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Delhi: streets & stories · FIELD GUIDE
DELHI, INDIA

Delhi, one curious turn at a time

Choose a heritage walk, or linger at one place. Read a dome, step into a street of many faiths, and discover the city beneath the skyline.

10 stories~21 min of audioYour pace
Original illustration of Delhi domes, a stepwell and a walking path
A CITY OF MANY LAYERSDelhi: streets & stories
All destinations
Listen before you enter. Carry the story with you.

Three independent itineraries. In the web app, see every stop on the map and open Google Maps or Apple Maps for walking directions to its coordinates. Return to listen. Confirm public entrances, crossings and hours locally.

A LITTLE STRUCTURE. ROOM TO WANDER.

Choose your Delhi walk

3 walks

Follow a sequence of places, pause for a story, and continue when you are ready. Each story also works on its own.

01
WALK, STOP & LISTEN

Old Delhi: a street of many faiths

Three faiths, one historic street. Look closely at thresholds, arches and the spaces between.

3 stopsWalk with Maps7 min audio
  1. Lal Mandir
  2. Sis Ganj
  3. Fatehpuri
02
WALK, STOP & LISTEN

Lodhi Garden: reading the domes

A garden walk for curious eyes. Learn to read domes, octagons and traces of lost colour.

4 stopsWalk with Maps9 min audio
  1. Muhammad Shah
  2. Bara Gumbad
  3. Shish Gumbad
  4. Sikandar Lodi
03
WALK, STOP & LISTEN

Central Delhi: water, sky & service

Descend into a stepwell, look towards the sky, then discover a place of shared service.

3 stopsWalk with Maps7 min audio
  1. Agrasen ki Baoli
  2. Jantar Mantar
  3. Bangla Sahib

See every stop on our map, then open Google Maps or Apple Maps for walking directions to its coordinates. Return here to listen. Confirm the public entrance locally.

Why these maps? Sources & reuse

SRDC and INTACH inform the heritage research. Original routes use reusable OpenStreetMap data; GPSmyCity is a product reference, not a copied map or script.

Read the research & rollout plan

Route dataset · OSM source extract · © OpenStreetMap contributors / ODbL

THOUGHTFULLY TOLD

Stories with their sources attached.

Original scripts informed by the visitor, architectural and research sources attached to each story. Sacred traditions are presented as traditions. Narration is a basic synthetic voice for this field test.

View sources & visitor information

Pause at a safe permitted spot to listen. Follow site rules for shoes, head coverings, devices and photography. Worship and security may restrict visits.

The web app shows numbered stop pins; Google Maps or Apple Maps handles walking directions. Pins and links use the same stored coordinates, but these are monument locations, not verified entrances. Download stories before leaving; basemap tiles need a connection.

IGNCA · Shree Digamber Jain Lal MandirDelhi Tourism · Spiritual DelhiNational Mission on Monuments and Antiquities · Sis GanjSRDC · Delhi, 1600–1700INTACH Delhi · Lodi GardenIndia Cine Hub / NFDC · Lodhi Garden ComplexNew Delhi Municipal Council · MonumentsIGNCA / ASI · Bara Gumbad recordsIGNCA · Archaeological sites of DelhiINTACH Delhi · Baolis of DelhiDelhi Tourism · Agrasen ki BaoliDelhi Tourism · Jantar MantarIncredible India · Gurudwara Bangla SahibSRDC · Delhi Heritage Walks

Reviewed 2026-10-22 · Information is not live.

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STORY 01 / 10

Delhi: streets & stories · ENGLISH

Lal Mandir: a quiet threshold

Read the street, then the sanctuary.

Stop in a permitted area clear of entrances and queues. Pause the audio while moving or crossing roads.
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A little thing to notice

Compare the red exterior with the finer detail visible from permitted spaces.

A SMALL DISCOVERY

An old institution can occupy a much-altered building. A foundation story does not date every carving.

Read the story

You are looking at Lal Mandir, a Jain place of worship on one of Delhi’s busiest historic streets. First, find a place where you are not blocking anyone. Let the street pass around you for a moment. Then pick out the red exterior. Before reading a single inscription, you already have the clue behind the familiar name: the Red Temple.

Now let your eye travel upward, from the entrance towards the rising roofline. Instead of trying to take in everything, choose one edge and follow it. Where does the plain wall give way to ornament? Where does the silhouette become lighter? This is a useful way to read any crowded temple frontage: large shape first, small detail second.

The sanctuary is associated with Parshvanath, the twenty-third Jain tirthankara. Its history reaches into the seventeenth century, but alterations and enlargement continued later. So resist the tempting idea that every surface before you belongs to one founding moment. This is a building maintained by a living community, not a sealed time capsule.

If entry is permitted, ask about shoes, leather items and devices before proceeding. In the spaces you are allowed to see, notice how carved and painted detail changes the scale of your attention. Outdoors, you read a landmark. Indoors, you may find yourself looking closely at a single border. You need not identify every figure to appreciate that change.

Before leaving, turn back towards the street. Keep one question with you: how does a place create a sense of stillness when the city comes right up to its threshold? Our next stop offers a different answer.

Sources for this storyIGNCA · Shree Digamber Jain Lal MandirDelhi Tourism · Spiritual Delhi

Original narration · synthetic voice · checked 2026-10-22