Old and Older

July 18, FIRST DAY ON G ADVENTURE TOUR

We started our bus adventure at Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi.

Jamaica Masjid, the oldest mosque in India.
Built by Shah Jahan in 1656

After visiting the mosque, we walked around the narrow streets of Chandra Chowk.

Vendors with carts full of fruit lined some of the walkways.

Lots of mango for sale and limes.

We visited Raj Ghat, memorial to Mahatma Gandi

tree in the  memorial gardens.

Lunch was a  a delicious Indian meal.
We went an older site, Qutb Minar, site of the tallest minar in India built in  1192 and the iron pillar.

Mughal Tomb and Fort

July 16
Other teachers who are going on the GEEO Trip have started to arrive.
They are from all over the United States.
This morning before it got too hot, Audra, Marissa, Chris and I went to see Humayun's Tomb.
He was the second Mughal ruler. The tomb was built by his son, Akbar.

First tomb built in the Mughal style of architecture. Predecessor to the Taj Mahal.
Made of red sandstone and marble.

Craft Museum and Lodi Gardens

July 15 and very, very warm here in Delhi.
I visited the National Crafts Museum and was greeted at the entrance by life-sized ceramic horses, elephants and various figures.

In another section of the museum was a lovely garden of purple plants.
I think we have this same purple plant in Alabama.

Dripping wet, we returned to the hotel for lunch and a diet coke. After cooling off  we took another auto to Lodi Gardens.

Pointed arch ways in Lohbir Sikander Lodi

Tomb from 1500 Sayyid and Lodhis

Christmas in July

Cannot believe I am thinking about our MA Holiday Tree in July.
Yesterday, July 14 at Dilli Haat I found a great ornament idea.

Peacock, boy and girl elephant wooden ornaments

These precious elephants and a peacock are cut out of wood

Painted bright colors

Decorated with fine, dots and lines

(The artist said the paint was a deep family secret

I think we can create the same lines using very fine paint pen.)

Tiny little mirrors, bells, and cords with tassels were added.

To Market, To Market

Monday, July 14
Took an Auto to Dilli Haat and did some serious shopping.

View from back of Auto.
Held on cause this was a wild and fun ride

Stopped traffic on expressway - auto, bus, and motorcycle
No car, person on bicycle or rickshaw?

Dilli Hart is a shopping area full of stalls of goods from all over India.

Most were for fabrics and jewelry.

There were several stalls with Madubani -

Striking black and white images of animals.
Roli Singh introduced me to this work when she brought a piece back from India last summer.

Artist uses pen and ink to make
A new design on handmade paper.

DO YOU SEE AN ART PROJECT HERE?

Rain and fallen trees

Sunday, July 13
While I was in the National Museum Of Art this afternoon
(Yes, I have already been there but I went back to take more pictures of elephants and a few tigers.)

Elephants carrying relics of Buddha, Sunga, 2nd Century A.D.

Bronze Elephant, Harappan, Civilization, 2000 B.C.

   IT POURED!

   My taxi driver, who had waited in the parking area was hit by a falling tree limb.

Fallen tree in Mueum parking area.

His taxi was not crunched.
He had minor scratches.

Making our way through flooded streets
we returned to the hotel.

During the rain,
The power lines across the street from the hotel had exploided and caught on fire.
There is no power on the other side of the street tonight.






Boy does this feel just like Old Cloverdale and Montgomery-
Sudden torrential rains
Huge fallen trees
Flooded streets
Blown transformers
Loss of power

Dilli Haat and Akshardham with Alisha and Kareena Singh

Dilli Haat is an open air market sponsored by the government of  India.

Thursday evening, the Singh family took me to this amazing shopping area.
Alisha, Kareena, Roli, Sanjeev,  Roly's father walked from shop to shop looking at items from all over India:
Beautiful scarves
Lamps, birds and butterflies of thin leather
Indian Minature Paintings
One artist was painting names on grains of sand using India ink and a brush.
He has one with Alisha painted on it already.

Friday, we want to Akshardham.

Largest temple in the world dedicated to Swameraryayan.
There is a temple in Lillburn, GA that was the most expensive to build.

NO CAMERAS WERE ALLOWED
In this magnificent sandstone temple dedicated to Swamenaryayan
Built just five tears ago,
It was covered in hundreds of relief sculptures.
The base of the temple was surrounded bya frieze of 70 life sized elephants.