Day 2 Delhi - "The Mother Earth has enough for everybodies need, but not for everybodies greed" - Gandhi

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Namaste

My first day in Delhi finished of with a massive diahhorea spurt in the afternoon. Hello Delhi belly! Thank fully, this only lasted that afternoon and I was again freed to experience curry amazement.

Day 2 was Delhi sight seeing day. Woke up at 6am, shower, breakfast, cigarette (allowed in hotel room here and cost $2 a packet) and very very sweet milky coffee.

First up was Jama Masjid - India's first mosque and second largest in the world, after Indonesia. Built by emporer Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1658. It can hold 25,000 people in its courtyard, so you can imagine the immensity of it. I'm not going to go into detail about the monuments on here, its something you have to experience for yourself. Even the photos or videos I took don't come close to actually being there - but i'll post them up soon.

The Red Fort - was a fort of the Mughal dynasty also constructed by Shah Jahan. In 1857 a large part of it was destroyed by the British to make way for army barracks. To this day it hosts the Prime Ministers address to the Nation following India's independence from the British on 15 August 1927

Gandhi's memorial was probably the most simple of the monuments I have yet seen, and I imagine will remain so. There is no grandeur about it, just a garland of flowers and an ever burning flame set amongst well maintained gardens. This was Gandhi's wish, keeping in tune with his philosophy of simple living. I felt very humbled seeing this and for a nation to be so proud of this amazing political figure who fought against all odds for his cause of non-violence and wholeheartedly supporting it, to me says so much.

Qutub Minar was probably the most impressive. It's construction began during the Islamic rule of India back in 1193. It's like a small city. You can very easily imagine this world whole empires ago with kings and queens roaming about. It was really something. Pics and videos coming soon!

The Lotus temple is a relatively modern Bahai temple built in the 80's. It resembles the Sydney opera house in its structure. Indian's visit this temple once a week to pray or meditate.

So after a very long day of walking down history lane, I was exhausted, in bed early, ready for another adventure tomorrow.

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Comments

[sunharra]

oh dear , arenot you coming to udaipur . or you have already passed thru udaipur. I live here . and most welcome here. please let me know. always help you here.

[sunharra]

dear, I think you are not properly guided here in india. I am talking about the wrong information that is given to you by the local guides. I tell you why :- 1. in Delhi, lotus temple is not a hindu temple. nothing to do with hindus. it belongs to a minor sect, bahai only a handful of them are here in india. 2. amber fort in jaipur is not a mughal fort. Its a Rajput fort. who fought against mughals. 3. Hawamahal is not a temple. mahal means palace. its a different kind of palace. and check out from anybody. if are not visitng udaipur in rajasthan . u will miss alife time opportunity. most of the foreigners come here. . please come to udaipur. by the way I am not a guide. but a local udaipur resident. will help you thru . can call me if u wish to , for anyother kind of help. thanks sandeep singh 09782789475

[intheirshoes2011]

Thanks for clarifying. It's possible I'm getting my history confused :)