Our first real day of the tour
began with another obnoxiously early wakeup (we still hadn’t recovered from the
time changes), another nice breakfast with Dave and Linda, and our first
meeting with the rest of our group—a total of 19 from just about everywhere.
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| Humayan's Tomb |
The
strangest were from Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, and California. All the
rest were from the U.S.! Our tour director, Abhijat (Abie) Sharma, launched
into a talk about how the tour was going to be conducted, the rules to be
followed, what to expect, and how to get the most out of the tour—pretty much
the typical stuff.
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| Decorative domed ceiling |
After his talk we boarded a bus and headed out to explore
the sights of New Delhi.
New Delhi is an urban district
of Delhi which serves as the capital of India and seat of all three branches of
the Indian government. The foundation stone of the city was laid inm1911, and
was inaugurated in February 1931. The population of New Delhi is 11,000,000
with a surrounding metropolitan population of 26,500,000, making it the largest
commercial city in northern India.
According to 2011 census, Hinduism is the
religion of 89.8% of New Delhi's population, with Muslims (4.5%), Christians
(2.9%), and Sikhs (2.0%). Other religious groups include Jains, Parsis,
Buddhists, and Jews. New Delhi is particularly renowned for its beautifully
landscaped gardens.
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| Tomb and jali screen |
Key service industries include information
technology, telecommunications, hotels, banking, media and tourism.
Our first stop on our tour was Humayun’s Tomb, the tomb of the muslim Mughal
Emperor Humayun. We learned that all tombs on the Indian subcontinent are
muslim as Hindus practice cremation.
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| Family tombs |
The tomb was built in 1569-70 and later
served as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. It was also the first structure
to use red sandstone at such a scale which was combined with white marble, a
combination commonly used by Turkish and Mughal architects. It is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. Besides the emperor, his wife, and family, other
extended offspring of the emperor are buried here. We boarded our bus and
proceeded to our next stop—Qutab Minar.
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| Indian wiring |
Qutab Minar is a soaring, 238 ft-high tower,
believed to be a tower of victory to signify the beginning of the Muslim rule
in India.
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| Qutab Minar |
Built in 1193 after the defeat of Delhi's last Hindu kingdom, the
tower was finished in 1197. It has five distinct stories, each marked by a
projecting balcony, and the tower tapers from a 50 ft. diameter at the base to
just 8 ft. at the top. The first three stories are made of red sandstone; the
fourth and fifth stories are of marble and sandstone. At the foot of the tower is the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, the first mosque
to be built in India, and it and the inner and outer courtyards were built from
material that was obtained from demolishing 27 Hindu temples.
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| Inner courtyard |
Construction of
the mosque and courtyards commenced in 1200 AD and was finished in 1368. One curiosity
of the Qutb complex is the Iron Pillar in the inner courtyard. Believed to be a
victory column, this 23 ft. structure is dedicated to Hindu deity lord Vishnu in
the 3rd to 4th century BC, placing it well before the Qutb complex was built.
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| Intricate carving |
It
is famous for the rust-resistant composition of the metals used in its
construction and signifies the level of skill achieved by the ancient Indian
iron smiths in the extraction and processing of iron. The pillar weighs over 13,000 lbs.
Our last site to visit in New Delhi was Gandhi Smriti (Gandhi Remembrance), a
museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and the location where he spent the last 144
days of his life.
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| Iron Pillar |
Gandhi was assassinated at this site in January 1948. In the
museum, we viewed a number of articles associated with Gandhi's life and death
and the room where he lived. Touring the grounds, we saw the place where he was
shot while holding his nightly public walk. Returning to our hotel, we got
ready for the evening’s welcoming dinner.
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| Gandhi Smriti |
The next morning we toured Old Delhi which was the capital of Muslim India
from the 12
th through the 19
th centuries, but officially
established in 1639. We started with a bus tour that took us past the prime
minister’s house, the embassies of various countries, the president’s
residence, and the Parliament House.
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| Gandhi's room |
We passed the National Stadium and got a
distant glimpse of the India Gate, a war memorial to the 70,000 British and
Indian soldiers who died in WWI.
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| The Red Fort in smog |
The monument is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe
in Paris.
Next we visited the historic Red Fort. This fortress served as the, main
residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until
1856.
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| Arches in the Red Fort |
Named for its massive walls of red sandstone, it has been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Everyone wants to pose with Dave! |
The fort complex is considered to represent the zenith
of Mughal creativity, and although the palace was planned according to
Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains architectural elements typical of
Mughal buildings that reflect a fusion of other traditions.
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| Inlaid marble |
Our final stop was Rajghat, a memorial and the place where Mahatma Gandhi was
cremated on January 31, 1948.
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| Red Fort wall |
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| Rajghat |
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| Red Fort security check |
It is a black marble platform that is left open
to the sky while an eternal burns at one end. Gandhi’s ashes were buried at a
final resting place beside the Yamuna River. Returning to our hotel, we had the
rest of the day for “free time” to rest and get ready for our flight to
Varanasi tomorrow.
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