Best group picture we managed in front of the Taj Mahal.
Christmas 2017 Katy’s sister Mary and her husband Mike came and spent a week with us in India to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. We spent the first couple of days in New Delhi and Agra before flying south to our hometown of Kochi for the last few days. Far too much wonderful craziness transpired for us to properly report it all. But, with so many cameras, we do have roughly a million pictures, so we will fill this site with lots of images. Be sure to check the captions to figure out what we were doing!
We started the first day in Old Delhi, the oldest part of the city still standing. The Flower Market (where temple offerings of garlands are prepared and sold) and the Wedding Market, and the Spice Market are all in this section of the city as well as many temples and holy places. As soon as we stepped foot in the Spice Market, we were dogged by a “tour guide” who not accept that we did not want a tour guide. He followed us for so long and was somewhat helpful, so we quit fighting him and just went with it. He certainly made getting rickshaws easier.
One of our very favorite places in Old Delhi to visit is the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib. This is a place of worship for the Shik faith, but also a place of community out reach. Tour guides are provided for foreigners free of charge (though it is nice to donate while there). The outside of the building is unassuming, but the inside is gorgeous. We happened to visit during a celebration this time. The guides all speak excellent English and truly love teaching others about their beliefs which leads them to work for the good of the community at an amazing level. They will even take you into the communal kitchens and dining hall on the backside of the property where literally thousands (rich or poor) are fed every day, three meals a day. Working in the kitchens for a little while is always a highlight.
While in Old Delhi, we also visited a Jain temple (where pictures are not allowed) and spent a night listening to the nightly music at the Hazart Nizamudden Dargah Muslim Shrine. Finding the shrine was a bit of a nightmare, but we were determined to get Uncle Mike some local music.
We spent a whole day in Agra at the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort built by the Mogul Emperors. We did have a tour guide at both places. I highly recommend it at the Taj which is super busy. Afterwards, they took us to get some lunch and to look at a store where the same family who did all the stonework on the Taj Mahal still creates things out of semi precious stones and marble. Needless to say, everything is very expensive and nice, but even if you do not want to buy anything, the demonstration they give you on how the Taj Mahal was decorated is fascinating.
The Taj Mahal:
Built as a tomb for all three of his dead wives, Emperor Shah Jahan forever enshrined his third wife as his favorite when he placed her body in the iconic white megalith while the other two have smaller tombs elsewhere on the property. He planned to build a mirroring tomb out of black marble on the opposite side of the river, but his son refused to allow him, saying he had already spend too much money.
The Red Fort:
The Red Fort predates the Taj Mahal. It was built by that man’s grandfather Babur the Tiger. The fort is still strong and in great condition, but the palace inside the fort is gorgeous. Shah Jahan spend his last years under house arrest in a room with a view of his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal across the river.
The Lotus Temple ( a Baha’i House of Worship) is located in New Delhi. No pictures (as well as no talking) are allowed inside the building but we spend a long time at the information center learning about this faith before heading into the spare but beautiful worship center. We also went to Akshardham (a Hindu cultural center complete with temple) but running short on time, we had to make sure that we focused on seeing, not documenting that experience.
We left action-packed Delhi for sunny Kochi. We do not have as many pictures of this time. Katy came down with a severe bout of sickness and spent most of this time in bed, but Bobby, Gabe, and Max took Mike and Mary to see many of the everyday aspects of life in Kochi like the hypermarket, the video game arcade and carnival rides on the top floor of Lulu Mall, and the nice (but pretty dang inexpensive) movie theater. Once Katy felt better, we took Mike and Mary to experience a traditional Thalli meal (Katy’s favorite) and then Katy took them to her ayurveda doctor where they both underwent a consultation with the doctor and a treatments (a very slippery massage with medicated oils).
Our family are so grateful to be able to share many of the wonderful things about India with people we love. We will never forget that Mike and Mary came to visit and play with us!
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