Started with us being wide awake at 5 a.m. We had a gourmet breakfast at the hotel consisting of items that we had no idea what we were eating to pancakes and hash browns. Today we explored the city of Delhi, both old and new Dehli. Our first stop was the Laxmi Narayan Temple, a Hindu temple built in the honor of Lord Vishnu (the preserver of the Hindu Trinity) and his wife Laxmi (the Hindu goddess of wealth). At this temple we were not allowed to bring our cameras in to the actual temple thus the pictures are only from the outside. We were made to remove our shoes before entering (glad I brought my socks!) and were amazed at the worship of idols. . . Clayton made the statement “the power of human belief is amazing. . . a porcelain figure has become a god to these people because of their belief.” It was here at this temple that I witnessed first hand what I was warned about on my last day of work in the U.S. I had a patient who was Indian and had been to India earlier this year. . . I was told “the facilities are not as accommodating.” Luckily our good friend and guide, Vikas, warned us ladies to carry toilet paper with us at all times. The “facility” consisted of stalls and a hole in the ground below.
We also visited the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation which is now a memorial to Gandhi and contains an eternal flame in his honor. Outside of the shrine sat a snake charmer with a friendly cobra in his basket. For a mere $1 Clayton was able to hold the basket containing the sweet lil’cobra and I was able to snap some shots for his mother back at home. :-)
Our next stop was Jama Masjid, India’s largest mosque. It was completed in 1656 after six years of work by 5,000 laborers and is made of red sandstone. Here I was required to robe myself with a lovely dress of pink as well as remove my shoes once again. We were also met by several youngsters who were begging for money all the way back to the bus.
After the mosque we were immersed into Indian culture by way of bicycle rickshaw. It was such an adventure! Clayton and I climbed into a two person bench pulled by a bicycle and rode through the streets (more like alleys) of Old Delhi. It was complete chaos. There is no order with pedestrians, bicycles and motorbikes squeezing through spaces as small as 8 feet wide while these alleys are lined with merchants selling everything from local foods to rugs and garment fabrics. The smell of incense was overwhelming. We also noticed the terrible electrical work where wires were running in confusion with no reason or order. Our stares at the environment around us were returned 10fold. I felt like a celebrity. It was also somewhat unsettling and we dared not leave the security of the rickshaw, no matter how small that security was.
In New Delhi we witnessed the presidential palace, parliament buildings and the Indian Gate, fashioned after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The gate is a memorial to fallen soldiers who died in World War I and the Afghan Wars.
We finished the day at Qutab Minar, the world’s tallest free standing minaret, made of sandstone and covered with carvings and verses of the Qur’an. At this place also lies the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid, the first mosque in India, erected in the 12th century from materials salvaged from 27 demolished Hindu and Jain shrines. All of the shrines were defaced as there is no idol worship in Islam.
