Sights of Old Delhi

We visited three ancient sites during our tourist day in Old Delhi: the mosque Jama Masjid, Humayan’s Tomb, and the Red Fort.

Jama Masjid

Humayan’s Tomb - on which the Taj Mahal was modelled.

Detail of an Islamic text in Persian script.

Photography was not allowed inside the tomb.

The Red Fort

The grounds are paved with beautifully shaped areas cut out for planting.

Many parts are not really rooms - just covered areas.

Detail of a marble panel with stone inlay - very similar to those found in the Taj Mahal.

More areas of decorative arches - this time in sandstone.

There is a museum in the Red Fort with many interesting exhibits.

Persian tiles.

On the way back to our guest house we saw an elephant strolling slowly down the road.

The Fort at Agra, India

About 2 km from the Taj Mahal is Agra fort and we visited this on the same day.  It is considerably larger than the Red Fort in Delhi and encompasses several different styles of architecture and decoration as it evolved over time.  Parts of the fort are mainly sandstone and other parts are of marble.  There are also extensive grounds with waterways and pools.  Unlike the Red Fort in Agra where they were all dry, many of the waterways have water in them which made it a most pleasant and tranquil setting. 

Agra Fort

Marble structure within the inner part of the fort.

The marble arches.

Detail of the carving at the centre of one of the ceiling domes.

Grid carved in the marble to let in light.

A wall panel of carved flowers with a semi-precious stone inlay border.

Parts of the fort afford lovely views of the Taj Mahal.

View of the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort.

Detail of a ceiling dome.

Sandstone carvings.

Decorative and functional buttresses.

Parts of the fort are derelict and have suffered from vandalism, but they are being renovated.

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India

The Taj Mahal is about 180 km south of Delhi.  Here are a few photographs taken by ’ö-Dzin when we visited this extraordinary monument on 12th December.  It is more beautiful even than the pictures can portray.

South gate - the entrance

Detail of inlay and Persian script - South Gate.

Archway, Taj Mahal mausoleum - also with inlay and Persian script.

Pinnacle - our guide told us this used to be gold but was replaced with this iron version by the British.

The mosques on the east and west of the white marble mausoleum are identical.

Detail of a section of inlay.  The marble is carved and pieces of semi-precious stone are skilfully inlaid.  They glint in the sunshine so that the Taj Mahal sparkles.  We were told that it is also particularly beautiful by moonlight.

As well as the inlay, many wall panels are decorated with exquisite carving in the marble.

On the northern side, on the opposite bank of the river, are the foundations for the black marble mausoleum that Shah Jahan intended to build.

These decorative columns create an optical illusion as you look up them from the ground.

The white marble mausoleum is surrounded by this floor of sandstone and marble.

The central building.

The Taj Mahal from the gardens through the South Gate.

Last days in Delhi; arriving in Kathmandu

With Zorba Publications hosts

It has not been possible to find time to write anything for the last few days.  We are now in Kathmandu.

On Sunday I taught two workshops in Gurgaon near Delhi.  Unfortunately because of the delay with the issuing of our Indian visas we were not able to confirm with Zorba Publishers that we would definitely be in Delhi until the day before we flew.  This meant that they were not able to advertise the events to any great extent.  Still there was a reasonable turn out and it was delightful teaching the two groups.

Answering question after teaching

The organisers from the publishers seemed pleased that I offered a professional and practical presentation and were most complimentary.  I have the good fortune of not only having trained as a school teacher, but having also received excellent teacher training within the Aro Lineage.  All the Aro teachers present the teachings skillfully.

Taj Mahal

Monday was our last free day in India and we decided to take the long trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.  We set out early at 5:20 and it took us about 3 hours to get there.  It was worth the journey however, the Taj Mahal is breathtakingly beautiful.  I am so happy to have seen it.  We had a guide which was 'free' and included in the cost of the ticket, but we guess we paid for our 'free' guide in the shop he guided us to at the end of the tour.  I don't know if it is a British thing but we find it so difficult to extricate ourselves from these situations without feeling compelled to buy something.  We know we paid too much for a plate but it is beautiful work and we will appreciate it for always, so we are just regarding it as our contribution to the Indian economy!  It took us 5 hours to get back because of the traffic so it was a long day.

Delhi BnB hosts

For the last two evenings in Delhi we ate dinner at the bed and breakfast, and shared wonderful food with other guests.  We met an Australian man and his daughter, and a young woman from Wisconsin who had been living in India for 3 months and spoke Hindi.  Together with our hosts with had a most pleasant evening of enjoyable conversation.

So on Tuesday we left India and arrived in Kathmandu.  Kathmandu feels a lttle less chaotic and less of a hassle than India but this may well be because this is my third visit staying in the same hotel in Boudanath.  We know the restaurants that we like and about how much we should be paying for things.  Also because we always come as a group certain things are prearranged for us, such as transport to and from the airport.  If we were to visit India again we would happily use the same driver and the same bed and breakfast establishment, so perhaps that familiarity would also make India feel easier. 

Swayambhunath

Yesterday we visited the monkey temple at Swayambhunath.  The stupa there is very nice at the top of the hill with many steps to climb up to it.  It is surrounded by wooded land.  It is also surrounded by many little shops however, which does detract somewhat from the atmosphere of it being a holy place.

It is quite slow and laborious to upload photos to my blog on the intermittent internet connection at Valley Guest House in Boudha in Kathmandu, so I will only post a few pictures every couple of days while we are here.  'ö-Dzin has taken many wonderful photos of the Taj Mahal and other sights in India and Nepal.  I will post a selection of these when I get back to the UK.

Sightseeing in Delhi

Shanti Stupa

Today was a free day so we enjoyed being tourists.  First of all we visited the Shanti Stupa in Indraprastha Park.  This is a modern stupa, inaugurated in 2007, and is very beautiful.  It is set in a large park which provides a wonderful green space for the people of Delhi and respite from the busy bustle of the streets.

A driver had been arranged for us by Delhi Bed and Breakfast where we are staying.  He now passed us into the care of a cycle rickshaw because cars cannot go into Old Delhi.

Old Delhi

Our driver told us where we would be going with the rickshaw and how much we should pay.  He also warned us about pick pockets and taking care of our bags.  We got to the lane in front of where we expected to be - the Jama Masjid, the great Mosque, where 25,000 people pray every Friday, but then things became a bit confused as we were told we had to change to another rickshaw.  He took us to the markets in Old Delhi and a Jain temple.  We did eventually get back to the mosque, where we refused to pay the exorbitant charge for the extra ride we had not wanted.  We paid what we thought was reasonable based on what we had been advised and our 20Rs rickshaw ride of the previous evening.  This is pretty typical of India in my (admittedly limited) experience, which is why I tend to prefer Nepal. 

The Red Fort

At last we were back with our driver who took us to the Red Fort which covers a huge area and includes a great many beautiful buildings.  It must have been truly magnificent when all the water channels and pools were functional and before the tiles had been mostly stripped of their colourful semi-precious stones.

Marble tile still with inlay

We had a delicious lunch at a busy restaurant near India Gate and then finished our tour at Humayun's Tomb. The architecture of this building was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal.  Here most of the water channels are filled and several have fountains.   The layout of the gardens and symmetry of the buildings are inspiringly eloquent.

Humayun’s Tomb

Even though it was a Saturday there were many groups of schoolchildren wherever we went.  They were delightful and all very smart in their school uniforms.  One strange thing that kept happening was people asking to have their photograph taken with us.  This happens in Kathmandu as well, but there we had always assumed it was because we were wearing Buddhist robes.  At Humayun’s tomb a whole bunch of little boys asked to have their photograph taken with ’ö-Dzin.  Afterward they surrounded him and all wanted to shake his hand.  I so wished I had had a camera with me to photograph this amusing scene.  ’ö-Dzin takes such wonderful photographs that I don’t usually carry a camera myself.

Tomorrow is the day I teach.  The venue has been changed to Club Patio, South City 1, Gurgaon. This is quite a way out of Delhi so we have a fairly early start tomorrow.

Delhi, India

We have arrived in Dellhi, India.  It was a long day yesterday but we had a good night’s sleep last night and feel pretty refreshed this morning.  The smog in Delhi is horrendous.

I will be teaching two workshops tomorrow on Relaxing into Meditation organised by my Indian publishers Zorba Publications.

The photograph is of me making sure of my 10 a day in the multifaith prayer room at Heathrow airport yesterday.  Photo taken by ’ö-Dzin before he settled down beside me to meditate.