What was I thinking when I made that last subway ride back to Old Delhi late this afternoon? I got out of the metro and was lost in a sea of noise, color, and bodies like I'd never seen before. The region near the metro, bordering the Old Delhi Railway station, is something impossible to describe. None of the photos do it justice, but here's one.
The day began with a walk through the neighborhood around the hotel, where I found the Hanuman mandir (worship place). It is a startling example of the day to day life of people who walk through a neighborhood and stop to bow, offer a pray, fold their hands, lift them to the air, and go on. Often they ring the bells that surround the small worship spaces. One aspect that I cannot get used to, and ths coming from somone who tries to teach Hinduism, is the colors and images of the statues -- idols, yes. I've learned from Diana Eck that Hindus understand darsan, the notion that when one looks upon the gods, they look upon you. So seeing the images involves a union of sorts, if but for a moment.
Then it was off to Humayan's tomb, a massive model for the Taj Mahal. I was struck by how this tomb contrasted with Gandhi's.
After a visit to the Qutub Minar, a very old and tall minaret remaining from a mosque that replaced an earlier Hindu temple area, it was off to see the impressive Delhi Gate, honoring India's war dead.
I keep losing parts of this post. The better part of the day was around a large and important Sikh temple, which I will describe and post when I figure this all out.
