Delhi Darshan

Delhi - 33 Million inhabitants, doubled their population since 1990. Having lived in Shanghai for 3 years it was a totally different traffic experience. Of course also no electric cars and also different car brand landscape than in China. Suzuki Maruti still massively present with market share close to 50%.
But of course we did visit some interesting places too. The highlights were:
Humayun’s Tomb: Hamida Banu Begum, his grieving widow, built Emperor Humayun's mausoleum. Precursor to the Taj Mahal, it stands on a platform of 12000m and reaches a height of 47m. The earliest example of Persian influence in Indian architecture, the tomb has within it over 100 graves, earning it the name,
'Dormitory of the Mughals'. Built of rubble masonry, the structure is the first to use red sandstone and white marble in such great quantities.
We explored as well Old Delhi where Junita has not been for 40 years. Here we were early at the Jama Masjid Mosque. It was great to enjoy the silence. We also had to chance to climb up the Minarett overlooking Delhi. The Mosque was built by Shahjahan, the fifth Mughal emperor of India. The construction did start in October 1650 and it has space for 25.000 praying people.
With Rikscha we explored then the Chandni Chowk with tiny bazaar crammed lanes. A great experience was our visit of the Sikh tempel Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib. It is one of nine historical Gurdwaras in Delhi. It was first constructed in 1783 as a small shrine by Baghel Singh to commemorate the martyrdom site of the ninth Simh Guru, Tegh Bahadur. This holy place commemorates also the Martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji who sacrificed his life for the rights of the Hindus to exercise their faith and was beheaded at this place on 11th Nov 1675A.D.
The day was rounded up with the passing by of the Red Fort (closed due to upcoming India Independence Day), the memorial place for Mahatma Gandhi, the India Gate (stands as a memorial to 74,187 soldiers of the Indian Army who died between 1914 and 1921 in the First World War) and finally the Connaught Place Area, New Delhi’s colonnaded heart. Loads of memories came back to Junita from here teenager time.

And of course we had a great time with Junita’s mum Rita, with Junita’s sister Rosita and her husband Justin, with Junita’s long standing friend Rekha and her daughter Rahil. Good Indian food was an important part of this first few days of our trip.Read more