We were in New Delhi, which is only called New Delhi because Delhi got so crowded many years ago, they moved to a neighboring area.
This was a main thoroughfare.
This is Humayun’s Tomb, built in 1570, of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent . It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the New World.
It was so nice to see some beautiful flowers in a city so loud, crowded and dirty.
This is Gandhi Smriti, the official residence of Mahatma Gandhi, where he spent the last 144 days of his life and is now a museum.
I thought it quite ingenious to raise his footsteps to depict his last walk to the gazebo where he was assassinated. He was a very simple man as seen by his bedroom.
These were Gandhi’s worldly possessions. I hadn’t realized my dad is very Gandhi-like. He has one set of silverware too. But he also has a bowl and plate and doesn’t have a pocket watch.
Next stop visit a Sikh Temple.
From a young age, Guru Nanak, born in 1469 in the Punjab region of South Asia, was was disillusioned by the social inequities and religious hypocrisies he observed around him. He believed that a single divine force created the entire world and resided within it.
The Sikh view rejects all social distinctions that produce inequities, including gender, race, religion and caste, the predominant structure for social hierarchy in South Asia.
(I kinda like this philosophy.)
Click on the video and listen to the call to prayer.
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Impressive temple.
This tall, tall flagpole is wrapped in this orange cloth every day. It was the end of the day and this man was unwrapping it, using the pulley system to unwrap the entire thing. Strange. — and a lot of work.
We all had to cover our heads with these orange scarves and remove our shoes AND SOCKS to enter the Sikh Temple. We had a dress code that day that I didn’t heed and had my shoulders showing; so I had to cover them with the pashmina (large scarf/shawl) that I always carry.
I also was not supposed to have my hair showing.
Next to the temple was the kitchen and this room is where they fed 1000’s of people a day. At the left you can see many, many people sitting cross-legged on those striped carpets eating from trays, food given to them from the kitchen.
People were very busy making all this food. And note the bare feet. Once we left we had cleaning wipes to clean our feet — and they were very black!
More food. Soups and crackers.
These were bundles of banana leaves once were used as plates. The metal trays have since replaced the leaves.
Safe Travels!
Linda Jeanne