Chattarpur Temple, South Delhi

The Chattarpur Temple is dedicated to goddess Durga, along with temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu, Lakshmi and Ganesh in the temple compound. A large number of devotees visit this temple and is very famous; earlier, the area around it was not populated, but as Delhi is expanding, the temple is seeing many more devotees. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga (who is worshipped in fierce (Kali, Durga) and tender (Lakshmi) forms), and who is the consort of Lord Vishnu. Another shrine is dedicated to Goddess Katyayani, whose 'darshan' can be availed only on 'ashtami' falling in every month. Otherwise, the 'darshan' of Goddess Katyayani can be made throughout the days of 'Navratri'.

Map to Temple:


The temples exhibit a beautiful architecture, made up of marble (and gleaming in their whiteness), and made in the South Indian style. The center is the Vimana (a tall tower consisting of several smaller storeys). During Durga Pooja, the temple is thronged by devotees, there to offer prayers. The compound has beautifully manicured lawns, and gardens. The temple also has a tree where devotees tie a thread so that their requests are met by the deity. Chhatarpur Temple was built by Swami Nagpal Maharaj, who was a great devotee of Goddess Durga.
Places nearby: Alai-Darwaza, Quwwatul-Islam Mosque, Iron Pillar, Alai Minar, Tomb of Iltutmish, Imam Zamin's Tomb and Ala-ud-Din Madarsa.
Located at: 4km Beyond Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi

Photos (link1, link2, link3, link4)

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Bhairon temple near Purana Qila

Located on one of the busiest traffic routes in Delhi, not too many people know about the Bhairon Mandir, a temple that actually takes liquor as an offering. Even when you know that you are traveling on a road known as Bhairon Road, not too many people associate that with the temple. That is not to say that these are unknown temples, a lot of people in Delhi know about these temples and many go to these temples (when I say temples, there are actually 2 temples over there, in one you offer liquor, and in the other, you offer milk (called Dhudhiya Bhairon)).
The Purana Qila has a heritage around it, known as having been associated with the time of the Mahabharata (even though there is not much of archaeological proof as yet of this). Similarly, the Bhairon Mandir outside the complex is supposed to be of that age, a place where Bheema worshipped the fierce form of Lord Shiva called Bhairavji. The structure is assuredly not so old, but the story goes that the core section of the temple is very old.
In the temple, you can give alcohol as an offering; another interesting part is that the devotees are forbidden from giving prasad (the offering) to beggars (in theory - in practise there are a number of beggars outside).

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Apollo Indrapastha Hospital Delhi

Apollo Hospital in Delhi is one of the most famous private hospitals in Delhi. It is located in the south-east, along Mathura Road, and is also easily approachable from Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Noida.

Address and contact details:
Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals
Sarita Vihar, Mathura Road
NEW DELHI - 110 076
Tel: +91-011 - 26925801/26925858
Fax: +91-011-26823629
http://www.apollohospdelhi.com

Map of location:



More details about the hospital including the schedule for Doctors is available at this link. The hospital has 695 beds (with scope for expansion) and offers care in various specialities such as Cardiology, Oncology, Neurology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Urology, Transplants, Gynaecology, Pediatrics, Cosmetic Surgery. The hospital started operations in July 1996, and is a joint venture between the Apollo Group and the Government of Delhi.
The various specialities along with the operating hours of the Doctors and their fees are available in this link.
Apollo also offers a range of different checkups, available at this location (link). These checkups include the following:
Apollo Executive Health Cheq
Apollo Heart Cheq
Apollo Whole Body Cheq
Well Woman Cheq
Apollo Breast Cheq
Apollo Child Health Cheq

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Delhi Metro - current and future

Delhi Metro is currently running through some of the major populations centers of Delhi, running through major parts of West Delhi, North Delhi, and East Delhi. It has taken load off the roads (although how long that lasts is a matter of debate given the number of vehicles getting added to Delhi roads per Delhi). Delhi Metro was started on December 24, 2002, after a long period of planning, and was greeted as a major improvement to the traffic infrastructure of the city. It has helped, and has attracted a large number of commuters on a regular basis (try taking the Metro route from Connaught Place to Dwarka at 6 in the afternoon).
Originally the route of the metro line was on these 3 lines: Line I (Shahdara - Rithala), Line II ( Vishwa Vidyalaya - Central Sectt.), and Line III (Indraprastha- Barakhamba Road - Dwarka) (the Indrapastha and Barakhamba Road stations were added later). The stations that are on this route are:
Line 1 (Dilshad Garden - Rithala): Dilshad Garden, Jhilmil, Mansarovar Park, Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur, Shastri Park, Kashmere Gate, Tis Hazari, Pul Bangash, Pratap Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Inder Lok, Kanhiya Nagar, Keshav Puram, Netaji Subhash Place, Kohat Enclave, Pitam Pura, Rohini East, Rohini West and Rithala.
Line 2 (Vishwa Vidyalaya - Central Secretariat): Vishwa Vidyalaya, Vidhan Sabha, Civil Lines, Kashmere Gate, Delhi Main, Chawri Bazar, New Delhi, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk and Central Sectt. This is the shortest line as of now, but will go all the way to Gurgaon later.
Line 3 (Indraprastha - Barakhamba Road - Dwarka): Indraprastha, Pragati Maidan, Mandi House, Barakhamba Road, Rajiv Chowk, R.K. Ashram Marg, Jhandewalan, Karol Bagh, Rajendra Place, Patel Nagar, Shadipur, Kirti Nagar, Moti Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Tagore Garden, Subhash Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri East, Janakpuri West, Uttam Nagar East, Uttam Nagar West, Nawada, Dwarka Morh, Dwarka and Dwarka, Dwarka Sec-14, Dwarka Sec-13, Dwarka Sec-12, Dwarka Sec-11, Dwarka Sec-10 and Dwarka Sec-9.

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Asia Kitchen restaurant in Noida

Asia Kitchen is a relatively new restaurant located in Sector 63 in Noida. The location details are:
H-1A/33, Sector 63, Noida
Tel +91 (0120) 4218555/ 4218666
If you are coming from the Shipra Mall Side, you need to take the road that leads to Fortis; it is on the left side before Fortis (you will need to take the service lane).
The place has 2 floors, a ground floor and a basement. Together, the restaurant has ample seating space, with a mix of chairs and sofas for more comfortable seating.
The restaurant does not yet have a liquor license, so it cannot serve any cocktails or drinks. However, it does have a variety of mocktails and the standard lemon water, etc. The food is varied - there is Chinese, Thai, and North Indian (although this mixture does seem a bit strange - I saw on the same table, a group from an office eating a mixture of dal along with chopsuey and hot and sour vegetables; something this was not a pleasant sight.
The servings are large, and the menu choices are small (for example, the North Indian vegetable list was 2 paneer dishes, 1 kofta, 1 dal, and 1 other dish), so we ended up with a small number of dishes whose quantity proved more than sufficient. I felt the taste was great, and people eating the non-veg liked what they ate, but there were others who did not like the taste all that much.
Overall, for around 16 people, we ended up with a bill of around Rs. 350 per head, seemed a trifle high (but with drinks, starters and food, it may be fine).

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