I am finishing up my quick trip to India. After a whirlwind 1 1/2 day trip to Agra, Joe and I returned to Delhi. He went to work on Monday, and I set off to explore what I could of Delhi, with a driver and private guide.
I was picked up at my hotel by a driver, and we swung by to pick up the guide. Not being familiar with where things were located in Delhi, I was open to whatever they wanted to show me. I did say that I had been to the Agra Fort and did not need to see the Red Fort, which I had heard was not as impressive. On the way to get our guide, we drove by this beautiful temple. To my surprise, this was our first stop!
Here I am with my guide, Maninder! He is a Sikh, and asked me if I wanted to visit this Sikh temple. I have been to many temples in the last few years, but never a Sikh one. So off I went! First, we had to take off our shoes and I needed to cover my head. These orange scarves were provided.
The name of this place is the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. This is the largest Sikh temple in Delhi. It was a gift to a prominent Sikh 500 years ago. He chose not to use it as a residential palace, but as a temple. It has been in use for over 500 years.
The interior
Musicians
This temple is interesting for several reasons. One is that there is a spring by the entrance that as legend goes, has healing properties. But I found this next fact more interesting. This temple will not let a visitor go hungry. Three times a day, thousands of visitors are fed in this big hall. It has done this for all 500 years!
So how do you feed thousands and thousands of people a day? In a very very large kitchen. Here are two women at the machine that churns out about 1000 chapatis an hour! Think large flour tortilla.
These people are making chapatis by hand, which is supposed to taste better. All the workers you see are volunteers.
This picture shows you just part of the kitchen. Look at the huge pots I am standing next to! I have actually seen pots this large for sale in Oman. Now I know one use for them.
Look at this guy. With his clothing, turban, and beard, he looks as if he could be from more ancient times. Except for the cell phone! He is stirring a very large pot of potatoes and pumpkins. I have to say, it smelled good! Overall, I was very impressed with the whole temple and enormous kitchen. A lot of good work is done here every day!
Next, we drove around town some, heading to Old Delhi. And there were horses in the busy road. Because, why not?
You can't see the driver, but this is a rickshaw wagon.
Our mode of transportation in Old Delhi? Our own rickshaw. This strong young man pedaled us around. It is the only way to get through the marrow market streets.
Rickshaw selfie!
I saw several stalls selling colorful flowers.
One of the uses for the flowers was to make these necklaces used in Hindu worship.
I love old doors! I happen to own two sets of old doors. My first set came from India. In Old Delhi, I saw lots of these antique doors still very much in use.
This is one of my favorite pictures of Delhi-- colorful saris hanging out to dry.
This is the best picture I got of the three young men on the motorbike. Their faces were covered in red powder dye. This was the result of celebrating the Holi Festival, which took place in late March this year. It is an ancient festival, dating back to the 4th century. People throw colored dye at each other. I saw quite a few colorful people around, and several stalls sold the powdered dye in bulk.
Old Delhi reminded me of a much larger souk.
After the market, we went to an area of Delhi with a lot of government buildings and monuments. This is the India Gate, a war memorial built in 1921.
After this, I returned to my hotel for a shower, dinner, and flight home to KL. It was a short trip, but what a memorable one!!
