Delhi

To follow is a pretty thorough recap of our very busy day. Sorry, no pictures on this post, but hopefully tomorrow will put some from today. It's late and we have an early start tomorrow, so didn't have time to go through them yet.

Just some commentary on Delhi first...Delhi gives a new meaning to the word chaos. It is definately not for the claustrophobic or the impatient. There are enormous numbers of people moving in all directions at the same time. The word traffic jam does not even describe what happens on the road. There are huge volumes of cars, rickshaws, buses, bikes and people moving on the roads at any time. Then there will be religious processions that cause streets to shut down entirely. It is absolutely craziness. Delhi is also a unreal display of sights - colors, patterns, movement, sounds - honking horns, prayer speakers, singing, birds, and smells - yes, the good ones like the spices, and the bad ones. It is sensory overload to the extreme. How people can live here and do this everyday is amazing. The woman we had dinner with tonight said that eventually, you just get used to it - which she was quick to admit, may not be such a good thing.

Here's a sum of our day - sorry it's a bit long, but trying to be complete for our sake when we look back after these 2 weeks are finished.

We had an early breakfast at the hotel. Jon tried something called dragon fruit which looked a bit like sliced apple with poppy seeds.

We then met up with our guide for the day, Mohinder.

We drove towards Old Delhi, or Shahjanhanabad, named not very modestly by Shah Jahan, who made this area his capital in 1638. This is known as the seventh city of Delhi. New Delhi, the eighth city and where the hotel is located, was built between 1911 and 1933.

Driving there is an adventure. There are all kinds of vehicles on the roads: cars, buses, trucks, auto-rickshaws, and horse drawn carts. There are lines painted on the road but nobody seems to pay attention to any lanes or other traffic rules. Everybody uses their horn liberally and in general it is very loud.

We arrived in one piece at the Red Fort, La Qila. This was built by Shah Jahan and was the seat of Mughal power from 1637-1857. It is called the Red Fort because of the red sandstone from which it is made. It is about one mile long and was where Shah Jahan lived. Unfortunately, this is closed on Monday, so we admired from the outside.

Next, we headed down the main street Chandi Chowk. This is so crowded that you can not move without bumping into and brushing up to lots of people. There are people in all styles of dress: with turbans, in robes, in Western style clothes, and in some gorgeous saris. There are beggars, vendors, worshippers at the temples and just a whole mix of people.

We went to Digambar Jain Temple, where you remove your shoes and give them to a person who watches them at the entrance. Jainism is a reform movement of Hinduism that started in the 6th century BC. People who practice Jain are strictly vegetarian and have extreme reverence for all forms of life – even insects and plants have “jives” or souls. The highest monks of this sect do not wear clothes and carry brushes of peacock feathers to brush the earth before they sit so they do not accidentally crush anything living. We did not see any of these naked men though there were a few posters of them sitting in the lotus position, which provides some modesty.
The Jain Temple has bells over the entrance that you ring when you enter. This separates the holy space and provides vibration to clear the air of organisms. There are a number of small altars where people were praying and making offerings. They burn candles made of ghee (clarified butter).

Next to the temple, the Jains maintain a the Charity Bird Hospital, where anybody can bring sick or injured birds and they will be cared for and released. There were mostly pigeons, but also some peacocks, some Indian ringneck parrots, and some parrotkeets. The birds are kept in small cages and some had bandages on wings, or feet, or other parts. While it was not up to Pheonix’s standard by any means, these birds who would otherwise die are provided some medical care, fresh food and water and it was fairly clean. There are hundreds of birds there.
Just up Chandi Chowk is Guari Shankar Temple. Again, you leave your shoes in a dark dank hallway with a person watching them. Here people were making offerings of marigolds. There are representations of different gods and each one is worshipped on a special day. Today the alter of Vishnu had people burning candles and making food offerings. There are several alcoves with the representations of the different gods including Hare Krishna, Ganesh (with the elephant face), one with a monkey face whose name I can not remember, and Shiva. These alcoves are brightly decorated and people throw marigolds at the idols. This temple feeds poor people and there was a room with men and women, sitting separately, waiting for food from the kitchen.

We then stopped at Sisganj Gurudwara, a Sikh temple. This had the most efficient and clean looking shoe collectors. The temple marks the sight where Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru was beheaded by the fundamentalist Aurangzeb (Shah Jahan’s intolerant son). The Sikh religion was founded in the 15th century as a rejection of the corruption of Hinduism, caste distinctions, and idolatry. They believe in a universal god and worship from a book called the Granth Sahib. The temple is very plain. There is an area where the Granth Sahib is displayed, some people chanting, and a big room of people meditating. There is a small room off to the side, where the Granth Sahib is locked up at night. It is placed on a very ornate bed and in olden days was heavily guarded. There is a strong emphasis on charity and you can see people in areas of the temple counting the donations. They do not believe in beggars and everybody is given a job and paid for from this money.

Next, we set off in a rickshaw, which is a little scary. We were headed for the Spice Market but did not quite get there was a religious procession blocking the road. On the rickshaw, we passed “stores”, which are really open rooms with stuff hung all over. The section we went through had mostly kitchen stuff – pots and pans hanging.

We stopped at Jana Masjid, the largest mosque in Asia, which holds up to 25,000 worshippers. Since it was a Muslim prayer time, we were unable to go in. Around this time, a local school was getting out for the day and we attracted the attention of some schoolchildren on their way home, who all stared and waved as they passed crammed with ten or so in a rickshaw. I guess we are a few shades paler than the locals. On our way back towards the Red Fort, we passed the floats from the religious procession.

We drove past Connaught Place, past India Gate, to New Delhi and Hamayun’s Tomb. This was built by Humayun’s “senior” wife, Haji Begum for Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. It has the first double dome and inspired the Taj. It is made of red sandstone and white marble. There are a number of outlying tombs, including one called the Barber’s Tomb. There are examples of Persian architecture incorporating a “keystone” arch and older Islamic architecture using an arch with a lintel. We learned that mosques have three domes and mausoleums have only one.

Lastly, we went to the first city of Delhi and the Qutb Complex. The main sight is the Qutb Minar, the Victory Tower, which was started in 1193 by Qutbuddin Aiback (whose descendants ruled for four centuries) and completed in 1368. At 74 meters tall, is the tallest manually made tower in India. It is inscribed with verses from the Koran. There are examples of earlier domed buildings, a former school, some mosques, huge gates, and an iron pillar in the courtyard dating to the 4th century. I don’t really understand how that has not rusted but it is still there. There is also the “Jealousy Tower” initially started by somebody to be twice as big as the Qutb Minar but the builder died after the first story was built and nobody continued the work.

We made our way back to the hotel, where they had something going on so that there was extra security and we had to go through a metal detector. After changing, we met Sanjam for dinner at Veda, a hip modern Indian restaurant. The food was excellent and the conversation was very good. Finally, we are back at the hotel and have a wake up call at 4:30 am for the train to Agra.