INDIAN POSTSCRIPT

On the long flight back from Delhi I watched the film, 'Gandhi'. It seemed appropriate, as he had followed us around our tour from his birthplace at Porbander, via the museum in Mumbai, to his cremation in Delhi. He had often been referred to in lectures. But it was more being reminded of the circumstances around his death that struck me than his life - the inability of the Hindus and Muslims to reach agreement on governing together, partition between Pakistan and India, and the bloody slaughter of millions on both sides as Hindus uprooted from Pakistan and Muslims from India.

But not all Muslims left India. They today total circa 180m of India's 1.3b population and live side by side with the Hindus, but separately. The separate cultures seemed obvious as we travelled around and were emphasised even down to the different coloured lorries in Kochi. What a pity religion divides rather than unifies.

There surely cannot possibly be as many different gods as all the different religions suggest. If one is a believer, it would seem more likely that one's devotion is to the one same God, seen by all believers but in different ways. But our Golden Triangle tour guide, Kapil, said he had been brought up as a Hindu and, if his grandmother said there are 300 Hindu gods, that was good enough for him. I fear it seems likely that the cultural divide in the name of religion will tend to be an ever more divisive factor.

While we were in India we read of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's, clean-up campaign. He had his ministers out in the streets cleaning up the rubbish one sees everywhere. From what we saw, he has a mighty job on his hands!

He has an even more difficult job to introduce Indians to toilets. It has been reported since our return that Mr Modi has set up an army of inspectors to check that state-built lavatories around the country are being used for the purpose they were intended. The government has constructed more than half a million latrines in the past few months mainly in the poor rural interior. However, many have been converted for other uses such as storerooms and sheds, because many Indians prefer to defecate in the open. This is linked to Hindu beliefs about the source of pollution and impurity. Another daunting task for Mr Modi, as nearly half the Hindu population are without toilets.

Our cruise lecturer, Sir Roy Strong, recommended reading William Dalrymple on India and I've read one of his books since returning. A really good read, but I was disappointed to find a less than flattering picture of Shah Jahan, the broken-hearted builder of the Taj Mahal, as 'capable of bouts of cold-blooded brutality'. To come to power as emperor he had murdered two elder brothers, their two children and two male cousins. He treated his own children little better and ended up being imprisoned by one of his sons, who went on to seek out and murder his three brothers, before crowning himself emperor.

Perhaps a bright ray of hope to end on. We enter the 800th anniversary year of Magna Carta and the important clauses of justice for all are not only enshrined in British and U.S. legislation but also in India's. It may take another 200 years to the 1,000th anniversary to solve some of India's problems but, if they can ensure equal justice to Hindus, Muslims and others alike, there really would be hope.

 

Robert Cole

JAIPUR TO DELHI

Today we have a long coach journey from Jaipur back to the Delhi hotel we left three days previously. We leave the Pink City, built by the Maharajahs, as we pass through one of its gates.

Kapil told us a story demonstrating the opulence of the Maharajahs, who once ruled here. On Independence there was a big change for the princes; they stayed Maharajahs but only in title. One of them, while in England, took a stroll and saw a showroom selling Rolls Royces. The doorman saw a man in a turban and odd dress and refused to admit him. Back in India he ordered 5 RRs. On delivery he cut the top off the cars and used each of them for transporting cattle feed. He then complained to RR that they didn't suit. The supplier agreed to take them back - not having seen their changed state. The Maharajah had made a point of never having got into any of them. Kapil suggested a not untypical story of the Maharajahs' eccentric opulence.

The journey was beset with the usual traffic problems. Kapil said he had been travelling this Jaipur/Delhi road for 15 years during which promises had been made to upgrade it and much money had been poured into it. Projects were started and never completed, contractors went bankrupt and nothing whatsoever had changed.

A many stationed toll had been constructed with some booths for cash and others for credit cards. But people disregarded the difference, got into the wrong lines, didn't have the right payment, argued with the toll operator while long queues built up behind. It had to be abandoned as unworkable!

As we neared Delhi, we saw modern factories and office blocks, which Kapil said had all been built in the last few years and creating new towns of modern apartment blocks around them. So it seems progress is occurring alongside the chaos.

We reached Delhi in time to tour the elegant verdant area of New Delhi. Now it houses India's president, ministers and officials, as well as its Parliament and ministries. Designed by Lutyens for the British, it still follows the Imperial hierarchical conventions, with Indian ministers and officials living in spacious bungalows on broad tree-shaded avenues and no high-rise buildings allowed. Plus ca change...

Security was tight around the government buildings and we were not allowed to stop. We were able to park near India Gate, which commemorates Indian and British soldiers who had died in World War 1 and other wars.

Nearby is a sandstone canopy, which originally housed King George V's statue - now moved to Coronation Park.

 

 

 

 

There were large crowds around the Gate, where an eternal flame burns in memory of unknown soldiers who died in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.

Preparations had already started for the annual Republic Day Parade, although not till 26th January. This has been held since 1950 on the anniversary of India becoming a republic and is apparently a popular event of dashingly dressed, marching regiments and military bands, attended by President, Prime Minister and other dignatories.

To our hotel for our final evening meal together and repacking for our flight back to UK in the morning and the end of a memorable Golden Triangle Tour.

Robert Cole

JAIPUR

We awoke at our hotel to find all signs of the night's wedding celebrations had been well cleared away. Kapil had told us that celebrations are always over 3 days. 1, each family in its own home; 2, the wedding ceremony, where say 3/4 of guests are on bride's side and the bride's father pays; 3 the bridegroom's family entertains - with the guests and costs are vice versa to day 2. Kapil added that 70% of Indian marriages are arranged. The percentages, given by our guides, have varied as we've travelled around but it seems clear that arranged marriages are still very much a feature of social life here.

We drove from the hotel into Jaipur - the Pink City, so called for the profusion of buildings built in pink stucco. Jaipur is considered to be one of the first planned cities in India. It was created in 1727 by Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh and the capital of Rajasthan was moved there from Amber. There are still strict planning rules and everywhere is maintained in pink, even in the less grand side streets.

On of the grandest of Jaipur's buildings is the 'Palace of the Winds', built in 1799 in red sandstone as part of the City Palace. It was an extension of the women's chamber and has 950 windows, designed to allow the ladies of the household to view city life without being seen. It got its name because it is designed so that air circulates to keep it cool even in the hot summer months. As Kapil pointed out, we had now moved from The Mughal, Islamic dominated style of architecture of Delhi and Agra to the Hindu Rajput style.

And now on to a change of transport for our visit to the Palace of Amber. We were offered the opportunity of approaching it on the back of an elephant and a team of them were lined up for us.

Liz wisely decided to opt out, so John and I settled on the back of one of the beasts for the slow, steep climb up to the Palace.

Our elephants deposited us in the large courtyard area of the palace, looking out high over the surrounding hills...

...and the artificial lake below with the Kesar Kyari Bagh, which has star-shaped flowerbeds once planted with rare saffron (kesar) flowers.

 

There has been a fort of some kind here since the 11th century but it wasn't until 1592 that this citadel was established. A central feature is the three-storeyed gateway built in 1640 and leading to the private apartments. It is seen here behind our guide, Kapil, and escort, Karylin.

 

In the private apartment area is the Sheesh Mahal chamber, whose mosaics are embedded with tiny mirrors so that the flame of a single candle transforms it into a starlit sky.

It is situated...

 

...in front of the pleasure garden, Aram Bagh.

The style of the Palace Fort is rather hybrid, incorporating both Hindu and Islamic elements.

On our return to Jaipur we passed the Jalmahal (literally water palace), a lovely Rajput-style palace in the middle of Man Sagar lake.

If one was an opulent maharajah, a good place to keep cool in the hot summers.

We also visited the Jantar Mantar, originally built between 1727 and 1734 by Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh; it is an astronomical observatory containing 14 large devices for measuring time, the position of the planets, celestial altitudes and predicting eclipses etc.

 

Finally, to complete a very full day we crossed to the museums in the sprawling complex of Rajput and Mughal architecture of the City Palace...

...and then back to the hotel for a couple of beers with John and Liz.

 

 

Robert Cole

AGRA / BHATATPUR / JAIPUR

Our main stop today was at Fatehpur Sikri, at Bhatatpur, on our journey from Agra to Jaipur. As we got near, we came to a narrow bridge over the road, which was blocked. A lorry had hit the side of the ancient structure and seriously damaged it. We had to abandon our coach, make our way through the crowd of people and vehicles under the bridge and walk to Fatehpur Sikri.

This was another perfect example of Indo-Islamic architecture. Believed to have been built originally by Rajput rulers but later rebuilt and improved by the Emperor Akbar, as a tribute to a holy man.

Here the Diwan-i-Khas, perhaps a debating chamber, but the real purpose of this unique structure is unknown.

Akbar had four wives but had had no sons. He was very superstitious and when he met the holy man, who prophesied correctly that he would have a son, he believed it was because of the prophecy.

He decided to move his palace retinue from Agra to this site.

Fatehpur Sikri is built of Akbar's favourite red sandstone, according to the mathematical grid of all their royal palaces, harems, mosques and public places.

Delicate and exquisite carvings and embellishments are still visible.

Here the inside of the Diwan-i-Khas but it doesn't help to explain the purpose of the building.

Sikri was abandoned 14 years after it was built possibly due to lack of water but probably disease, which may have infected the water.

We then walked back to where we had abandoned our coach ...

....to find chaos reigned.

Traffic of all imaginable kind had built up...

...including monkeys on the back of a bike...

... a camel cart and people on the back of a car.

We had to work our way back under the bridge to find our coach some way beyond.

Our driver somehow found his way round the blockage for our next stop at Keoladeo National Park - yet another World Heritage Site.

Here we again took to cycle rickshaws for the more than 5k track through the Park and then back.

We occasionally stopped to spot a water buffalo...

...or Liz and John.

The Park has a large wetland with more than 350 species of birds.

Some of the rarer ones are snake birds, pied kingfishers, eagle owls and painted storks but I fear my photography was not up to capturing any of these.

We did see great turtles in the distance but again beyond my photographic range.

Our rickshaw cyclist, Surren, talked to us about the park, as he pulled Anna and me along.

It was originally a park exclusively for royals and viceroys etc. At one time Maharajahs liked to go on tiger shoots; now it could be said that, by preserving this park, they had contributed to protecting wild life.

We lunched at Bharatpur and then on our way to Jaipur.

We met the now seemingly inevitable, long, traffic jams, added to by the numerous wedding celebrations we passed. There were maybe 40 or 50 of these in their various stages. We saw long, noisy processions of guests sometimes headed by the groom, on the required white horse, on his way to pick up his bride. There were drummers and brass instruments and colourfully dressed elephants each on their way to the well lit venues we constantly saw as we crept through the traffic. We arrived late at our hotel to find there was a large wedding going on there in its grounds.

Robert Cole

AGRA - TAJ MAHAL

We had wake-up calls at the unearthly hour of 4am so that we could complete packing bags to leave at the hotel and overnight bags for our three day trip and be ready to leave by 5am. Even at that hour the roads were crowded with traffic as our coach took us to Delhi station, which itself was packed with people. Fortunately we had reserved seats on the Shatabdi Express for Agra, as the train was also packed. This is apparently one of India's premier trains, which was comfortable enough, but nothing special by our standards. The journey was fine with only occasional stops.

At Agra we went straight to out hotel for breakfast and wee soon on our way again for our highlight visit to the Taj Mahal. We were taken to a sort of cycle rickshaw 'park and ride' for transport to the site of the Taj Mahal. Anna and I were careful to ensure our rickshaw's chain was firmly in place.

 

We arrive at the site and catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal through the archway.

It is difficult not to feel emotional when first seeing fully this breathtaking monument built by Shah Jahan in memory of his dead wife. Kapil said he has been coming here for 15 years, perhaps as many as 300 visits, and he catches his breath each time.

Kapil told us the love story of the young Shah Jahan strolling through the Meena Bazaar and seeing a beautiful girl hawking silk and glass beads. It was love at first sight. He was 14 and she 15. He went back to court and told his father he had seen the girl he wanted to marry. 5 years later the match was solemnised. When he later became emperor he bestowed upon her the title Mumtaz Mahal, "Jewel of the Palace". She bore him 13 children but died during the birth of the 14th child. On her deathbed he promised Mumtaz that he would not remarry and would build the richest mausoleum over her grave. It is said that Shah Jahan was so heartbroken he ordered the court into mourning for two years. He started building this beautiful monument to his beloved which took 22,000 workers over 22 years and bankrupted him.

The marble walls are carved with delicate motifs inlaid with precious stones such as lapis lazuli, emeralds, agate and mother of pearl.

Each side has a mosque - again built in the traditional style.

One has to just sit and gaze and reflect.

Truly beautiful.

Clodagh should be here.

After a return cycle rickshaw ride back to our coach, on to an exhibition of marble semi precious stone mosaic work that made one realise quite how much had gone into building the Taj Mahal.

After lunch on to the fort at Agra. This is really a fortified royal palace and was built by the Emperor Akbar.

It precedes the Taj Mahal by nearly a century and is a magnificent structure in its own right.

It's massive and forbidding reddish-brown exterior houses many fascinating buildings such as the women's building, Jahangir Mahal

 

The beautiful mosque, Moti Masjid (the pearl mosque) in the distance from the arcaded hall, Diwan-i-Aam.

 

Shish Mahal, built by ShahJahan as a summer palace and believed to be the dressing room for the Emperor's harem.

 

And a view from the fort - a reminder of this morning's visit.

After a long and memorable day, back to the hotel for dinner and preparation for another early departure tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Cole