Incredible Northern India Tour
February 19 – March 2, 2016
 

 

February 20th, 2016

Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Raj Ghat, pass by the India Gate. It doesn’t matter where you go, you are an oddity here in India. Always stared at and 95% of the time if you smile, they will smile back. They want to learn more about us just as we want to learn more about them, their customs and religions. This year there was a huge gathering of people wearing pink and everywhere you looked…people in some form of the colour. Loved the way they made popsicles here – that is that strange contraption with the sticks poking out. The flowers surrounding Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial are always lovely and colourful to look at. This time there were also many covering the exact spot he died. Needless to say with over a billion people here in India the group was in for an experience they had never been on before. Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in Asia constructed in 1656. Shah Jahan had this built and if you remember he also built the Taj Mahal. It was the last extravagant thing he had built and can hold up to 25,000 people. Built by 5,000 people and it took 6 years to construct. It stands in the heart of old Delhi and wandering around here in our rickshaws was quite the experience. The walls of the Red Fort stand 33 metres tall so you can just imagine what this place looks like inside…no, you really can’t. This is something you must see in person to appreciate. Built for Emperor Shah Jahan in 1638, it remained the residence of Emperors until 1857. The Red Fort’s innovative architectural style, including its garden design, influenced later buildings and gardens in Delhi and elsewhere. Most of the jewels and artworks of the Red Fort were looted and stolen during Nadir Shah's invasion of 1747 and again after the failed Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British colonialists. They were eventually sold to private collectors or the British Museum, British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum. For example, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the jade wine cup of Shah Jahan and the crown of Bahadur Shah II are all currently located in London.

 

DSC00825 – 915