Indian Summer - The Secret History of the End of an Empire

In the beginning, there were two nations. One was a vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organised and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swathe of the earth.

Day 3. Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Kolka

Early start to catch the Shatabdi Express at New Delhi Railway Station to Kolka (The name of the town is derived from the goddess Kali - the Thugee Sect used to worship and sacrifice their victims to her) via Kurukshetra, Ambala, and Chandigarh,  covering a distance of 269 km in a span of 4 hours 5 min. The train runs at an average speed of 65 km per hour (including halts). It is a "super fast", fully electric hauled train, with a top speed of 135 kilometers per hour. The train is hauled by a matching WAP-7 of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh electric locomotive shed. The train comprises 10 AC Chair Cars, 2 AC First Class coach & 2 End-On-Generation Cars.

Waiting on the platform for the arrival of our train, I saw something that is one of my vivid childhood memories of daily life in India - a corpse, wrapped in white muslin cloth, laid out flat on the platform, with a young man sitting alonside. I presumed he was accompaning a deceased relative back to his/her village for cremation. I wondered where the corpse was going to be put in the train - hopefully not in a seat in our carriage .... 

 

Day 2. Bahá’í House of Worship (Lotus Temple) in Delhi

We followed Natalie's suggestions as to where to visit on our second day in Delhi. First stop was to visit the Bahá’í House of Worship - the Lotus Temple. Temperature was 45+ degrees Celcius and the pathway to the Temple was burning hot to obligatory bare feet. Fortunately, hessian matting made the approach bearable.

Like all other Bahá'í Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is open to all, regardless of religion or any other distinction. Bahá'í laws also stipulate that only the holy scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith and other religions can be read or chanted inside, in any language. While readings and prayers can be set to music by choirs, no musical instruments can be played inside. Furthermore no sermons can be delivered, and there can be no ritualistic ceremonies practiced. Bahá'í scripture also states that no pictures, statues or images be displayed within the House of Worship and no pulpits or altars be incorporated as an architectural feature (readers may stand behind simple portable lecture stands).

The Bahá'í sect originated in Persia and is based on a view of humanity as one single race.

Inspired by the lotus flower, the design for the House of Worship in New Delhi is composed of 27 free-standing marble clad "petals" arranged in clusters of three to form nine sides. The nine doors of the Lotus Temple open onto a central hall slightly more than 40 meters tall that is capable of holding up to 2,500 people. On average, 8,000 to 10,000 people visit the Bahá’í House of Worship each day. The surface of the House of Worship is made of white marble from Penteli mountain in Greece, the very same from which many ancient monuments and other Bahá'í Houses of Worship are built. Along with its nine surrounding ponds and the gardens, the Lotus Temple property comprises 26 acres (105,000 m²; 10.5 ha).

The site is in the village of Bahapur, in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The architect was an Iranian, who now lives in Canada, named Fariborz Sahba. He was approached in 1976 to design it and later oversaw its construction. The structural design was undertaken by the UK firm Flint and Neill. The major part of the funds needed to buy this land was donated by Ardishír Rustampúr of Hyderabad, who gave his entire life savings for this purpose in 1953.

Since its inauguration to public worship in December 1986, the Bahá'í House of Worship in Delhi has, as of late 2012, attracted more than 70 million visitors, making it one of the most visited buildings in the world. Its numbers of visitors during those years surpassed those of the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal. On Hindu celebrative days and holy days, it has drawn as many as 150,000 people.

Day 2. Our excellent Driver in Delhi, Naresh Saklani

I asked Caroline to take this momento of our Driver, Naresh Saklani, after he had driven us for the past two days to various places of interest in Delhi. Driving in India is like an unorchestrated ballet and Naresh (Good Horns, Good Brakes, Good Luck) certainly rates as a Premier danseur noble.

Day 2. "Good Horn, Good Brakes and Good Luck"

This was the reponse to my question to our great driver (Naresh Saklani) for the past two days in Delhi. The question?
" What does it take to make a good driver in Delhi?"
Wait until you watch my video, coming in the next few days, as and when I can find the time in our busy schedule - all will be revealed.

Day 2 in India - Will it get hotter than yesterday (45.1 degrees Celcius)?

It was the second most hottest day in May in Delhi for ten years ....... Forecast is that it will get one or two degrees hotter in the next couple of days - phew.
However, only Mad Dogs and South Africans ...... we had a great day visiting a number of places, took lots of photographs, video of the driving experience in India and I bought a pair of chappals (after that, I was MUCH more comfortable). I'm finding little time in the evenings to download my images so that I can post them here, still feeling the effects ofthe long journey here. But, NO regrets, I am lappping up all the sights and sounds ( no smells - yet) and all my childhood memories are being confirmed.
Tomorrow, we rise early at 0600 to board the Shatabdi Express at Delhi Central, bound for Kalka. Now, the original scedule according to the On The Go Taj & Raj Tour, was to then transfer to the narrow guage Himalayan Queen Toy Train for the rest of the journey to Shimla but, as we only discovered tonight when we met a Representaive from OTG, we are making that journey by car. Hmm, this is the third deviation from my contracted Tour. We (I had the backing of my daughters, thankfully) had quite a heated discussion with him about this, only to be told that we were "confused". I won't bore with details, we eventually squeezed out an apology and arrived at a compromise, with promises that there would be no further problems/issues. Now we are going to relax and enjoy the main part of the Tour. I will, however, be taking this up with OTG and Flight Centre on my return to Cape Town.

Day 2. Lodi Gardens - 15th century tombs of the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties

Spread over 90 acres (360,000 m²), Lodi Gardens contains Mohammed Shah's Tomb, Sikander Lodi's Tomb, Sheesh Gumbad and Bara Gumbad, architectural works of the 15th century Sayyid and Lodis, a Pashtun dynasty which ruled much of Northern India during the 16th century.

It is beautiful and serene, and is a hotspot for morning walks for the Delhiites. A favourite haunt for joggers, yogi enthusiasts, political bigwigs accompanied with their bodyguards and families who come to picnic on weekends.

The tomb of Mohammed Shah, the last of the Sayyid dynasty rulers, the earliest of the tombs in the garden, was built in 1444 by Ala-ud-din Alam Shah as a tribute to Mohammed Shah. As there is little architecture from these two periods remaining in India, Lodi Gardens is an important place of preservation. The architecture is characterised by the octagonal chamber, with stone chhajjas (projecting or overhanging eaves, usually supported on large carved brackets) on the roof and guldastas (tall decorative spires) on the corners.

Another tomb is that of Sikander Lodi, which is similar to Mohammed Shah's tomb, though without the chhatris (elevated, dome-shaped pavilions). It was built by his son Ibrahim Lodi in 1517, the last Sultan of Delhi from the Lodi dynasty. He was defeated by Babur, First battle of Panipat in 1526, laying the foundation of the Mughal Empire.

Under the Mughals, major renovations would often take place, depending on what occasions they would use the gardens for. Under Akbar the Great, the garden was used as an observatory and to keep records in a purpose built library.

In the centuries, after the 15th century Sayyid and Lodi dynasties, two villages grew around the monuments, but the villagers were relocated in 1936 in order to create the gardens. During British Raj, it was landscaped by Lady Willingdon, wife of Governor-General of India, Marquess of Willingdon, and hence named the 'Lady Willingdon Park' upon its inauguration on April 9, 1936. In 1947, after Independence, it was given its present name, Lodi Gardens.