Monday 18 April 2016
Agra
I begin with two pictures that everyone is expecting and than I shall resume my narrative from where I left off in Delhi.
Saturday 16 April 2016
Delhi
Because of the late afternoon schedule of my flight from Varanasi, I have really only this one day to see as much of Delhi as I can. My tour will take me to the highlights for any first time visitor, but I really need at least two more days to see a proper sampling of what this captial city has to offer. Much more than Mumbai, Delhi is the one super-city in India that deserves as much time as possible. The city--really two cities: Old Delhi and New Delhi--offers so many aspects and so many monuments and museums that I could probably stay a week without seeing everything. So I shall try to return in the future, in some late-January to February, when the weather makes touring easier.
But I am here now and my guide and driver collect me from The Claridges Hotel right after breakfast. Because the odd-even traffic scheme is in effect the drive from the hotel, in Central New Delhi, to the heart of Old Delhi takes less time than usual. We are dropped off at the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, built by Shah Jahan, who also built not only most of Old Delhi, but the Taj Mahal in Agas a swell. Completed in 1658 after 14 years of construction, the mosque is still filled with thousands of worshippers daily, especially on the holy days of Friday, which has given it its other name, "The Friday Mosque." After a brief historical introduction, my guide allows me free time to wander and take pictures of the enormous courtyard where devotees gather and services are held. Only a small portion of the building, with the centrtal mirhab. is indoors, where non-Muslims are not permitted. But the architecture and design details can be seen best from outside.
After exiting the mosque, the guide and I share a small seat on the back of a bicycle-rickshaw for a bumpy ride through the narrow streets and lanes of the old city. It is still rather early and most of the shops are not yet open, but I get a good sense of the crowded variety of activity, as well as the jumbled electric wires over head.
Rickshaw Driver (in plaid) on the Right
After about 45 minutes of a ride too bumpy even for video, we are dropped across the street of another of Shah Jahan's major buildings, The Red Fort ("Lal Qila"). A massive complex of red sandstone, a major part of this fort-palace is still used by the Indian military and is off-limits to visitors. We are allowed to visit (at least from the exteriors), most of the buildings in the royal residence.
I enter the Fort through the Lahore Gate and Chatta Chowk, a covered passageway lined with shops just as in the days of the old rulers themselves. At the end of the typical four-part garden is the Hall of Public Audiences, with its massive white marble throne, now protected in a glass-walled case. Behind the Hall, along the Yamuna River, are three small private palaces built of white marble and fantastical inlaid semi-precious stones. Alongside are a building that housed the royal baths and a private mosque (both now closed to the public). In the central and most ornate of the palaces, The Peacock Throne, most important symbol of the empire's rule, used to stand before it was taken by the Persians and eventually destroyed.
From here we drive to the Raj Ghat, memorial and final resting place for the cremated remains of Gandhi. His actual assassination took place in the garden of a residence just behind The Claridges Hotel (see the movie).
We continue south out of Old Delhi and into the more open expanses of New Dehli, where our first stop is the magnificent Humayan's Tomb, built in 1565 of contrasting red sandstone and white marble. The finest example of Indo-Islamic architecture before the Taj Mahal, this building and the "Baby Taj" in Agra are often cited as models for the later pefection of the Taj Mahal itself.
It is now moving toward 1:00pm and the heat and physical fatigue are starting to take their toll. But my guide has saved the best for the next visit of the day: the Qutb Minar Complex. Located in Central Delhi, this is the most-visited site in all of India after the Taj Mahal. In the center of this large park-like complex that commemorates the Islamic victory over Hinduism in 1192, stands a 73-meter minaret decorated with basnds of Kufi script. Surrounding the minaret are temples and arcades, all decorated with intricate hand-carved designs of Islamic decoration. The site is simply overwhelming.
Rejuvenated by this visit I am ready for the last stop of the day, a simple drive through and photo stop in Lutyens' Delhi, named for the British architect who designed this early 20th-century government complex, first built by the British and currently used by Indian national government. But it is time to lay this blog to rest and begin again with the final details of Delhi and the drive to Agra.
Agra
I begin with two pictures that everyone is expecting and than I shall resume my narrative from where I left off in Delhi.
Saturday 16 April 2016
Delhi
Because of the late afternoon schedule of my flight from Varanasi, I have really only this one day to see as much of Delhi as I can. My tour will take me to the highlights for any first time visitor, but I really need at least two more days to see a proper sampling of what this captial city has to offer. Much more than Mumbai, Delhi is the one super-city in India that deserves as much time as possible. The city--really two cities: Old Delhi and New Delhi--offers so many aspects and so many monuments and museums that I could probably stay a week without seeing everything. So I shall try to return in the future, in some late-January to February, when the weather makes touring easier.
But I am here now and my guide and driver collect me from The Claridges Hotel right after breakfast. Because the odd-even traffic scheme is in effect the drive from the hotel, in Central New Delhi, to the heart of Old Delhi takes less time than usual. We are dropped off at the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, built by Shah Jahan, who also built not only most of Old Delhi, but the Taj Mahal in Agas a swell. Completed in 1658 after 14 years of construction, the mosque is still filled with thousands of worshippers daily, especially on the holy days of Friday, which has given it its other name, "The Friday Mosque." After a brief historical introduction, my guide allows me free time to wander and take pictures of the enormous courtyard where devotees gather and services are held. Only a small portion of the building, with the centrtal mirhab. is indoors, where non-Muslims are not permitted. But the architecture and design details can be seen best from outside.
After exiting the mosque, the guide and I share a small seat on the back of a bicycle-rickshaw for a bumpy ride through the narrow streets and lanes of the old city. It is still rather early and most of the shops are not yet open, but I get a good sense of the crowded variety of activity, as well as the jumbled electric wires over head.
Rickshaw Driver (in plaid) on the Right
After about 45 minutes of a ride too bumpy even for video, we are dropped across the street of another of Shah Jahan's major buildings, The Red Fort ("Lal Qila"). A massive complex of red sandstone, a major part of this fort-palace is still used by the Indian military and is off-limits to visitors. We are allowed to visit (at least from the exteriors), most of the buildings in the royal residence.
I enter the Fort through the Lahore Gate and Chatta Chowk, a covered passageway lined with shops just as in the days of the old rulers themselves. At the end of the typical four-part garden is the Hall of Public Audiences, with its massive white marble throne, now protected in a glass-walled case. Behind the Hall, along the Yamuna River, are three small private palaces built of white marble and fantastical inlaid semi-precious stones. Alongside are a building that housed the royal baths and a private mosque (both now closed to the public). In the central and most ornate of the palaces, The Peacock Throne, most important symbol of the empire's rule, used to stand before it was taken by the Persians and eventually destroyed.
From here we drive to the Raj Ghat, memorial and final resting place for the cremated remains of Gandhi. His actual assassination took place in the garden of a residence just behind The Claridges Hotel (see the movie).
We continue south out of Old Delhi and into the more open expanses of New Dehli, where our first stop is the magnificent Humayan's Tomb, built in 1565 of contrasting red sandstone and white marble. The finest example of Indo-Islamic architecture before the Taj Mahal, this building and the "Baby Taj" in Agra are often cited as models for the later pefection of the Taj Mahal itself.
It is now moving toward 1:00pm and the heat and physical fatigue are starting to take their toll. But my guide has saved the best for the next visit of the day: the Qutb Minar Complex. Located in Central Delhi, this is the most-visited site in all of India after the Taj Mahal. In the center of this large park-like complex that commemorates the Islamic victory over Hinduism in 1192, stands a 73-meter minaret decorated with basnds of Kufi script. Surrounding the minaret are temples and arcades, all decorated with intricate hand-carved designs of Islamic decoration. The site is simply overwhelming.
Rejuvenated by this visit I am ready for the last stop of the day, a simple drive through and photo stop in Lutyens' Delhi, named for the British architect who designed this early 20th-century government complex, first built by the British and currently used by Indian national government. But it is time to lay this blog to rest and begin again with the final details of Delhi and the drive to Agra.
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