On Monday morning Cath from Melbourne arrived to join our day trip to the monasteries. Our first stop was Shey Palace with the Holy Fish Pond and large 11th century carvings of the Five Buddhas of Meditation at the base of the rocky outcrop. We climbed up the path to the Gompa on top which had beautiful views over the surrounding countryside and a large Buddha set into the floor. Then we drove to Thiksey which was much larger. This was a complex of whitewashed Tibetan style buildings topped by the Gompa on the crest of the hill. We saw the monastery museum with masks, a musical instrument carved from a human thigh bone, a bowl from a human skull and other ornamental dress items carved from human bone. There were a number of prayer halls and a small rooftop library containing ancient writings wrapped in silk and held between two pieces of wood. We drove to Chemday after that – another beautiful monastery in a spectacular setting high above the Indus River valley. The main prayer hall was closed and we could hear the monks chanting inside. We explored the monastery on our own climbing up on the roof and saw some stuffed Ibex. Our next stop was Hemis Gompa, the largest and richest of the Ladakh monasteries. When we arrived there was a crowd of excited rosy cheeked little boy monks waiting outside. They were all wearing crimson robes and carrying overnight bags and sleeping bags. The youngest monk there was 4 years old!! We talked to them and they told us that they were going to Leh for a festival that was to take place over the next few days. As we watched a small bus arrived and the little boys swarmed on to the bus. There were bags flying everywhere as they tossed them onto the roof racks. Amazingly they all seemed to fit on to the bus! We walked around the courtyard which was decorated with brightly coloured murals and then visited the museum. There were ornamental dress items made from silver and turquoise, belts made from carved elephant bones, silk wall hangings, musical instruments and various vessels made from porcelain and beaten copper. We visited the main prayer hall and then climbed up to the roof where we again enjoyed spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Our last stop for the day was Stakna Gompa where a monk showed us three vividly painted prayer halls.
On the whole the monasteries (gompas) seemed to be in a set format. They were usually perched upon a hill or ridge next to the accompanying village with spectacular views over the valley. The upper part consisted of prayer halls and assembly halls with the monks' dwellings spilling down the hillside.
The next morning we were joined by Ken from Osaka for our day trip to Somgum, Likir and Alchi. We set off for the Likir Gompa stopping at Somgum where the Zanskar and the Indus Rivers meet – one green and one brown. We drove up the valley with extensive stone walls and saw the large golden Buddha next to the Gompa. We visited the small museum first and then visited the three prayer halls. We climbed up to the roof to take in the views and then walked down back to the car past the golden Buddha. Outside the monastery we saw groups of little donkeys ferrying loads up and down supervised by two women. Then we drove to the Alchi Choksor Temple complex. Unlike the other sites we had visited, this was set in the middle of a village on the side of a valley. We walked downhill to the temple complex past some women wearing some extraordinary wimple shaped hats. The 11th century temples were completely covered inside with painted murals of the 1000 Buddhas with different scenes in between. One of the temples contained two large statues of the Buddha with detailed painted thighs. The quality and condition of some of the murals was extraordinary. After viewing the temples we had some pots of tea in a garden restaurant. It was very peaceful and green with only the sound of running water. We drove back to Leh stopping for some photos of the mountains on the way.
On Wednesday, we set the alarm for 5.30 am so we could be ready to meet our driver at 6.00 am. We drove to the Leh airport and passed security before waiting for the 8am flight. We flew over what seemed to be endless Himalayan mountains covered in snow. The snow eventually disappeared as we hit the foothills and then the plain and at 9.30am we landed at Delhi airport. We caught a bus to the New Delhi Railway Station and traffic was pretty bad on the way. The smog was terrible but Delhi was fairly green with many cassia trees with sprays of yellow flowers. Once we were deposited by the railway station, we dodged the rickshaws and walked through the station to the Ajanta Hotel on the other side where we checked in. We walked to Connaught Place which was only ten minutes away. Connaught Place was a serious mess of dust, noise and construction work but as we had been pre warned it didn't seem so bad! Although it was dusty, polluted and resembled a construction site, Delhi in general seemed quite manageable, partly because we had heard a lot of negative stories and partly because it was not a particularly hot day – felt like only 35 degrees when the heatwave had produced 45 degree days a couple of weeks before. We thought that we had chosen a quiet hotel – however later in the evening a drum band made a huge racket in the street together with a crowd of colourfully dressed people milling around a white horse but they moved on eventually!
On Thursday morning, we went to the New Delhi Metro station where we caught the metro to Chandni Chowk. We walked to the Red Fort from here. We entered the Red Fort at the Lahore Gate and walked through Chatta Chowk (a covered bazaar). Then we turned off to the adjacent fortifications of Selimgarh. We walked past a lot of large English style buildings which were being renovated. There were lots of beautiful big trees and birds. We saw a grey hornbill and some loud cuckoos. We walked back to the Red Fort complex to the red sandstone Naubat Khana (drum house). Then we saw the red sandstone Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audiences). The white marble Emperor's alcove was exquisitely decorated with Pietre Dure. Then we went to the Diwan-i-Khaz (Hall of Private Audiences) and hamams made of white marble. There were a series of beautiful marble and red sandstone buildings and pavilions with lots of green lawns and trees in between which made it a pleasure to walk around. Unfortunately the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) was closed and all the pools and fountains were empty. After we left the Red Fort we walked to the Jama Masjid. This was a massive red sandstone mosque similar to the one that we had seen at Fatehpur Sikri except that the large minarets were made from red sandstone with white marble vertical stripes culminating in a tulip shape just below the top. Afterwards we walked in a light shower through the Chawari Bazaar to the Metro station. There was spaghetti like wiring along the road, occasional goats and cows, and incredible traffic comprised mostly of motorbikes, pedal rickshaws and auto rickshaws. We caught the Metro to New Delhi railway station and went back to the hotel for a shower and a rest. Just before we went to bed – the drummers turned up again and drummed for what seemed like hours!!
On Friday we caught the metro to Central Secretariat station. We walked along Rajpath, a very new looking avenue with lush green parks and shrubs to the Central Secretariat and Parliament House buildings. These were monumental sandstone colonial buildings at one end of a large avenue facing India Gate at the other end of the avenue. India Gate reminded us of the Arc de Triomphe and Rajpath of the Champs Elysees. We walked along the avenue to India Gate, a 42 metre high gateway surrounded by green lawns and a couple of fountains. One of the fountains was empty whilst the other was full of water – and kids were bathing in it! It was constructed as a memorial to the 90,000 Indian soldiers who died in World War I. Under the archway was the eternal flame and a colourful uniformed soldier.
From there we walked to Safdarjung's tomb. The layout was very similar to the Taj Mahal at Agra and the Bibi-qa-Maqbara at Aurangabad. We entered the complex through an ornate gateway which was decorated with painted flower designs. There was a pool (empty) directly in front and centre of the mausoleum with sculpted trees and gardens on either side. The mausoleum (like the Taj Mahal and the Bibi-qa-Maqbara) had four minarets (one on each corner) and a central white marble dome.
We caught a rickshaw to Hauz Khas Village (in South Delhi) to have lunch with Sarah (who we had met in Hyderabad). We spent a couple of hours catching up with Sarah and after coffee we went our separate ways. We had a brief look in the Cotton Curio shop which had a lot of Indian style clothing made with modern cotton prints. Then we walked around Hauz Khas Village and then to Hauz Khas enclave on the main road in search of a supermarket. We gave up and managed to catch a bus to the Central Secretariat metro station. We jumped on the metro to New Delhi railway station. Unfortunately the metro was slightly delayed which meant that more and more people got on. By the time we got to New Delhi stop, it was really difficult to get off and we had to force ourselves through the crowd. Back at the hotel the drummers had started up again. Sarah had told us that this was a wedding – apparently the white horse we saw on the first day was a dead giveaway.
The next morning we caught a Metro and then a bus to Purana Qila (Old Fort). Before we went into Purana Qila we walked through a red sandstone gateway directly opposite the Purana Qila which led to the Khair-ul-Manazil. This was a mosque that was built by Akbar's wet nurse. There were a few coloured tiles remaining and a functioning well in the courtyard but otherwise the mosque was a crumbling ruin. Purana Qila was surrounded by massive walls and bastions. We entered the fort through an impressive gateway and tried to walk around the gardens, which was a bit difficult as there was a lot of construction/restoration work going on. We visited the Qila-i-Khuna Masjid. This was a red sandstone and white marble mosque which was decorated with geometric patterns in pietra dura and carved marble calligraphy. It was amazingly beautiful and way better than we had expected. The other building in the fort was the Sher Mandal, a two storey red sandstone and white marble octagonal pavilion.
As we had not been to any national parks in India we decided that we would visit the Zoo which was right next door. We spent about three hours there and the highlights were the Indian rhinos with their jacketed skin, the hippos who put on a display of rolling and yawning in the water, the white tiger, the jaguars, the gaur (Indian buffalo), the gharial (fish-eating crocodile) and the giant Indian hornbill.
After the Zoo we caught a bus to Humayun's tomb. The tomb had a large bulbous dome and was constructed from a combination of red sandstone and marble. It was reminiscent of the Taj Mahal also in that it was buit upon a large platform. It was surrounded by formal gardens, fountains, waterways and other beautiful tombs including the one of his favourite barber. We walked around the grounds for a while and then caught a bus to Rajiv Chowk/Connaught Place. The bus didn't actually stop – it just slowed down and we had to run and jump onto the still moving bus. We had had dinner at Connaught Place and then caught a rickshaw back to the hotel. After walking around in the heat all day, we couldn't face the walk back to the hotel!
On Sunday morning we caught a rickshaw to the National Museum on Janpath Road. There were a couple of good sections on the ground floor containing bronze and stone sculptures and miniature paintings. Quite a few of the sections were closed and on the whole we found it a little disappointing for a national museum. Keith was feeling feverish so we caught a rickshaw back to the hotel.
In the afternoon, the drummers returned - bringing them a huge sound system which they used to blast the area with rock/dance music. This seemed to be part of the extended wedding festivities and the music and dancing went on for hours and hours – well into the early hours of the morning!
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