Paratha’s galore at Parathewali Gali

We travelled by Metro to Chandi Chowk station and dodged our way through the heavy traffic, starving ourselves to savour the much famed parathas of Parathewali Gali. The nondescript lane dedicated to selling paratha’s in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi is known as Parathewali Gali (lane of stuffed Indian flat, fried bread)

The enticing aroma of freshly cooked parathas wafts through this lane. Impatienly, we rushed to the nearest stall of Pandit Babu Ram ParatheWala, which is comparatively new and was established in 1983.

The oldest of the paratha stalls is of Pandit Gaya Prasad Shiv Charan which was established in 1872.

With expectant eyes, we looked forward towards relishing our meal, which first arrived in steel plates, laden with potato curry, raita, mixed vegetable pickle, sautéed mash of sweet pumpkin alongwith sweet lassi.


The varied menu card - an array of stuffings for the parathas.....

Later, the various stuffed parathas (all of which are strictly vegetarian) arrived with stuffings - whichever we wished for…. Peas (Matar), Ladyfinger (Bhindi), Gramflour(Besan), Cauliflowe, Tomato (Tamatar), Raisins (Kishmish), Indian cottage cheese (Paneer), Carrot (Gajar) We relished the tasty parathas to our hearts content ! You name it and they have various stuffings of vegetables and sweets too.

Chandni Chowk is a popular culinary destination in Old Delhi, thus to cater to the ever increasing need of food lovers, an online food retail website has been launched: www.chandnichowkfood.com



“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

Lotus temple, Delhi

A view of the serene Lotus temple.

Our next stop was the famous, Bahai House of Worship, popularly known as the Lotus temple. It is designed in the shape of 27 blooming lotus petals and is a white marble structure.



From close quarters...


Situated towards the east of Nehru place in Delhi, it has been designed by Iranian architect, Fariburz Sabha. Encircled by nine pools in sprawling green lawns and gardens, spanning an area of 227 acres, this modern structure was completed in 1986.



An aerial view of the beautiful lawns surrounding the temple...



Glimpse of one of the serene pool's...

It is the last of seven major Bahai temples* built around the world.
The lotus shape was chosed as the symbol common to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam.

*The other six Bahai temples are located in:
o Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.
o Kampala, Uganda
o Sydney (Ingleside), Australia
o Frankfurt (Langenhain-Hofheim), Germany
o Panama City, Panama
o Tiapapata, Samoa
o Santiago, Chile (currently under construction)

The Bahai sect originated in Persia and is based on a view of humanity as one single race. All Bahaí temples share certain architectural elements, some of which are specified by Bahaí scripture. Abdul-Baha stipulated that an essential architectural character of a House of Worship be that it requires to have a nine-sided circular shape (Nonagon)

Temple timings: Winter: 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Summer: 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, the temple is open on throughout the week except on Monday.

For more details check its website: http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/


"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
- Bahaullah