Delhi: The Old City

I haven't posted a blog for some time, mostly because India has been kicking my butt for the past six weeks. Let's just say that I was in a six-week whirlwind relationship with bureaucracy, and they decided they didn't want to see me anymore. So I'm leaving Pune for Kathmandu, Nepal on Tuesday morning, for a few weeks. On top of that I sprained my ankle badly, and then I ended up with some sort of stomach bug that knocked me down for almost five days.

The good news is I went to Delhi, and I took hundreds of photos! I started out at the Red Fort (Lal Qila), but the lineup was huge so I decided to return another day. From there I walked to Raj Ghat, where Gandhi was cremated. The words on the front translate roughly to "Oh God," Gandhi's last words when he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.

The Jama Masjid was the next visit, and I was surprised to find it the first religious site where I didn't feel welcome. (I suspect that comes from being a woman travelling alone, in the conservative Old City of Delhi.) The mosque is beautiful though, following the red sandstone and white marble theme of many of the historical buildings in Delhi. A short stop at the India Gate, commemorating Indian soldiers, and a brief look at the Parliament buildings, which are mostly enclosed by high walls.


Back to the Red Fort to spend half a day wandering around the old buildings. The immense outer walls are built of red sandstone, and most of the inner buildings are white marble. The Mughal emperor Akbar had a personal mosque built here. Many of the buildings had pietra dura, or semi-precious stone inlaid in the marble. Where water meant wealth (and still does, to some extent), it was incredible to see the complex of fountains and waterways, and to imagine the display of power it represented. Although most of the waterways are dry now, the wealth is still displayed in the green lawns.

A short stop for Old Dehli's famous jalebis, then onward. I planned to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra on this visit, but "Delhi belly" stopped me. I did manage to complete the other "bookend" to the Taj Mahal; in Aurangabad I visited Bibi ka Maqbara, built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and influenced by the Taj Mahal, and in Delhi I visited Humayan's Tomb, built by the wife of the Mughal emperor Humayan, and a precursor to the Taj Mahal.

Stay tuned for Part II of my north-western Indian adventures!