Lotus temple.... If only it smelt like flowers

T, S and I braved the monsoon weather and spent our Saturday afternoon at the Baha'i House of Worship or 'Lotus Temple'. It is one of the more modern and striking buildings in Delhi (turns 25 this year), built to be a place where all religions can be and pray together. In 25 years it has apparently seen over 70 million visitors.

Once again our arrival with S caused quite a stir and a flock of paparazzi. S is going to find it very odd when we go home and people aren't pinching her cheeks, grabbing her arm or falling over themselves to take pictures of her.

Help me Daddy........

Daddy...... get me away from these people....

After running the gauntlet and entering the grounds, we then had to battle with the masses and remove our shoes, put them in a bag (kindly provided) and drop them to the men working underground in the shoe storage. Would I ever see my shoes again? I didn't care, I was too distracted by the stench of hundreds and hundreds of feet that have been trapped in shoes during some of the hottest and muggiest weather I have ever experienced. It was a mildly unpleasant experience, you know what I mean .......we've all smelt a bit of bad foot odour and this was on masse.

Of course, the initial shock passes and you make your way towards the amazing temple and turn focus to this, a pretty impressive piece of architecture.

Obviously my first thought was how much this looked like the Opera House in Sydney. Yes,but it's modelled on the beautiful Lotus flower and has been designed in line with Baha'i requirements.

We were there in time for 3pm prayer, so lined up with everyone and waited our turn for entry and were given strict instructions as to our expected behaviour inside the temple.

Patiently waiting in the queue.

- absolute silence (practically impossible with a one year old...)
- no camera (shame but completely understandable)
- stay as long (or short) as you like (many people just walk straight through to the exit as can't follow step one and two above)

Inside the building is quite stark but lovely. Again this is in accordance with Baha'i scripture that says no pictures, statues or such can be displayed inside. Compared to other religious sites around Delhi it could appear to be pretty dull (and a bit western). Redeeming features: enormous high ceilings, light flooding in from outside and the silence.

Silence turned out to be easy for some of us but once again we were surrounded by curious peeps wanting to sit next to S and cluck at her. S managed silent bemusement, others not so much.

After a bit of self reflection we made our way to the exit and spent a bit of time looking at some of the cleanest water surrounding the temple I have seen in a long time while the rain slowly trickled from the sky.

It was then shoe collection time, which I made T do, I couldn't face it! Poor blikes working down there all day.

In summary: the Lotus temple is a nice space, the gardens are really lovely but you can't sit on the lawn or anything....obviously in an attempt to keep it looking nice. It's easy to see why people would come here to hang out, it's free and a nice, tranquil little spot in the chaos of Delhi. Worth a visit.

Surrounding gardens.

Note: Closed on Monday.

Kathmandu, Nepal

T, S and I headed off to Kathmandu for 5 days last week. It is the monsoon, so not the best time to visit, but sometimes you don't choose when you get to go.

So after a very quick 1 hour and 15 minute flight (and an upgrade) we landed. Kathmandu has a pretty old airport and a slow visa processing system (remember to take your passport photos). It was overcast and the weather was pleasantly cool. The four of us travelling together piled into the smallest car possible and wound our way to the hotel. The roads in Kathmandu are among the narrowest I've encountered and the most pot holed, poor little cars!

The next morning T headed off to work and S and I went for a walk on the streets of Kathmandu. Nothing too much was open but we did see all the little ones off to school and people off to work or getting their shops ready for the day. We attracted a fair bit of attention too......

Beginning of the day at a Kathmandu fruit stall

Too early for sweets?

One of the nicest thing we encountered on the walk was people ringing the bells on the street. People would walk by, ring the bells and say a prayer for the day. It was lovely to hear them and smell the incense as you walked past. You get the feeling this is a very spiritual place - the bells, the incense and the marigolds all ready for a day of prayer and worship. Interesting I learnt that Hinduism is practised by a larger majority of people in Nepal than anywhere else.

Bells!

Ready for the temple.

Walking around town I saw some beautiful displays of wall masks and dolls. They are pretty cool and looked great all displayed together on the wall. Taking them away and displaying them on their own they might lose something. They looked a bit kooky and creepy dangling there and staring at me....

One thing we did see before the weather turned nasty was Durbar Square. A magnificent grouping of temples where the nepalese people hang out with friends, lovers, tourists and family.

It is busy and noisy but you can imagine what it would have been like before the world went all modern on it. Inside some of the temples astrologers sat predicting peoples fortunes..... there was a queue, these people must be good but I never really want to hear my future thanks.

Another amazing thing near the squaare is the Kumari Ghar. This is where Kumari lives - a prepubescent girl who is worshipped as a manifestation of the divine female energy.

Kumari is believed to be the bodily incarnation of the goddess Taleju (the Nepalese name for Durga) until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body. Serious illness or a major loss of blood from an injury are also causes for her to revert to common status. The current Royal Kumari, Matina Shakya, aged four, was installed in October 2008 by the Maoist government that replaced the monarchy (Wikipedia).

Imagine reverting to common status after this kind of treatment. People stand in the courtyard and wait for her to appear at the window. We waited but weren't nearly patient enough.

There are some beautiful temples and ornate gods displayed all over the square.

All over the square you'll see men and women moving goods from A to B. These guys are amazing, I really do not know how they do it....... I really wish someone would make it easier for them.

Amazing.....

Food is for sale everywhere in Kathmandu and at the moment it is all about the mango in the subcontinent....yum!!!!!

Another notable thing we investigated in Kathmandu was the Garden of Dreams. It is a beautiful oasis in the heart of Kathmandu near the famous Thamel area (backpacker land). This garden has been done up with the help of the Austrian government and is gorgeous!!! S and I sat on the lawn and relaxed before moving up to Kaiser Cafe for a yummy latte.

Places we ate:

* Chez Caroline in Baber Mahal Revisited: well worth a visit for some French cuisine and to look around the nice shops here.

* A restaurant in Thamel that isn't worth remembering the name of. I think I am officially too old for Thamel....

Place we stayed:

* Radisson: this place needs alot of TLC, alot! We had to eat here a couple of times due to circumstance but I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Who we flew:

* Kingfisher airlines and Jet airways. Upgraded on Kingfisher so WIN WIN!! Jet delayed by two hours due to 'weather' so LOSE LOSE.

Note to self - have to go back when it doesn't rain everyday......

Rainy Sunday at the Red Fort

Last Sunday T and I headed into the Red Fort, even though the rain has decided it's time to make a serious appearance. In retrospect it was a great time to head in there as it was relatively quiet and a pretty relaxing place to spend a couple of hours.

The Red Fort is pretty high up there on the list of things to see when you come to Delhi, and I can see why the facade is seriously impressive.


Rainy Sunday outside the Red Fort





Entrance inside the fort to the markets



So as not to plagiarise I will leave the explanation of the history of the Red Fort to Wikipedia. 

However, just recently there was an article that explained that the Red Fort actually had some buildings that were white. Therefore in some recent restoration work they are transforming the buildings back to their original appearance and making them white. This decision is causing some controversy!



'White' Fort

Unfortunately the grounds of the Red Fort aren't quite as beautiful as the outside suggests. The garden has potential to be absolutely amazing and you can see that it used to be a place with magnificent ponds, waterways and manicured gardens. In among all the old Indian monuments you can also see where the British put their footprint and it provides a pretty interesting/disappointing contrast.



Indian architecture with British barracks in the background



We did stop by the museum but only briefly as it was very, very hot and fans just don't cut it in this heat. It has lots of pictures and 3D displays but explanation was left to my imagination in some cases, plus I was just too hot to worry too much, might need another visit in winter. 




Museum depiction of India's history

 My favourite part of the Red Fort were these beautiful archways, they provided a stunning frame to the greenery and also to all the colourful sari's - just beautiful. Unfortunately I only managed to get a photo of people walking through in pretty mundane threads.

Another view of the stunning archways

I also loved the marble of the pavilions - very glarey on a cloudy Delhi day but stunning and full of intricate artwork.

After a few hours meandering around the fort it was time to leave. I am so glad we got there early...... the queue when we were leaving was insane. As with all Delhi monuments the security can delay entry and in this case the women were taking a particularly long time to get through the gates. Go early to monuments if you can, Delhi-ites tend to be late risers.




Very glad we were exiting not entering

After the Fort, T and I headed into Connaught Place to eat at the legendary 'United Coffee House'. I had heard alot about this place and it had recently appeared in Time Out Delhi. The decor is something from a long lost era. There was a man at the table next door who was taken his elderly mother out for lunch which was very sweet, there were children running amok and tourists drinking latte. The restaurant itself was full of glitz and sparkle.

United Coffee House, Connaught Place

We each had a nimbu pani 'lemonade' then shared a UCH non-vege Club sandwich, mutton samosa and a naan bread.

UCH Club sandwich and a mutton samosa

It was average to be honest and certainly wouldn't be racing back for the food but the ambiance was lovely and it would be a nice spot to chill out with a coffee.

So we paid the bill, chewed our mukhwas and headed for home.