Friday, January 22, 2010

Rajasthan – A feast for the eyes

 

Our eyes are happy here in Rajasthan.  After a long day of sight seeing and traveling through India's cities and towns, we close our eyes and they feel as if they have just feasted on thousands of aesthetically pleasing images.

As we rode to our hotel today, we zipped through crowded streets and on both sides of the auto rickshaw we could see so many scenes of people in every day life.  Some of the things we saw were: cows, a barber shop, bright colored turbans, bright saris, shops selling only pots and pans, shops with candy, people deep frying all kinds of salty treats, dirty walls, paint shops, various craftsmen and women.  By the time we got to our hotel, our eyes felt like they had just feasted on a delightful meal. 

This same thing happens when we see expansive forts with such beautiful architecture and attention to detail in the carved stone. 

 Fatehpur Sikri

This fortified ancient city was the capital of the Mughal empire between 1571 and 1585.  Akbar (Tal loves that name) was an eclectic, broad thinking, and tolerant Emperor who constructed this whole city because saint Shaikh Salim Chishti predicted that the heir to the Mughal throne would be born there; and his prediction came true.  Akbar (again, Tal’s favorite current favorite word/name which he says spontaneously as we walk down the streets) built this impressive Mosque…

IMG_2653

The entrance gate to the Mosque was breathtaking…

IMG_2720

Below are some shots from Fatehpur Sikri’s palaces and pavilions….

IMG_2684

IMG_2705

IMG_3938

IMG_3941

IMG_2697 

IMG_2690

 

Jaipur

We were in Jaipur for their annual Kite Festival which was fun to see.  There were literally thousands of kites flown by very excited children and then there was an impressive firework show after dark…

IMG_4127

IMG_2861

This crazy city is packed with cars, buses, auto-rickshaws, cows, and an occasional elephant. We found some great food in Jaipur, but our favorite two places in this crazy city were the City Palace and the Amber Fort.

The City Palace…

 

IMG_2888

IMG_2889

IMG_2874

IMG_2895

Amber Fort…

IMG_4053

IMG_2902

IMG_2932

IMG_2950

IMG_4102

IMG_2942

IMG_4067

There were so many fun hallways to explore and it was all open to the public!

IMG_2914

Jaisalmer

A city made rich by its location along the trading route across the desert of India, this whole city was built by the local sandstone and had incredible carved buildings everywhere.

IMG_2970

IMG_2973

IMG_2981

IMG_2983

IMG_4136

IMG_4150

A Jain Temple…

IMG_4156

Our hotel used the sandstone and light really well.  We were happy with it…

IMG_4166

IMG_4163

Jodhpur

You will see many houses that are painted blue in the next set of pictures.  For those that are curious, there are four reasons that many of the houses are blue:

1. To distinguish who is from the Brahmin caste:  If the house is blue, that meant that the house anciently belonged to the Brahmin people.  The Brahmins found it vexing to have the warrior class caste drink alcohol and invade their homes so all of the Brahmins came together and decided to paint their houses blue, which meant that the other castes were not allowed to enter.

2. The blue is famous for handicraft work: because the sun shines off the blue and makes the workspace bright, which makes the fine work easier to see.

3. The limestone in the blue paint keeps the mosquitoes away.

4. It’s cheap: the limestone and blue color is inexpensive and yearly painting is necessary.

This was our view from our hotel rooftop…

IMG_4181

IMG_4183

IMG_4248

Our hotel…

IMG_4176

A nice father and son from Sweden that we enjoyed a few meals with.  It was fun to talk with them about various topics and compare notes on our travels.

IMG_4197

IMG_3011

 

Bundi

We liked this town because it was slower than other places and allowed us to walk around the markets and area without feeling like we will be run off the road.

 

IMG_3072

The palace on the hill…

IMG_4289

IMG_4290

The sage cows…

IMG_4273

IMG_4275

We are excited to see Tal’s parents in Udaipur in the next few days and then go via Mumbai to Rising Star Outreach in Chennai.  We start our humanitarian work at Rising Star on February 1st. 

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Taj Mahal

 

The craftsmanship, the dimensions, the symmetry of this building (and surrounding area) really, to us at least, made the Taj Mahal live up to all of the hype.  Below was our first view of it as we walked through the gate.

IMG_2729

As we looked at the beauty of the construction, we had differing thoughts.  Tal thought it was quite a love story: Shah Jahan’s second wife dies in childbirth and in his agony, his hair went grey over night.  He decides to build this memorial (the Taj Mahal) as her resting place.

IMG_2734

Anita saw it differently.  She thought that the building of the Taj Mahal was this emperors way of self-aggrandizement rather than showing his love for his diseased wife. So, according to her opinion, the Taj Mahal was more about him than his wife. 
As for you, you can pick either side…

IMG_3985

This 17th century masterpiece was constructed by around 3,000 stone masons and it took 24 years to build (from 1631 to 1653). 

IMG_2837

The picture below has a fun background, because I (Anita), as I was walking through the adjacent Mosque, found an open door that lead up to the roof of a side building. So I snuck up to to explore the area. I was really not supposed to be there, because I made it past a guard, who happened to be on his cell phone and did not notice me. When I made it up there, this was my view.

IMG_2813

IMG_3962

Tal hanging out with a local Muslim family.

IMG_2775

The sun finally came out towards the end of our 4 hour stay… When we got there it was a miserable 4 degrees, Celsius that is, so we really appreciated these sun beams.

IMG_2792

The details of the craftsmanship on the Taj Mahal are beautiful…

IMG_2751

IMG_3969

IMG_2748

On both sides of the Taj Mahal are decorated with identical red sandstone buildings.  One is a “Guest House”…

IMG_2777

and one is a Mosque…

IMG_3980

As you can see, because of the cold, Anita and I had about eight layers of clothing on in these pictures…

IMG_2857

IMG_3996