The 6th of July, my parents and I set out on a trip to the Golden Triangle in Northern India. It is called the Golden Triangle because the three main tourist spots of this trip can form the vertices of a triangle - Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. So here goes my experience!:
Early in the morning at 5:00am, I woke up to my mom's shouts... Both reluctantly and excitedly, I got down my bed to get ready for our flight. Our flight was at 7:25am. Our cab came slightly late but luckily we were on time for checking-in. I boarded a flight after an year and a half and my previous flight experience wasn't very great (extreme turbulence freaked me out). This flight on the other hand was very smooth due to a lack of clouds both over Pune and Delhi. We landed in Delhi at 9:25am and our driver-to-be Nandan was waiting for us. We got in the car and straight up headed for the first monument of our trip. Nandan is a nice person belonging to Delhi because of whom we could cover more of Delhi than we first thought of as you can see further in the blog. He also entertained us well during the long journeys in cars.
First up and closest to the airport is Qutab Minar. It is a very old tower of victory which commenced building in 1193. The surroundings of Qutab Minar also houses a Mosque and an 'Iron pillar' (not just any, it is a special one...) Qutab Minar was built by the material obtained by destroying 27 Hindu temples. It has five storeys and is 73m high. When we reached the monument, we had our packed breakfast in the car itself while our driver bought us entry tickets. Once we got down the car, we were introduced not only to the monument but also to the scorching heat of Delhi. By the time we completed scouting the whole place, my parents were drenched in sweat and I was feeling overheated too. We saw the Iron pillar at the very end. It is one of the first iron pillars that were made rustproof and that has very well been confirmed in the modern day. We had a nice time and were still pretty enthusiastic, it being the first of many.
Next, we went to visit the Lotus Temple. This Temple as the name suggests, is built in the shape of a gigantic lotus. It is a relatively new structure and was built in 1986. The outside structure is pure white marble and this 'Bahai Temple' chose the shape of lotus as it is an important symbol for several religions including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism. The view of the Temple from far away was very good and as we went closer, the marble made it look great. In my opinion, the inside of the Temple was very similar to the seating in old large Churches. We sat inside in complete silence for sometime and heard the cheerful sounds of the birds in the Temple's surroundings. After a while, we left the Temple premises and headed for the next monument in the afternoon heat.
Another Temple upcoming... This time it is the ISKCON Temple. It is a tourist attraction as it is a beautiful place promoting the Vedic culture along with audio-visual presentation of the Bhagvadgita. We visited the temple at a very odd time and could not see around for very long as the temple was about to close for the afternoon. We went inside where we saw several idols of different gods. We sat down for a while not only to watch the people, listen to the bhajans being played by the devotees, but also for cooling down underneath the fans (The heat was unbearable as we were not accustomed to such heat in Pune). Just outside the temple premises, we ate kulfis and left for lunch in a nearby place as suggested by our driver.
After our lunch, we visited Humayun's Tomb (or rather the complete mausoleum). It was built nine years after Humayun, the second Mughal emperor's accidental death by falling of a staircase. It was built in 1565. Inside the premises (after buying the tickets), the pathways were not well covered by the trees and so, the heat was simply annoying. Along with Humayun's Tomb, we got to see Isa Khan's Tomb which was supposedly built about a decade before Humayun's. This tomb was much milder than even the entrance gateway to Humayun's Tomb. We saw this tomb first and then went ahead to Humayun's Tomb which was huge in size. Inside, not only was Humayun's final resting place but also several other tombs in side rooms. The architecture was beautiful and we also got to see the classic Islamic type dome at the top of the tomb.
Later, on the way to the India Gate, we saw the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Parliament House from where the decisions of whole of India are made and signed. The place is huge and really grand. Of course, we are neither allowed inside the premises nor allowed to wait for a long time outside the building to make it look suspicious. We clicked some quick pictures and left soon after.
We then visited the India Gate - a 42m high monument very similar in shape to France's Arc-de-Triomphe. It is built to honour the Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting in the WW-I for Britain. Also, it bears the names of over 13000 soldiers who perished in the 1919 Afghan War. Underneath the gate, an eternal flame is burnt in honour of the soldiers who died in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. When we reached this monuments, lots of photographers offered clicking pictures for albums. We got three pictures and then enjoyed the monument a while more before leaving. Our driver showed us around the huge circular road of about 2km circumference around the India Gate with about 12 connecting roads. Now we left for the only night-visit place in our entire five-day tour.
We reached Akshardham - a massive Temple inaugurated in 2005. It displays the efforts of 11000 artisans and over 10000 years of Indian culture and traditions. It is a Temple dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan who is believed to have been one of God's messengers. It was going to be a long time inside the Temple premises as the place offered several things other than just visiting the actual Temple. When we reached, we realized that neither handbags, nor any electronics are allowed inside the premises. So, my dad went back to the car to leave everything there. We then went inside the Temple premises only to sit down exhausted by heat (even in the evening!). My dad bought the combo tickets for all the exhibitions that were offered.
Akshardham was the last stop for the day as it was already 9:00pm, and we ate our dinner in the canteen of Akhardham itself. While on way to our hotel, we drove through Delhi's popular area Connaught Place where we again saw large circular roads (probably it's the British style of architecture). We then checked-in to our night-stay hotel - Hotel Southern. After enjoying the free-wifi for a while and unpacking our luggage, we went to sleep, in hopes of waking up early next morning although we were exhausted.
Day 2: Delhi, we aren't finished with you yet!:
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| Birla Mandir |
We woke up later than we wished to. We ate in the hotel itself as the breakfast was complementary. Later, we began the day with another Temple as it was the nearest to our hotel... This time it was the Laxmi Narayan Temple (also known as Birla Mandir). It is a major tourist attraction as it is a beautiful place. Built in 1939 and inaugurated be Mahatma Gandhi himself, the Temple is open to all castes of Hindus. Inside were the idols of several different gods. We saw around the place as it was a pretty large premises. Although the Temple was well-built, my parents said that the Hyderabad Birla Mandir is better.
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| Gurudwara Bangla Sahib |
Next, we went to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. It is one of the most prominent Sikh's place of worship in Delhi. It was originally built as a small temple in 1783 but then built as it is currently. When we went to the Gurudwara, our driver told us that our hair should not exposed inside the premises. My mom used her dupatta (long scarf), while my dad and I used the handkerchiefs that we brought along. The temple looked grand along with the water pool that was clean enough that fish were living inside it. This water pool is holy and is called as 'Sarovar'. The Gurudwara building itself had several parts of it gold-plated which made it look really good not only up close but even from outside the premises.
Next up was the Jantar Mantar. It was constructed in 1724 by Jaipur's Maharaja Jai Singh. This Jantar Mantar is one of the five he built in different places of India (the others being in Jaipur, Ujjain, Varanasi and Mathura). Jantar Mantar is an astronomical observatory that he built to take accurate measurements of Sun's and stars' positions in the sky, the duration of the day and other astronomical measurements. Unfortunately though, the Delhi observatory is not functional anymore so we just took a look around the observatory and left soon after.
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| Mahatma Gandhi Memorial |
Raj Ghat was next as it was nearby Jantar Mantar. It was originally a memorial dedicated just to Mahatma Gandhi. But, over time, memorials to well known politicians of India have been built surrounding the main memorial area. We did not want to use up much time, so we just visited the main memorial of Mahatma Gandhi and then left the place for our next stop - Jama Masjid.
Jama Masjid of Delhi is the largest Mosque in India. It commenced building in 1644 by Shah Jahan - the Mughal emperor well known for building Taj Mahal. It is capable of holding 25000 devotees and is made of sandstone. When we reached there, we came to know at the entrance that people are not allowed inside the Mosque without covering their legs completely. As my dad and I were in shorts, we were given 'lungi' type dresses to cover our legs. Inside, a man showed us around the place and as it was afternoon time, not many people were seen. People had finished their prayers in the morning (it being Eid festival time). We clicked pictures and left the place after handing back the 'lungis'.
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| Inside Jama Masjid |
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| Outside Red Fort |
Almost opposite the street leading to the Mosque is the Red Fort - another construction made under the rule of Shah Jahan. It was the palace of his kingdom's capital 'Shahjahanabad'. During Indian independence day, the president delivers his speech from the walls of this massive fort. It is made of red sandstone. At the time we reached the fort, unfortunately, there was massive crowd at the ticket counters and it would be a waste of time for the rest of the day to wait in the so-called "Indian queues" to get tickets for entering the fort. So, we chose to stay out and click some pictures before leaving.
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| White Tiger at the Zoo |
Our next stop was a Zoological park (or simply a zoo...) which was not originally in our "to-see list" but our driver suggested that we should go see the zoo. Our driver managed to get us entry from the staff entry gate as he had a friend whose father had just retired from working at the zoo. So, we avoided the long wait of getting tickets as the crowd was as large as that at Red Fort. We enjoyed seeing several animals that are not common in India such as the Jaguar, Cheetah etc. What I actually wanted to see was a Lion but when we went to the Lion's compartment, it was not to be seen (it was probably hiding from the heat too...) After having a good time, we left the zoo.
On the way, we visited Ramakrishnan Mut (again suggested by the driver). We saw the temple inside and also the bookstore where there were several different books based on spirituality. We then left for the hotel as most monumental sites close by 5:30pm - 6:30pm and we had finished the important things on our list.
When we were back at the hotel, we decided to go to the Ghaffar market which was straight down the lane of our hotel. My dad bought some stuff in the market while my mom and I were just looking around the market, not really interested in anything. We still had to eat dinner, so we found a small eating place in a sweets shop, ate light and went back to the hotel. We enjoyed the wifi a while more and slept as we had to get up early the next day to leave for Jaipur.
Day 3: We are coming Jaipur!!:
We woke up pretty early in the morning and got ready to check out from the hotel to continue our trip to Jaipur. It would be approximately a three hour ride. My mom and I slept off in the rear seat of the car as we woke up pretty early. My dad sat in the front, guiding the driver and giving directions to him using google maps. I woke up when we are reaching closer to Jaipur. When we entered the city, we were directly in the old city where three main tourist attractions are - Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal and City Palace. The old city was pretty messed up with tiny streets and too many one-ways as there was metro construction ongoing. This made google maps unreliable too. We just followed the boards blindly and reached Jantar Mantar eventually.
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One of the instruments at
Jantar Mantar |
We thought the Jantar Mantar of Jaipur would be similar to the one in Delhi but we realized that this one was in full working condition. We went and looked around the several different astronomical instruments that were there to measure the time, length of the day, altitude of celestial objects and also positions of celestial objects in the sky. Unfortunately, the technical language on the information boards were not easy to interpret even by me who is slightly better at astronomy than a lay-man visiting Jantar Mantar. After viewing all these, we exited Jantar Mantar and opposite was the secondary entrance to the City Palace.
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A cannon at City
Palace |
City Palace was a huge place by one of Jaipur's kings in the 1700s who had earned the title "Sawai" literally meaning 'one and a quarter'. Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor had given him this title to note that the king was much more than others. City Palace now showcases a lot of the royal stuff, weaponry and clothing of the past kings. We rented an audio guide at the entrance to understand each thing in more detail. We got to know a lot of things about the palace and were really impressed or surprised by some of the things that were used so long back in the 1700s. After we completed listening to information about all the parts of the palace, we returned the audio guide and left the palace to go to the next place.
The old city was a complete maze and we had to hire these battery-operated rickshaws to roam around the streets only to have traveled a short distance as there were a lot of one ways. When we reached the car in the parking, we decided it would not be worth to roam around the place once more to go to Hawa Mahal and so we decided we would see Hawa Mahal the next day and we left old city to visit some forts atop a hill. On the way to the hill, we saw Jal Mahal situated amidst a lake and not allowed for people to go to via any means.
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| Jaigarh cannon |
When we reached the hill, we first visited the Jaigarh fort, where the world's largest cannon is situated. When it was test fired back in the day (1727), its shell reached out 36km from the place it was fired. This was the only reason we wished to visit the fort. Once we saw the cannon, we were about to leave when a security guard suggested us to view other parts of the fort. We decided we would venture in for a while but realized that the routes were a complete maze and we did not have much time to explore where the routes led us to. So, we left for the next fort - Amber Fort. We decided to ignore Nahargarh fort as there is nothing really special to see there.
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| Amber Fort |
At Amber Fort, we hired a guide who told us about the history of the fort. It was built by Maharaja Jai Singh in 1727. This palace complex is a lavish one and also has a court Diwan-e-Am - The hall of public audience. The main attraction that we went to visit Amber Fort was Sheesh Mahal (the chamber of mirrors). Unfortunately, we realized that this part of the fort was now closed to public as the mirrors were being plucked off by visitors. So, there wasn't much left to do over here. We clicked some pictures in the courtyards and then the guide took us a bit downhill where we got to see the local artwork, including statues, clothing, bedding etc. Then we saw the world's second largest 'Taj Mahal' which was an exact replica but about the size of a small bed. We then left for our hotel.
The ride to our hotel, with directions from google maps was a very rough one through the small slums and streets of Jaipur. It was a disappointing ride considering the fact that Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. But, the ride was totally worth at the end. The hotel - Lemon Tree Premier (a 4-star) was my first high class hotel experience. When we reached the hotel for checking-in, they gave us a free upgrade to the deluxe suite as the rooms were quite empty - it being off-season. I loved the room that we were provided with. I enjoyed that evening in the room itself, only to leave the room for dinner that night. We found a small eating place on the second floor atop a sweets shop where we ate light and then went back to the hotel room to have a comfortable sleep on the bed. We were supposed to wake up early next morning as we had to visit Ajmer and Pushkar (not to forget Hawa Mahal).
Day 4: Total disaster :(
When I woke up, I was wondering why was I woken up so late (8:00am). My mom told me that my dad was very sick and that we were not going to Ajmer and Pushkar anymore. I felt bad, as I remember several instances where I fell sick during trips too. I was partially sick too with a running nose and mild cough. My mom was slightly sick too just like me. We nailed down the reason to most likely be the previous night's meal. As my dad was sick, I continued to sleep (or loll around the bed) too.
Then, my mom suggested that just she and I could go visit Hawa Mahal and also Jantar Mantar once again as we did not understand the functioning of most of the instruments properly. So, I got ready and my mom and I went to eat our complementary breakfast... and... it was so lavish! I had never seen such a buffet setup for breakfast. There was so much stuff to choose from - different juices, different breads, other meals, different cheeses, salads etc... I ate a heavy meal just as the saying goes (breakfast should be the heaviest meal of the day). We took some back to our room as my dad was feeling weak and also had a weak appetite.
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| In Hawa Mahal |
At around 11:00am, my mom and I left the hotel to go to the old city to view Hawa Mahal and Jantar Mantar. We first decided to revisit Jantar Mantar. We hired a guide when we reached there, who explained the purpose and working of every instrument that was setup at that observatory. After this, we went to Hawa Mahal.
Hawa Mahal is the most recognizable monument of Jaipur, is five storeys high and was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It was (when functional) a recreational palace for the women of the royal family and their 'dasis' (servants). We hired a guide who told us a lot about the palace, what was each part of the palace for and what way it functioned back in the day. From the top floor of the Mahal, we could also see the 'Ishwar Lat' tower - a seven-storey 'heaven piercing' minaret that provides a view of the entire old Jaipur city.
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| View atop Hawa Mahal |
After visiting these two monuments, we started our return ride to the hotel just to realize that google maps was completely messing up our return journey. Three routes that google maps was suggesting were impossible to use as the Jaipur metro construction had blocked these roads from use. We were stuck and going around the place in circles not knowing which way to go. So, I checked the maps a bit more closely and chose a route that it was not suggesting. It worked! This route wasn't blocked (turns out that you should sometimes actually not listen to google maps...)
This day, which was meant to be dedicated to Ajmer and Pushkar turned into a 'Enjoy a 4-star hotel experience'. We did not want to risk our health further, so we ordered Fried rice and Hakka noodles from the in-room dining menu and ate in our room itself. The food was really good. Later, we did not have much to do and the free wifi was set such that each device can use it for only an hour a day. So, I turned on the TV and watched two movies in a row (a feat I had never done before) - Home Alone 3, and Independence Day. Both movies were really good. Next, my mom decided to order our dinner from the hotel menu too. The pizza was very good too! The experience in terms of room, and food - both were great! After this, I killed time (I do not even remember how) and went to sleep at about 10:20pm as we were to get up early next day too...
Day 5: We would see the beauty this day:
We woke up early in the morning as we had to leave for Agra (and Fatehpur-Sikri en route). When I woke up, I was surprised that my dad was almost normal after he was badly sick the previous day. It usually takes me a long time to recover as my colds are usually chronic. My dad recovered super-fast! We checked-out of the hotel and then started off for Fatehpur-Sikri in our car.
My mom and I slept off in the rear seat of the car once again as we woke up early in the morning. My dad had to sit in the front to guide the driver on how to reach our destination. The highways were surprisingly wide. We were able to cruise at pretty high speeds on these roads and that meant reaching our destination faster. I woke up a while before we reached Fatehpur-Sikri.
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| Fatehpur-Sikri |
Fatehpur-Sikri is a fascinating city built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1569. Akbar did not have a heir to the throne even at the age of 26. He consulted a saint named Salim Chisthi, by walking a long distance from his capital palace to Sikri where the saint resided. The saint's blessings gave Akbar three sons. In return to this, Akbar built this complete city along with the main fort to commemorate this saint. Later, the place was deserted due to water shortages and has since been untouched as we see it today. We hired a guide along with a package who paid all the fees of entry, rickshaw travel, shoe-keeping etc. Just as at Jama Masjid, we were not allowed inside in shorts. So, we wore the similar 'lungi' in order to go inside.
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| Inside the Shrine |
The guide explained us a lot about the history of the place and what all would be conducted in the massive courtyard inside the fort complex. Directly in the courtyard, we could see the tombs of several family members of the saint. The place had a very similar design to Jama Masjid (but it should be considered that this place was built earlier). Also inside, was a Mosque / Shrine built for the saint himself. It was built out of marble. We had to wear a 'topi' to go inside and also cleanse our hands first. Although, overall the place was very dirty after festival happenings, the architectural design of the Mosque was very good! We then left the place to go to our next destination - Agra.
Agra is not very far away from Fatehpur-Sikri, but as I was pretty sick, I was feeling weak and I slept off in the car once again. As we reached the West gate of Taj Mahal, we realized that the crowd was too huge and we may not get an entry ticket. Our driver's relative lived in Agra. With his help, we navigated to the East gate which was supposedly the VIP gate. He got us the tickets but we were a bit reluctant to get out of the car as it had started to rain quite heavily. We realized it would be a waste of time to stay in the car for such a long time and just as we got out of the car, luckily, the rain started to subside... When we got inside the East gate, we hired a guide once again....
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| Taj Mahal |
Taj Mahal was built under the rule of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan from 1632 to 1648 as the most magnificent tomb for his deceased and 'favourite' wife Mumtaz Mahal. It was built by over 20000 workers for seventeen years! Now, this piece of architecture is open to the public but under pretty tight security conditions as Taj Mahal is the number one wonder of the world! When we got inside the gate, first of all we saw the Mumtaz Mahal (not the lady... another main entry gate). This itself was a grand gate to enter and view the Taj Mahal. As we started to enter this gate, there it was! We could see the beautifully constructed structure of white marble! Also, the tiles were made of red sandstone. A photographer clicked us some photographs which would be handed to us later on at South gate (an unknown disaster it was going to be...) I was too tired to walk much so after a while, my dad continued to walk to get closer to the building, but my mom and I went back to the south gate to collect the pictures...
...Now, this was a disaster. We realized, we could not enter back in once we exited the South gate for the photos. My dad was inside while we were outside and it does not end there! We had to wait a complete hour to get our photos in so much of a crowd. It was a really annoying wait, and once we got our photos, it was a long route to get back to the Eastern gate to catch the mini-bus back to the parking area. It was annoying, and tiring. After this ordeal, we ate at KFC and then went on for Agra Fort.
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| Outside Agra Fort |
I was not really interested to go to Agra Fort... But, we had enough time to visit Agra Fort but not sufficient to visit Mathura en route Delhi (as we had to catch our flight). So, we decided to go to Agra Fort. We expected the crowd to be as bad as it was at Red Fort but, though it wasn't that bad, it would still take a long enough wait in the line to get the tickets. My mom waited in the line while I scouted the place restlessly and my dad took a quick look of the inside. He put forward the point that it might take too long inside and so, we left the place to go back to Delhi.
This time, I sat at the front as my dad was feeling weak again. The roads were really wide which was a good thing once again to cruise at high speeds. This is when my dad gets a message that our flight was delayed by 40 minutes! So, we would go to Delhi and wait at the airport doing nothing (how interesting!) Once we reached Delhi, we ate our dinner at a restaurant in Connaught Place and then left for the airport. At the airport, I used my mom's 2G to play some games on my phone but soon I got bored of that too and roamed around the place while my parents dozed off. When it was almost time, I asked a person at the check-in counter whether check-in was open for our flight, and it was almost shocking to know that the check-in was going to close soon!! It was luck that I asked at the right time. I woke up my parents, completed the formalities, boarded the flight and were back home in Pune at about 3:30am and we slept early next morning at 4:00am... A hectic last day and in general an awesome trip and experience!
-Suhas
17/07/16
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