Incredible India

Incredible India--that's what the catch phrase for tourism is in India. And that's an understatement. I don't even know where to begin: the smells, the people, the colors, traffic, culture, humidity, heat, monuments. It all started with a business trip to New Delhi. Joseph called me one morning to tell me he had a conference in India and asked if I wanted to join him. I quickly worked it out, and in just a few short weeks, Abigail, Joseph and I were on a plane to India. Now that Abigail is old enough to understand more of what she sees and, more importantly, to remember the impact of seeing such a different culture and life in a country as unique and vast as India, we decided it would be beneficial to her life experience to bring her with us. We feel very fortunate to be able to expose our children to the greater world. After 5.5 hours in the air, we landed in New Delhi and I learned immediately for myself that India is a place that takes patience and forbearance. There is a lot of chaos and bureaucracy there that seems to make everything take longer than necessary. But every trouble, inconvenience, or setback is more than worth it. If you ever get a chance to go, go.

We started out our journey in New Delhi at the Lal Qila (Red Fort) built by Shah Jahan and the seat of power from 1639-1857. All the forts and mausoleums we saw fall into the period of the Mughals, a time that begin when the Persians invaded northern India and took over. They came with wealth and a new culture that merged into what we now experience in India. This was the least impressive of all the forts we saw but still interesting and a good introduction to Mughal history. It is built of red sandstone with some of the inner courtyards, pictured below, marble with the intricate inlay work unique to this period. Also pictured below is a pavilion with more modern (meaning 19th c.)British army barracks behind it. When the Mughal empire began to weaken, the British took the opportunity to come into India and exercise their dominion, adding their stamp with colonial architecture and massive buildings as visual declaration of their intentions, wealth, and power.

Originally British seats of government and the governor's mansion, these buildings now house the president of India and their parliament. All but the exteriors are off limits to tourists. In fact our taxi driver could only drop us off and circle slowly while we ran and took some pictures. No cars are allowed to stop close to these government buildings, which are patrolled and guarded. I took the picture of the President's palace (bottom picture) through the iron fence surrounding the property. That is the closest anyone can get to it. Apparently it is the largest residence of any president on earth with over 350 rooms.

It was so hot and I guess the only good thing about that was the crowds don't come until it cools off starting in November. Most of the tourists were other Indians. I loved seeing the colorful dress and culture. While we were very much outsiders, they more certainly meshed with the impressive architecture in their exotic costume.

Getting to the fort was quite an experience in and of itself. New Delhi, I recently learned, has a reputation for horrible congestion and almost 24 hour traffic jams. I'm glad neither Joseph or I were driving in that mess. (We hired a car and driver for the day. What a blessing A/C is after a broiling excursion trekking around sandstone.)

We also saw Humayun's Tomb in central Delhi, built for the second Mughal emperor. Also pictured is another older tomb on the premises.





An old door leading to more gardens and tombs.


On our final day in New Delhi we visited Qutb Complex. The main attraction here is the Qutb Minar, the victory tower, that was started in 1193. Each conquering successor added on to it, mixing Islamic and Hindu motifs; and the final tower, reaching 230ft high was completed in 1368. It is really hard to capture the scale of this tower in a photo. It is massive and considering that it was built without cranes makes it all that more remarkable. Also on the complex are some mosques and tombs. I took a picture of the detailed sandstone carving on the side of the mosque.







We left New Delhi by train at the crack of dawn--not the types of trains I have taken around Europe--and headed south to Agra. This was third world in all its glory in a chaotic, rat-infested train station. The first class cabin looked like it was pre WWII. We saw some of the worst slums I have ever seen passing quickly through our windows. There were gatherings of homeless people sleeping under bridges, their dark, sleeping bodies making mounds that were hardly distinct from the dirt surrounding them. The hovels were overridden with trash. In fact, there are so many mounds of trash in India, certainly contributing to an overall stench of human filth. We even passed mounds of trash with boars sniffing around them; and this was in the city nestled between outdoor eateries and homes, not off in the countryside. Yet despite the disconcerting filth, there is energy and beauty, vibrant colors and exotic aromas too. It was a relief to get out of the city. Here is some of the more serene countryside pictured below.

Agra has a more old world feel about it. I wouldn't exactly call it quaint or charming, but it is definitely different than New Delhi. In Delhi, I heard that the government has made a concerted effort to get all the cows off the streets. But elsewhere, Agra included, it is quite a sight to see cows and water buffalo just wandering around amid the shops and market stalls. Cows are considered sacred (and Indians don't eat beef) and so once they stop producing milk, they are just released into the fray to fend for themselves rather than be butchered. I didn't get any great pictures of cows roaming around or sitting in the streets, so the picture of the water buffalo hopefully gives you an idea.



I wish I had a picture I felt satisfied with that really shows the ambiance of the streets and markets. This is all I could come up with that wasn't blury and it doesn't quite convey it how I would like to remember it all. Maybe I just missed the perfect picture when I was searching through the hundreds we took.

Our first stop in Agra was, of course, the Taj Mahal. If there was one thing I was hoping to see in Asia before we left, it was the Taj Mahal. And pictures, words to describe, and such are not sufficient in this case. It was amazing. Built by Shah Jahan for his wife in 1641 (and finished 22 years later) it is a true wonder: the scale, the detail, the symmetry. Pictured below is the entrance gate which you walk through to get onto the grounds and the Taj. Taj aside, it is impressive, inlaid with precious stones and decorated with a part of the Qu'ran which is inlaid black onyx carved perfectly adjusted so that the writing doesn't appear smaller at the bottom than at the top. The picture is small and hard to discern, but the black is the writing over the arch and inlay detail.



And this is what you see when you enter through the gate. We took so many pictures of the Taj and I tried to just post the best one. We were lucky to be there on a day when it wasn't so crowded and the weather was very clear. Joseph's co-worker went on a very foggy day in the winter and he couldn't even see the Taj until he was climbing the steps up onto it. So I guess I would choose a hot clear day over that. We had a most valuable guide that we found in our frommer's tour book. He works solo and we called him up the day before we went to Agra. Luckily he was available which, apparently, was unusual. He had a wealth of information and history that I found fascinating. He stayed with us during the day for 2 days in Agra. He pointed out so many details to us and provided us with a great foundation of background information on the Mughals and Shah Jahan. Sometimes major landmarks have a lot of hype associated with them, but I am happy to say that the Taj is every bit as beautiful as I imagined.




No pictures are allowed inside the Taj Mahal, which is unfortunate because that is where the most detailed and intricate inlay work is found. Basically, the inside tomb part is all very detailed and intricate inlay. Our guide pointed out some flowers, no bigger than my thumb, inlaid with 42 pieces of precious stones: agate, jasper, malachite, turquoise, lapis, carnelian and coral. The glue used to cement the pieces into the marble has something like 14 ingredients. I can see why it took 20,000 workers 22 years to finish it. Most of the Agra population are descendants of those workers (the architects and workers were all brought down from Persia especially for constructing this edifice.) Abigail is pictured below against the carving and inlay on the wall just before we went inside to the tombs.


Abigail enjoying some shade in the walkway around the grounds.

After the Taj, we headed over to the Agra Fort, begun by Akbar (Shah Jahan's grandfather) in 1565 and added onto by each succeeding emperor. There is a river that divides Agra, with the fort on one side and the Taj Mahal on the other. From the fort, we had a great view of the Taj across the river. This fort is very well preserved and very impressive. Again, our guide was indispensable throughout this tour. For example, he pointed out that the pathway leading to this main gate was curved so that the elephants of an attacking party wouldn't be able to charge and break down the door.


Below is Abigail in the Hall of Public Audience, where the emperor would sit on his "peacock throne" made of gold and listen to the complaints of his subjects in Agra and surrounding areas. In the courtyard below, the women of his harem would do their marketing with a staged market as they were not allowed out of the fort, nor was any man allowed to see them. The men would conduct business through a eunuch while remaining behind a curtain in the arched "stalls." These forts were huge--really a city withing stone walls.



This is the emperor's private quarters. It is a marble structure added onto the sandstone palace by Shah Jahan. An open room is such a different concept to me, but in his day there would have been silk curtains hanging and persian, silk rugs and pillows. I loved walking around and imagining what it would have been like in the fort during the 16th and 17th centuries with the elephant fights, the silks, sumptuous feasts, drummers, dancers, water features runnning throughout the courtyards and rooms, jeweled women, lush plants and carpets.

Column detail with emerald and rubies in one of the courtyards.

Abigail and Joseph tried to keep things interesting and fun.

The second day in Agra took us to Itmad-ud-Daulah's Tomb, the tomb of an emporer's father-in-law who was a wealthy Persian businessman. Comissioned by his wife, it definately has a more feminine touch, and is described as a little "bejeweled marble box." As it is not one of the major attractions in Agra, we were the only people there. We both really enjoyed it though and were glad we planned a visit in our itinerary.

The entire structure is inlaid geometric patterns and mosaics in the interior, contributing to the overall dainty look. The rear of the garden goes down to the river where there is a tower.



Our final destination in Agra was Fatehpur Sikri, which is actully about 40 minutes west of Agra. It is another fort-type palace, made of sandstone and surrounded by a moat. Building began in 1571 by Akbar and contains a lifesize parcheesi game played with women in the harem as the pawns (and Abigail for a brief moment), pavilions, palaces, courtyards, servents' cells, stables (first picture below) and a library.

Akbar, the third and most humane emporer, would judge from his seat at the top of this elaborately carved column. His ministers would approach him from the diagonal walkways. Our guide is explaining to me the different carvings on the sections of the column and what they mean.


After only 14 years, Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned for unknown reasons.

This is the Jama Masjid, or mosque, just adjacent to Fatehpur Sikri and also built by Akbar.