Get update alerts
Locations
- .All Trips
- Art
- Car Culture
- Central America/Caribbean
- Food
- Food Tour
- Pic of the Week
- Sl;ovenia
.All Trips / Asia / India
Amazing and Unforgettable — the Wiring of Old Delhi
Even though I’d heard about it, I wasn’t prepared for how chaotic the street wiring in Old Delhi is. There are many places in the old city where you’ll see spaghetti-like masses of live wiring that seem to be incapable of being untangled or understood, yet somehow Delhi electricians figure it out and keep the power flowing. There seems no plan, no logic, no reason to it. It just seems to have evolved like some hideous beast.
By far the worst that I experienced was the Chandi Chowk Market area. It is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Delhi and is not far from the Red Fort. These photos were taken while walking those streets.
I think the photos are self-explanatory. …
Tagged Chandi Chowk Market, Delhi, electricity, Old Delhi, wiring
.All Trips / Asia / India
Delhi’s Largest Mosque. A visit to Jama Masjid
The great mosque of Old Delhi, said to be the largest in India, has a courtyard capable of holding 25,000 worshipers. Construction on the mosque was begun in 1644 by Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who also built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort; it was to be his last big architectural project.
The mosque adjoins the market area of Chawri Bazar. It rests atop a small hill has three entry gates, four towers, and two 40 m-high minarets (one of which you can climb for a small fee). The mosque faces west, towards Mecca. It is constructed of strips of red sandstone and white marble, and more than 5000 artisans worked on it. The roof of the …
Tagged Delhi, Jama Masjid, mosque
“Pic of the Week”, January 12, 2018: Pigeons at the Mosque, Delhi
Built more than 350 years ago, Jama Masjid remains the largest mosque in Delhi and is able to accommodate up to 25,000 for prayers. Situated on a hill in the old city, it’s one of the more popular tourist attractions in Delhi.
One of the people taking care of the mosque also looked after the large population of pigeons that flew around the minarets and dome. He provided a large amount of grain and water to feed them, and carefully looked after their grain with a hand broom, keeping it in a neat pile.
Pet-keeper of the mosque, so to speak.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance)
Jan 11, 2018
Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, January 12, 2018: Pigeons at the Mosque, Delhi
.All Trips / Asia / India
Signs of Delhi
There’ s no place quite like Delhi! A large sprawling city with a population of about twenty million (itself more populous than many countries!), it is bustling with commerce of all types but mostly of the small street vendor to consumer variety.
As many of you know, I collect “signs”. Delhi was a little challenging in this regard. Many of the signs were crafted in Hindi, which I can’t read, but there were a fairly large number that were bilingual or created in English (with tourists and expats in mind, I assume). It is these I tended to photograph.
As with most things about Delhi, like its noise, traffic, crowding, filth and smells, the signage can be overwhelming to the senses. Often …
.All Trips / Asia / India
Delhi from the Rear Window
There’s no place quite like India and within that country, nothing quite like Delhi. I’m fond of (most) Indian people and enjoyed my visit there, but the country is an assault on your senses. The noise, the terrible traffic, millions of people swarming about and, of course, the unforgettable smells.
I spent a week in Delhi and to get the most out of my time hired a car with driver and a guide. It’s not that expensive and I got a lot out of the experience and was able to see much more this way than if I had done it on my own. I enjoyed the time to look out the passenger window and take in the many sights of …
Tagged Delhi
.All Trips / Asia / India
Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi
Gandhi Smriti is situated in the old Birla House, a neoclassical mansion with spacious grounds located in an upscale neighborhood of New Delhi. It was one of my favorite stops in Delhi.
Gandhi Smriti is a sacred place. It is here that the father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, was assassinated in 1948. Gandhi had wanted to live in the Delhi slums with his people, but was talked into staying at this home as many foreign dignitaries would be visiting him and it seemed a more appropriate environment for entertaining VIPs than the slums. Despite living in a lavish home, Gandhi maintained his simple lifestyle in a small corner of one room. He lived here from 9 September 1947 until three point …
Tagged Birla House, Delhi, Gandhi
.All Trips / Asia / India
The Beautiful Lodi Garden, Delhi
In a crowded, congested city of 17 million, green spaces are very important and much appreciated by the residents. The lovely Lodi Garden in New Delhi, India, offers lots of free space for people to enjoy. Here you have a chance to walk, jog, do yoga, have a picnic and play. We arrived fairly early on a drizzly morning and the park was almost deserted. Of course a little rain never stopped me from exploring. The drizzle dried up within an hour and then the crowds started to arrive. But not before I got to see a nearly empty park with lovely palm-tree lined walks. My first impressions lingered — this was to be one of my favorite destinations …
Tagged bird-watching, Delhi, Lodi Garden, Park
.All Trips / Asia / Food / India
A visit to Delhi’s Subyard-Okhla Market
Most of the inhabitants of our planet have very different shopping patterns from those living in the developed countries. They do not buy their groceries at Safeway, Costco or Tesco, but at local markets in their neighborhoods. Sometimes these markets have a series of small shops but often they are open air markets like the one I recently visited in Delhi.
There are dozens of vendors at some of the larger food markets in India, most with a unique product or small series of products (for example, the “onion and garlic” or “apple and orange” vendor, and so on). Sometimes you’ll find four or five vendors side-by-side selling exactly the same fruit or vegetable for exactly the same price. How does …
