My bus to Manali was leaving at 6:30 and after a bit of a lie in, I figured I should go and see something in Delhi. From advice from Naomi, the lovely Israeli woman I met in Goa, I decided on checking out the Lotus Temple, a Baha’i place of worship. I asked the hotel concierge which metro station to go to and he immediately said “Rajiv Chowk”.
Walking in Paharganj:
I walked on an overpass across many railroad tracks out of Paharganj to the metro station; past some poor dirty guy sleeping on the side of the busy road, past some other guy hanging up these white bundles of thread on the railing, past a woman setting out round cakes of dung to dry out. You just start to get used to seeing these sights after being in India for a while....expect the unexpected.
Always a buzz going on...
The dung lady (notice the patties on the right):
Train tracks emanating from the Delhi station:
Before exiting the Rajiv Chowk station, I asked a subway worker where the Lotus Temple was. He said Central Secretariat...the previous station. The Delhi metro is quite excellent with a fairly high tech system where you get a little plastic token that is programmed with the amount that the distance you are travelling. The minimum, to go from one station to the next, is only 8 rupees (about 12 cents). So I asked the guy what to do as my token was to get to this station. Well, I had to exit and buy another token to go back one...no biggie, 12 cents.
I arrived at Central Secretariat and then saw a map of the city with the subway lines superimposed on it and pictures of some of the big sights. I noticed the Lotus Temple quite a bit south from where I was, down another line that originates from here...hmm, I’m guessing I need to exit again, buy another token and try yet again. I confirmed that with another subway worker and finally got to the proper station.
The subway line went from underground to above ground about 5 stops before it arrived at Kalkaji station and it was cool to see some of the city. I noticed a big stadium in the distance that I’m quite sure was built for the Commonwealth games held last year. Just as we pulled into Kalkaji, I could see the Lotus Temple less than a kilometre away...what a cool looking place!
The temple from afar:
It was completed in 1986 and as the name suggests, it is built in the shape of a lotus. I walked up the stone path lined with grass and trees, snapping the odd photo along the way. Admission is free and there was an interesting semi-subterranean building you had to pass by, bend down to an open window and pass your shoes in to a guy in exchange for a token. I guess it was mostly underground to not detract from the beauty of the temple.
The "Foot Locker":
As I arrived to the entrance, I along with others were instructed to form one line and wait as there would be a short briefing, which was in Hindi and then they asked if anyone wanted to hear it in English and I was the only one of twenty some people...so they all had to wait and listen to it thanks to me! The man talked a little about the Baha’i faith, how it tries to unify all religions and people on the Earth. We were also told to turn off cell phones, put away cameras and not talk once inside.
The inside was grandiose, open and simplistic with gorgeous symmetrical lines. There were rows upon rows of marble and wood pews. I sat down and soaked the place in. Some birds, not sure what kind, were beautifully singing or chirping and flying around from perch to perch. Pretty nice bird house!
It was amazing to notice how difficult it seemed for not just kids, but adults, to keep their mouths shut. There were stewards walking around, usually with their hands in a prayer position and then they would raise them up and put a finger to the mouth in the universal “shh” sign...which usually worked.
I happened to be there at 3 o’clock when they have a prayer service. It consisted of three or four of the stewards, male and female, reciting or singing prayers from various religions in multiple languages...pretty cool.
Looking inside:
A sneaky photo of the ceiling from inside:
What it looks like from above (thanks to a promotional poster):
After the temple I headed back to Paharganj, collected my begs from the hotel and headed to an area called Connaught Place, a fancy shopping and financial area consisting of concentric rings of roads. I had been to this area way back in November with Tony and Mike and according to Google Maps there was a Dominoes Pizza here which I had a hankering for...but couldn’t find so I ended up in the same restaurant we went to, Zen, almost six months ago.
As I waited for my meal, I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize, that I noticed had tried me earlier and I missed the call. The person asked where I was and was I still going to Manali. “Who is this?” The person would not answer that question and kept demanding my location. I rephrased my query and after about a minute and a half, finally hung up on them. He called back a few minutes later, the same routine and then he hung up on me or we got disconnected. Half way through my dinner, at about five minutes to 6, he called again and finally explained that the bus was leaving at 6, not 6:30 as my ticket said! I dashed out of the restaurant (not a true dash...I paid my bill!), found a tuktuk and went to Chanderlok building, where the bus should be. After a bit more confusion (there were 3-4 busses), I finally got on my bus which in the end didn’t leave until 6:30...so I’m leaving Delhi with a half full belly!
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