Last month I ran another photography trip to India. Primarily to see tigers, but also the Taj Mahal. Most of my group arrived in Delhi a couple of days before our tour was due to start, but as I was approaching Heathrow airport I saw my first tiger 🙂
Having a free day before our tour started, four of us went on a tour into Delhi itself – a city I’d never been to. First stop was the Qutub Minar which is the tallest stone building in the city. It was built primarily between 1199 and 1220, stands at 72.5 meters tall (239 feet) and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The intricate carvings in the stonework are incredible.
Although it was a Saturday there was a group of schoolchildren visiting it. I was told that they don’t attend school on Saturdays, but were wearing their uniform anyway – possibly so that the teachers / chaperones could keep an eye on them all !
Next stop was the Lotus Temple. Built in 1986, it apparently cost $10 million which seems an extortionate amount of money.
We also visited the spice market, and Delhi’s largest sikh temple, which has a community kitchen that feeds 50,000 people every day – regardless of faith, background, or status.
The food preparation is run entirely by volunteers.
I’ve never seen such gigantic cooking pots!
This is the hall where anyone can come and eat. They can also have free accommodation for a couple of nights and when they come back out of the temple to collect their shoes, the shoes will have been polished by yet more volunteers.
As we were exiting I just had to ask this guard if I could take his photograph and he was perfectly happy for me to do so.
Fabulous write up. 🙂
Thanks Damien 🙂
Beautiful – and love that guard – he is magnificent.