.
There are several cricket grounds (or
maidan) located across the city.
The
Feroz Shah
Kotla
stadium is one of the oldest cricket grounds in
India and is a venue for international cricket matches. The
Delhi cricket team represents the
city in the
Ranji Trophy, a domestic
first-class cricket
championship. The city is also home to the
IPL team
Delhi Daredevils, and
ICL team
Delhi
Giants (earlier named
Delhi Jets).
Other sports such as
field hockey,
football ,
basketball,
tennis,
golf,
badminton,
swimming,
kart racing,
weightlifting and
table tennis are also popular in the
city.
Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium
and the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
are other stadiums in Delhi. In the past,
Delhi has hosted several domestic and international sporting
events, such as the
First and the
Ninth Asian
Games. Delhi is preparing itself to host the
2010 Commonwealth Games, projected
to be the largest multi-sport event ever held in the city. Delhi
lost bidding for the
2014 Asian Games, but is bidding for the
2020 Summer Olympics.
See also
References
Further reading
External links
- Government
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,
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Kingdom
,
Russia
, Mongolia
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