part 4 of ...
NEW DELHI
India Gate
India Gate
This is the national monument of India. It commemorates all of the Indian soliders that fought during WWI and the Afghan Wars.
Here, our guide kept saying "Take pictures, take pictures!" after every bit of information he told us. He seemed upset that we didn't take pictures of every angle of the monument. It was interesting... each of our guides had a different personality!
This canopy used to house the statue of King George V until the Independence of India in 1947. Talk about putting the statue of Mahatma Ghandhi there, but it has not been agreed upon.
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President's House
We were not allowed up close, the area is gated.
An elephant bush!
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Qutub Minar
The world's tallest brick minaret with a height of 237.8 ft (72.5 meters).
One of the first examples of Indo-Islamic architecture.
This unfinished tower was supposed to be much bigger than the minaret pictured above.
Our guide said the Muslims erased all the faces off of the carved female figures in kama sutra poses because it offended them.
hand carved pillar ornamentation
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Lotus Temple
This is a Bahá'í House of Worship. It welcomes all people regardless of religious denomination. Holy books can be read in the temple, but no sermons or playing of musical instruments is allowed.
Bahá'í when said quickly can sound like the word 'bye.' At a random moment, Amjith said "I am not secrerly Bahá'í, but openly Bahá'í." It totally caught us off guard, and we had a good laugh! :P
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For dinner, Susan treated us at a restaurant called "Spice Trade" that was located inside the Imperial Hotel (received the World Luxury Hotel Award 2010). The food and ambiance there was incredible! Highly recommended for anyone visiting New Delhi.
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Akshardham temple
Susan and I were talking about beliefs, and we were a bit surprised to find that neither of us had a strong belief in any particular religion. A few minutes later, I looked out of the window and excitedly exclaimed "I see god!" to which Susan exclaimed "I see god too!" At that point, the irony of the situation hit us and we started laughing. We were approaching the Akshardham temple, and there was an enormous statue of Swaminarayan, visible through two huge pillars.
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| picture borrowed from this blog |
Very beautiful and intricate carvings all over the walls, ceilings, and pillars! It is made entirely of Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian Carrara marble - no steel or concrete for support. The base (which you can see to the sides of the staircase) contains 148 life-size elephant carvings as a tribute to the importance of elephants in Hindu culture and India's history.
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| picture copied under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
In front of the temple is a sunken garden, designed to look like a lotus when seen from above.
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Tomorrow, we pay homage to Akbar, argued to be the greatest ruler in Indian history.
(a young Akbar)
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