This is going to be a rare series of posts with not a Conor or Ryan picture among them. While Conor and Ryan have been at school and Greg has been heading the American Citizens Services section in India, I have been busy getting to know our new home a bit.
New Delhi is huge, in an almost overwhelming way. Not only is it vast and heavily populated, exploring New Delhi is a daunting mix of amazing, rich history, modern growth, crushing crowds, heart-wrenching poverty, kind people, the trash from 20 plus million people, strong scents, vivid color and incomparable beauty. Add to that streets that accommodate your normal assortment of cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles etc. as well as tractors, auto rickshaws, bicycle rickshaws, hand drawn rickshaws, elephants, cows, camels, and stray dogs. Intersections where the poorest of the poor live under freeway overpasses, and where they alternately try to sell you hand towels, suspect electronics or flowers, impress you with acrobatic moves, or just beg for food or spare change. Is it any wonder I wasn't quite up to exploring this all on my own? In order to give myself some framework for my exploring I joined a group of likeminded ladies on a series of walks through some of Delhi's most interesting historical sites. These sites included forts, religious buildings, gardens, and many ruins and were organized around the many different dynasties in New Delhi and Indian history.
The walks started at what is considered the first city of New Delhi, or the place of power for the first successful Mughal invaders. The Qutab Minar was built after the defeat of Delhi's last Hindu kingdom in 1193. The location was chosen because it was the site of an important Hindu temple which was repurposed and adapted to serve as the first mosque in India. Actually many Hindu temples (approximately 27) were demolished when the Qutab Minar and its mosque were built.
The tower was started in 1200 by the first Muslim ruler, and continued by his successor who built as high as the third tier. These tiers are constructed entirely of red sandstone. The final tiers were added in 1368, and they reflect some changes in architectural style and are constructed of a mix of marble and red sandstone. In total the Qutab Minar stands 238 feet high, and it is 47 feet wide at its base, tapering to 9 feet wide at the apex. Visitors can no longer go inside the Qutub Minar, but inside there are stairs leading up to balconies which separate each distinct section of the tower.
Our next outing took us to the second city of Delhi, Siri. Siri fort was built by the Khalji Dynasty to protect against attack by the Mongols, and was built between 1297 and 1307. There are two legends about how Siri was named, and they both have to do with the fact that Sir in Hindi means head. The first is that the foundation of the fort was build on the severed heads of 8000 Mongols who were killed when they attempted to invade Delhi. The second is that when the heads of the invaders were severed, they were hung on the walls of Siri fort. Pleasant guy, Khalji!
Not much remains of Siri fort except some ruins that seem to have been absorbed by the surrounding city.
Another example of the fascination with severed heads was this minar (tower or turret) that was in the city of Siri where they would display the heads of criminals. Also from the Khalji Dynasty.
New Delhi is huge, in an almost overwhelming way. Not only is it vast and heavily populated, exploring New Delhi is a daunting mix of amazing, rich history, modern growth, crushing crowds, heart-wrenching poverty, kind people, the trash from 20 plus million people, strong scents, vivid color and incomparable beauty. Add to that streets that accommodate your normal assortment of cars, trucks, busses, motorcycles etc. as well as tractors, auto rickshaws, bicycle rickshaws, hand drawn rickshaws, elephants, cows, camels, and stray dogs. Intersections where the poorest of the poor live under freeway overpasses, and where they alternately try to sell you hand towels, suspect electronics or flowers, impress you with acrobatic moves, or just beg for food or spare change. Is it any wonder I wasn't quite up to exploring this all on my own? In order to give myself some framework for my exploring I joined a group of likeminded ladies on a series of walks through some of Delhi's most interesting historical sites. These sites included forts, religious buildings, gardens, and many ruins and were organized around the many different dynasties in New Delhi and Indian history.
The walks started at what is considered the first city of New Delhi, or the place of power for the first successful Mughal invaders. The Qutab Minar was built after the defeat of Delhi's last Hindu kingdom in 1193. The location was chosen because it was the site of an important Hindu temple which was repurposed and adapted to serve as the first mosque in India. Actually many Hindu temples (approximately 27) were demolished when the Qutab Minar and its mosque were built.
The tower was started in 1200 by the first Muslim ruler, and continued by his successor who built as high as the third tier. These tiers are constructed entirely of red sandstone. The final tiers were added in 1368, and they reflect some changes in architectural style and are constructed of a mix of marble and red sandstone. In total the Qutab Minar stands 238 feet high, and it is 47 feet wide at its base, tapering to 9 feet wide at the apex. Visitors can no longer go inside the Qutub Minar, but inside there are stairs leading up to balconies which separate each distinct section of the tower.
The courtyard surrounding the mosque in the Qutub complex. These arches have been here, such as they are, for almost 1000 years and yet I didn't quite feel ok about walking under the last remaining one!
examples of a few arches that have lasted a little better.
The mosque was started in 1193 and completed in 1197. Inside what was the mosque are ruins that show its origins as a Hindu temple. In Hindu temples it is common to see images of animals, gods and even people, but in Mosques these are not allowed. Carvings are usually either geometric or representations of the calligraphy from the Quran. Sometimes you see simple flowers, but only if they are so simple they aren't realistic. Although there are still a few in tact animal carvings, these were probably hidden in some way when the mosque was used and it is somewhat remarkable that they were left unaltered.
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| An elephant on a pillar which was likely hidden when the mosque was in use. |
Here is an example, on the left, of an image that would be more typical in a mosque, and on the right of what was probably there before when it was a hindu temple. There are lots of places where what probably started out as an image of an animal or human figure was changed to either a geometric design or simple flower.
And then there were these examples, where they just smashed in the faces but left the bodies of the figures. I found these really disturbing for some reason. Why is ok to have the images of the female bodies on display but only if they don't have their heads? I don't think I want to know.
just hanging out on the steps of a 12th century mosque, nothing to see here.
Poor Ganesha
And then there was this little guy who I couldn't get a good picture of. You'll have to believe me when I tell you that there is one remaining Ganesha figure from the original (pre 1193!) Hindu temple. He is on the side of the mosque, where there was a drainage system, and it is believed that he was probably always under water when the mosque was in use, and therefore remained unfound. He is now protected by this iron cage. Here's a picture of what Ganesha looks like so you can picture him sitting in there!
Just next to the Qutub Minar complex is the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, which is a beautiful, open park area just littered with ruins and the remains of tombs, mosques, a stepwell and residential buildings from between 1060 and 1535. Redevelopment of the park and conservation of the important structures (there are over 100!) began in 1997, but it is still very much untouched, just preserved, and isn't nearly as popular a tourist destination as the Qutab Minar.
The steps down into the park, which at the time of the first Mogul Dynasty was used as a sort of pleasure park and place for entertaining visitors.
A stepwell that served the residential buildings.
A building almost entirely taken over by plants.
Another example of the fascination with severed heads was this minar (tower or turret) that was in the city of Siri where they would display the heads of criminals. Also from the Khalji Dynasty.
The neighborhood of Shapur Jat surrounds the ruins of Siri fort, and provided an interesting walking experience as well!
Shapur Jat
A friend and I stopped in at this little shop which sells the fabric from old saris. Most of them are so old they couldn't really be worn, and he also has cabinets full of ribbons and boarders that are cut from saris that were too torn or worn to save. Many of them are antiques, and all of them were so old that the stitching was all done by hand. This fabric is sold so it can be repurposed and find a new life. I bought two, but haven't decided yet what to do with them... they were just so pretty I couldn't resist!
As we were looking through his shop, the owner kept pulling different saris out and telling us what region they were from. He can tell by the fabric, the thread, and how the ornamentation was sewn onto them what region, and in some cases, what town they were from.
The shop after he started pulling things out to show us!
Just outside the sari shop, laundry hanging to dry from the residences above.
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