Greetings,
This web page highlights the Kieser families visit to India 2009. On August 17th we flew from Dallas Tx, to Chicago Il, then from Chicago we flew nonstop to New Delhi. We arrived just after sunset on the 18th of August and headed directly to our room at the Crown Plaza hotel in New Delhi. The Crown Plaza is a nice but expensive place to stay. The food in the Crown Plaza was excellent by my standards ( I Like Indian Food).
Day 1, August 19th, 2009
We met our guide from OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) Daisy, and we boarded our tour bus, which is built by the Indian company TATA. Then we set out to explore Delhi.
You can click on any of the pictures on this page to enlarge them (to see a more detailed image). Sometimes you will need to scroll to see the entire image.
This fountain stands where King George's Statue once stood. The Indian people moved George into a museum indoors where he is out of the rain, and away from the birds, so both George and the Indian people are happier now.
This Monument is just around the conner from the fountain in the picture above. It was built to honor the Indian soldiers who fought and died in the Afghan war. The Indian soldiers fought with the British army defending Afghanistan from Russian invaders in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
This is part of the Indian Parliamentary Complex in New Delhi. The red arkose sandstone and white marble were quarried in the Aravali mountains to the west.
This is a view of the Chondni Chowk Market (means Moonlight Square) in New Delhi as seen from the back of a pedal cycle rickshaw. The pink blob in the corner is the shoulder of the driver pedaling the rickshaw that I am in. The dresses that the Indian women wear are called Sari.
This is a telephone pole seen in the same market as seen from the back of the pedal rickshaw. Many of the connections are made illegally by people siphoning power. Somehow the word is always spread when the inspector from the power company is on the way and the siphoning connections miraculously go away.
Next to the Pedal Rickshaw market is the Jama Mosque which is the primary Mosque for New Delhi. 14.8% of Indians (1.2 Billion Indians Total) are Islamic making India the second largest Islamic Population in the world (second to Indonesia).
This is the front of the Jama Mosque. The archway faces towards Mecca, which is towards the West from New Delhi.
Above is my younger sister Karen at the Jama Mosque in New Delhi. She is wearing a garment issued by the mosque which is required for women to enter. Also we all had to leave our shoes outside upon entry to the mosque.
This is the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi. All foreign ministers always visit this site before conducting any official business in New Delhi. Gandhi's ashes were divided into multiple urns and spread over all different districts of India, some of the ashes were dropped by helicopter over the Himalayas.We returned to the hotel, and then proceeded to a nice restaurant called Lazise Affair in the ambassadorial sector of New Delhi for dinner. Lazise means delicious. The Dal Makhani was truly excellent and lived up to the promise that the restaurants name imply's.
Day 2, August 20th, 2009
Day 2 started with a lovely breakfast at the Crown Plaza hotel, followed by a bus ride across town to Old Delhi where the first Islam emperor Qutub built a capitol city to rule India in the 13th century.
Above is the Qutub Minaret (Tower) constructed by the first Islamic Emperor at the heart of Old Delhi during the 13th century. The Minaret is constructed in 5 levels and stands 72.5 meters tall (237ft) and is the worlds tallest sandstone structure.
This is another view of the Qutub Minaret. 17 years after its completion the tower was struck by lightning and damaged; then, the new upper levels were constructed in marble by the 2nd Islamic Emperor Iltut Mish. Iltut Mish constructed the upper layers in marble instead of sandstone like the rest of the Minaret to signify that the top levels were his contribution which increased the height of the Minaret from its original design. Even though the Minaret was designed by a Islamic architect the tower was constructed by Hindus. If you click on this image to see the more detailed image you can see the curves and flowers that are Hindu design elements. The first Islamic emperor Qutub, was originally a slave that was left in charge of India after his master Muhammad Ghori conquered the Indian lands and went back home. Just after Muhammad Ghori left, Qutube declared himself king.
At the same site as the Qutub Minaret above is Delhi's first Mosque. This is one of the hallways in the first Mosque. This mosque was quickly abandoned because it was constructed by Hindu's, and had carvings of Hindu gods, snakes, flowers, Elephants, and other Hindu symbols that offended the Muslims.
While on a hunting trip Qutub came across this iron column. It was shiny and strong so Qutub thought it would be an interesting antique to display in his Mosque. It turns out that the column was constructed by native Hindus in the 3rd century. Amazingly this ancient column has virtually no signs of rust even though it has been outdoors for centuries. Metallurgists have examined this column and found that the Iron it is made of is 99.7% pure iron. The column is virtually impurity free, which is why it does not rust. Modern metallurgy does not provide a method to refine iron as purely as was done in India in the 3rd century. There is an inscription on the column that was undecipherable to Qutub. This inscription tells about the 3rd century king Chandragupta II who built this column, and describes how his leadership was just and true.
This is the New Delhi Bahai Temple. Scriptures from all different religions are read aloud here. The design of the temple is in the form of the Lotus flower which is the national flower of India.
This is the Sikh Temple of New Delhi. The word Sikh means disciple Sikh were founded by Guru Nanak, their first guru. Guru Nanak was unhappy with the Hindu priests, and even more unhappy with the Muslims. who were imposing a extra tax on anyone non Muslim in order to pressure them into turning muslim Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion to be a group who studied the scriptures of all religions, and as a group of strong warriors who would stand against injustices like the islamic tax on non Muslim people. There were 9 guru's who followed Guru Nanak. The 10th guru was the last his name was Guru Sikh. Guru Sikh put the teachings of his 9 predecessors into a book. Sikh people today pray to the book, and believe that the Sikh book is a living vesicle that carries the spirit of the 10 gurus. Being Sikh does not mean that you cannot participate in another religion. You can be Sikh and Hindu, Muslim or Christian too. The Sikh also have 2 free meals a day for anyone who wishes to come and eat, which is very helpful in Delhi.
This is a picture of two Sikh Men, one is a true Sikh. True Sikh always wear a Blue Turban, they always carry a dagger sword on their left hand side, and they always wear steel bracelets on their right wrist. True Sikh never cut their hair or beard, and they always wear long underpants. Sikh believe in complete equality for men and women. The true Sikh women dress like the men, carry the same dagger and are expected to fight with the men. I shook the hand of the true Sikh man in this picture, and I asked him if it was ok to take the picture. I also told him that he was part of an honorable religion. He asked me if was alright for him to take my picture, and proceeded to do so.Day 3, August 21th, 2009
We had a very early wake up call so we could beat the traffic out of New Delhi. Driving out of town we went through New Delhi and India's most affluent suburb called Gurgaon. Gurgaon dropped tax rates which inspired many global corporations to move there. One building we passed in Gurgaon had the Microsoft call center in it.
This is a statue of Lord Shiva in Gurgaon. This statue is visible from the highway, and causes a localized traffic jam as cars on the highway stop to pay their respects to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is always seen with a snake and a trident. To get an appreciation for the scale of this statue click on the picture above to view it in high resolution, and compare the bird on the top of Lord Shiva's head to the bird on the statue of Lord Krishna below.
Above is a Statue of Lord Krishna at Gurgaon India, which is next to the statue of Lord Shiva above. Lord Krishna is one of the incarnations of Vishnu. Krishna was very popular with the ladies and had multiple consorts. Lord Kristna is often seen playing the flute.
This is a cattle drive right down the side of the highway between New Delhi and Jaipur. These are Brahma cattle. Because of the milk that they produce the female cattle are view as a "Second Mother" in Hindu society. The female cattle are only used for breeding and milk, they do no work. Male cattle are used as beasts of burden and carry carts and are used to plow fields. The purpose of this cattle drive was to find food for the cattle to the east. West india is a dry to desert environment, and these cattle were marched east where summer monsoon rains have provided lush grass. The cattle in this image are a bit thinner than usual because 2009 is a drought year in India.
On the road from New Delhi to Jaipur we passed this group of people riding in the back of this truck. They waved at us when they passed us in line for the toll booth, then they cheered our bus 5 minutes later when we passed them on the highway. I find Indian people to be amongst the friendliest people I have meet anywhere. Lots of people, specially children are waving and excited to see our bus pass by. Everyone has been nice and helpful here, and nearly everyone speaks English.
This lion is at Chomu Palace in Rajastahn. Chomu Palace was once a Maharaja's palace; however, after India achieved independence the Maharajas were forced to relinquish many of their properties by the indian government. Chomu Palace was converted into a hotel after it was relinquished by the Maharaja. The Palace has lovely grounds and detailed sculpture at every turn.
This is a Statue of Shiva and the circle of life at Cromu Palace in Rajastahn. I have found it interesting how happy the baby that Shiva is stomping on looks. Click on the picture to see the detail on the happy infants face.
Below is a Bizzar in Cromu India. There were many people dressed in bright colors mixed with animals (cows, monkeys, hogs) all intermingling on the street together. Many of the vendors sold fruit and vegetables. One member of our group (Julie) bought an indian sari and wore it back to the bus.Our bus arrived in Jaipur India in the late afternoon. After a bit of rest we had dinner in the hotel (Golden Tulip) restaurant. The food was good, but with the spices toned down for american tourists (I like spicy foods).
Click Here to Continue to India 2009 Days 4-7
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