From Gateway of India to the India Gate

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012.  Delhi, India

Another full day of sightseeing, this time in New Delhi, and South Delhi.

New Delhi was designed by British architects Lutyens and Baker starting in 1931 after King George V confirmed that the city would be the new capital.  All sorts of arguments about whether the architecture should be Indian or European in design ensued and in the end, it is a combination of both.  New Delhi has wide, tree lined avenues and grand buildings in the European tradition.  The main “drag” is called Rajpath, as it is still used for major processions.  It reminded me of the National Mall in Washington DC.

At the end of Rajpath, on top of Raisina Hill is the Great Palace, originally the Viceroy’s house and now the President’s house.

Since the Mumbai terror attacks, you can’t visit any of these buildings so the best we could do was peek from the car.  Although human visitors aren’t allowed, we spotted monkeys freely hopping the fence.

Humayun was the second Mughal emperor, after Barbur. He was forced into exile before being able to recapture India with the help of the Persian king, taking Delhi in 1555. Although he may not have been the most successful emperor, we was the father of Akbar, and in fact Humayun’s tomb was built by his mother, the senior widow, Hamida Begum, who was Persian.

The tomb is very beautiful, and it has a very nice small interpretive center that illustrated information about the history of the Mughals, the building of the tomb, etc.

One of these panels related a story about the prophet Mohammed. When he was fleeing from Mecca to Medina, he and his party hid in a cave while being pursued. A spider built a web over the entrance the cave and when the pursuers reached it, they assumed no one was inside. Apparently this is the inspiration for the jallis, or lattices that are so prominent a part of Mughal architecture.

Another unusual thing about this tomb is that it isn’t just for Humayun. Something like 160 different Mughals are buried at the site.

In fact, each of the Mughal emperor’s tombs is unique and distinct, although one can definitely trace some lineage in the design from tomb to tomb.

One other element of most of these tombs is that it was considered auspicious to be buried close to a Muslim saint, as we found with Akbar’s tomb. Here at Humayun’s tomb there is also a similar saint’s tomb, but it was closed for renovation.

To complete our Mughal tomb collection, we next went to Safdarjung’s Tomb.  Safdarjung was the last of the Mughal Emperors and died in 1754.

Perhaps the most beautiful part of this tomb is the art work seen on the entrance gate, which resembles a peacock in its design.

The tomb itself is rather overstated, and if one can trace a progression in the designs of the tombs, they reached their zenith in the Taj Mahal, and it is no surprise that this is one of the world’s great buildings.  From there, the tomb designs sort of decline in one way or another.

After we finished the tombs, we went to the nearby INA market, which has all sorts of stalls and is more varied than the other markets we’ve visited.  This one has food (wet and dry markets), spices, clothing, cooking items, electronics, and so forth.  We ended up buying a bunch of spices for us and the boys to set up their own Indian spice kits for when they start to make their own Indian food back home.

Our last major outdoor site of the day was the Qutb Minar, which is very impressive.  Actually the Qutb Minar complex is a whole park full of different buildings, including palaces, tombs, and mosques.

The Qutb Minar itself is a magnificent victory tower, erected by Qutb ud din Aibak, the first Sultan of Delhi in 1199.

He was a slave that rose to the rank of general, so this dynasty is sometimes called the Slave Dynasty (1026 – 1290).

The other remarkable item, that is almost lost in the maze of buildings is actually even more impressive if you know a little about it.  It is the iron pillar known as the Gupta pillar, which is over 1,600 years old and virtually without blemish, because the wrought iron in 98% pure.

Considering this was made around the year 400, the technology was far in advance of anything else to be found in the world at that time.  There is a tradition that anyone who can encircle it with their hands behind their back will have good fortune, but you’d better find another way to try for good luck, as the pillar is now fenced off.

The detailed decorative work on the Qutb Minar is truly impressive, as is its height and stature.

Believe it or not, Alludin Khalji (the guy who caused so much trouble in Rajasthan by looking at the princess’s reflection) tried to build a bigger tower about 100 years later, but died before it could be finished  The ruins of the base of the tower, about 30 feet high and twice the circumference still remain on the grounds.

It had become very hot, so we took refuge in a nearby restaurant and had some lunch and enjoyed their air conditioning.

In the afternoon we went to the National Museum, which has a superb collection of items from the country’s history.  Entrance is RP300 per person, but we were able to get student rates for the boys – just RP1 each!  Our foreigner tickets included the excellent audio guide, which we got for the boys, so in the end they were about 1/2 price.  If you come to India, bring your student card if you have one – you’ll save a lot.

The guide picks out about 55 of the collection’s top items, but unfortunately about 1/3 of the galleries were closed for renovation so we had to miss some items.

It was now the late afternoon and we headed over to the India Gate, at the other end of Rajpath from the Presidential Palace.  It commemorates more than 70,000 Indian soldiers who died during the first world war.

India Gate is usually the first place that most visitors (who usually arrive in Delhi) are taken.  But in our case, this was effectively the last place our driver and erstwhile guide Sury took us. 

Which is oddly fitting as we began our journey in Mumbai at the Gateway of India, and we now  wrap it up in Delhi at the India Gate, a fitting set of bookends for the trip.

From here it was back to the hotel and time to say goodbye to Sury, who has driven us around for the past 3 weeks and somehow managed to avoid having any fender benders, an impressive feat indeed.

Tomorrow we will visit a few local markets and maybe do something else on our own before heading to the airport for our 2:35am flight home.

Kelly Delhi Birthday.

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012.  New Delhi, India

Today is Kelly’s birthday.  Often on her birthday we are travelling and sometimes we are in a place where we can’t (or don’t!) get any decent food.  But this year we are in Delhi and there are lots of great opportunities for a nice meal.  Unfortunately, this year, whatever has been ailing Kelly has left her with no appetite, so we weren’t able to do anything great gastronomically.

To start our day, we went to the Red Fort or Lal Qila, a large and imposing bastion which was begun in 1639 and completed in 1648 when Shan Jahan decided to move the capital back to Delhi from Agra in 1638. 

The fort is said to have cost RP10,000,000 to build, much of it spent on the opulent marble within.

There is a story that the Emperor Aurangzeb build the Lahore Gate (now the main entrance) to save his nobles and visiting dignitaries from having to walk the whole length of the approaching road called Chandni Chowk while bowing, as there was a law that no one could ride (horse or elephant) in the presence of the Emperor. They would have to get down and bow. Because of the placement of Aurangzeb’s throne he could see the whole length of Chandni Chowk. The Lahore Gate hid his view and therefore people could ride all the way up to the fort.

And what a throne is was. Called the Peacock Throne it was commissioned by Shah Jahan on his accession in 1627 and took seven years to make.  The throne was designed with two peacocks standing behind with a parrot carved out of a single emerald between them. It was inlaid with a vast number of sapphires, rubes, emeralds, pearls, and diamonds. Over the top was a gem encrusted gold canopy edged with pearls and supported by 12 pillars.  The throne also included the Koh-i-Noor diamond, now in the British crown jewels. It came into the possession of Queen Victoria when she became Empress of India.

How the Koh-i-Noor escaped the fate of the rest of the throne, I don’t know, but in 1739 the Turk Nadir Shah plundered Delhi, massacring 30,000 people and amongst other booty, rode off with the Peacock Throne.  This was broken up just eight years later after he was assassinated  Some of the jewels are rumored to have ended up on the late Shah of Iran’s throne.

Beautiful marble and inlay work are to be found in the inner courtyard which also had waterfalls that went over niches that were filled with perfume and candles.  In places the marble is so fine that it is translucent, as can be seen in the above right photo.

Nearby is the Jammi Masjid, or Friday Mosque, reached via a walk through various markets.  There was not a lot of visual interest inside the mosque, the largest extant mosque in India.  One of my pet peeves is that places have camera charges that are separate from any entry fees.  At the Jammi Masjid, entrance is free, but the camera charge is RP300, or about US$6.  When we first walked up to the mosque, an attendant tried to extract this from each of us.  We knew that entrance was free and I didn’t have any interest in taking photos here, so one of us sat outside while the others went inside, then we switched out.  When Kelly went in, already with her arms and legs covered (she knew we would be visiting a mosque) they tried to put a skirt on her, just to extract another fee, but I told her to just refuse and go in.  I had already seen dozens of women with standard pants or jeans on.  The only people who needed their skirt were those wearing shorts.  To cap it off, one of the men wanted a tip for watching our shoes, even though we had been watching them ourselves.  Unfortunately, this kind of thing seems pretty common in Delhi, much more so than we’ve experienced in other places on our trip.

There is a wholesale spice Market about 1.5KM into Chandni Chowk and since it was so hot, I arrange for two pedicabs to take us there. Cinnamon is one of Kelly’s favorite spices and we use a lot of it.  Most of what we get sold as cinnamon is actually cassia, which has a hotter taste.  True cinnamon is harder to find and more expensive in the US and Europe, so for her birthday Kelly got 1Kg of good quality whole Indian cinnamon bark.  The cost was about the same as one small jar back home.

For lunch, we rode back to the area beside the Jammi Mosque and when to Karim’s, a renowned Mughal restaurant that had fabulous simple food in a very simple setting.  Very tasty, and very reasonable.

We got back to the car and then drove to Raj Ghat, the cremation point and memorial to Mahatma Ghandi.  The location is very simple and austere, in keeping with the main himself.  The Hindi words at the front are “Oh God”, his last utterance.  An eternal flame and the fresh marigolds placed at the told are the only real ornamentation.

From Raj Ghat, which is also close to the memorials for Nehru, Indira Ghandi, Rajiv Ghandi, and others we drove to the Craft Museum – a free visit.  Inside were lots of craft items from all over the country.  A few that particularly interested me were a huge chariot used in South Indian religious processions and an 18th century hair dryer from Bengal.  I think it worked by having a fan inside the “blower” unit which presumably was human powered.

After returning to hotel for a rest we set out for dinner at Connaught Place, traveling via Delhi’s Metro.  Unlike most things in this city, the Metro is clean, modern, air-conditioned, and efficient.  And cheap – our ride cost only RP10 each, or about 20 cents.

Kelly had noticed yesterday that the carriage at the end of the train seemed much less crowded, so we boarded there.  After a few minutes, I noticed that indeed this was less crowded and everyone was seated. Furthermore, they were all women, and on closer inspection, the men in adjoining carriage came up to the entrance of this carriage, but not into to it.  It dawned on me that this much be a women’s only car and so the boys and I retired to the adjoining car.  Indeed once we got off, we could see a sign on the ground (in pink no less!) marking this as a women’s only area of the train.

Our destination was Haldirams, an Indian all veg. fast food chain.  We had read about this location in the Times of India food guide we had previously seen.  The main attraction here is the ability to sample different street food and snacks in hygienic conditions. They also have fuller meals, western food, desserts, and even an ice cream bar.

The process is pretty alien to any European or American fast food shopper.  First you go to a counter up front and order your food and pay for it.  They give you a master receipt and a series of mini receipts for each counter from which your food will come.  Next you go to each of these counters, give them the ticket, and find out how long it will take before your food will be ready.  At some counters, (e.g. desserts, but not ice cream!) you have to order and pay separately.  “Fast” may not be the operative word. Once you have your food, you can sit at a table and enjoy.

Since Kelly’s appetite was still off she only had some Chinese vegetable noodles.  Aaron had a south Indian Thali, Ben dahl and rice, and I tried a couple of different snack foods – Bhalla Papri Chaat, and Aloo Tikki.  The former was a mixture of sweet and savory, and the latter was like an Indian hash brown with spicy sauce.  What was fun was trying food that we just don’t see in US Indian restaurants.  Aaron and I had some ice cream later, mine being rose water and pistachio flavored.

Sikandra

Monday, July 2nd, 2012.  Delhi, India.
Distance driven: 2,925 KM / 1828 miles.

Today is leg three of the Golden Triangle as we leave Agra and head to Delhi, our final destination before we head home on Friday, which will be the day that never ends.

In the meantime, we had one stop on the way, just outside Agra at Sikandra, where the tomb of Akbar the Great is located.

Akbar began the building of his own tomb, but died in 1605 during its construction. His son Jahangir completed it, but dismantled much of the work Akbar had done. The result was an impressive memorial to his father.

The main entry gate, Buland Darwaza, is modeled after the victory gate at Fatehpur Sikri.  Much of the construction at the tomb makes use of red sandstone, but there is some white marble and there are also minarets, elements that are found at the Taj Mahal.

In all the Mughal burial memorials, there are false tombs that are typically the ones we see.  For instance, at the Taj Mahal, the “tombs” of Shah Jahan and his wife are actually empty.  The real tombs are located underground in a vault, which is not accessible.  At Sikanra, for “security reasons” one is not allowed up to the upper stories, the topmost of which contains the public tomb.  But, entrance to the actual subterranean tomb is allowed here. 

As can be seen, the vault and tomb are very simple, with a Cairene lamp hanging over the simple white marble tomb, which contrasts with the grand decorations to be found upstairs.

From here, we drove to Delhi, about the same distance as Jaipur to Agra, but much longer due to traffic.  Once we got to our hotel we had a rest – the outside temperature was about 112 degrees.

Later we tried to visit the state emporia near Connaught Circle, however all but one of them were closed and the one that was open was not that impressive.  We had taken the Delhi Metro to get there.  When we came out of the station, some “helpful person” said the emporia we were looking for were closed (which turned out to be mostly true), but that some other state emporia were open.  We realized fairly quickly that we were being led astray to some other shopping area and followed our instincts and headed back. 

Eventually we found the state emporia and learned that these ones are the only legitimate state Emporia.  Because they are government run, they close relatively early, so we’ll come back another time.

Using my smart phone, I found a nearby restaurant that was highly rated.  Since we had had a fairly large lunch and the place turned out to be pricey, we just has a few appetizers to share, but they were fantastic.  The place is called Chutney and it is located in the Metropolitan Hotel. I later found out that is was rated the #1 restaurant in Delhi in Trip Advisor.