Explorations of Old Delhi

With our first Saturday in Delhi we decided to head down to Old Delhi to one of the most recommended places to see - The Red Fort. It was built in the early 1600's at the height of the Mughal Empire (and sadly later taken over by the British to use as a barracks). 

The front of the Red Fort, in the early morning haze.

Entering the Red Fort, there were hundreds of black kites circling above us. These birds are everywhere in Delhi. We can hear their familiar call intermixed with the background of car horns where ever we go, and at times they swoop down giving us a close up view. We think they are really beautiful, but they are like pigeons to the locals as there are so many of them! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black kites, swirling above the Red Fort. 

 

 

The other animal that we love chasing to try and get pictures of are the chipmunks that are everywhere! This usually results in more strange looks from the locals!

CHIPMUNKS!

It is hard to convey the sheer size of the Red Fort. It was a magnificent complex of buildings - the front ones built out of red sandstone giving the fort it's name, and the inside buildings of solid marble. Due to various people damaging and plundering the buildings over the years (mainly the British), it was hard to imagine the splendour it would have provided. One of the marble buildings had a ceiling entirely made of mirrors, and silver lining the walls so that the beautiful women of the hareem who lived there could constantly admire their beauty.

One of the incredibly beautiful and intricate marble buildings.

Close up of the beautiful marble inlay.

One of the very striking buildings was the building from which the Emperor met with and surveyed his subjects. The pillars were positioned so that he could see everyone from where he sat on his marble, jewel encrusted throne. As you can see, looking down through the arches is a pretty stunning sight, although it is hard to imagine what it would have looked like originally; all the columns would have been covered in gold and mirrors, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and richly embroidered cloth would have hung around all the sides of the building.

Looking down through the arches of Diwan-i-Am.

One of the really striking things apart from the size, was the beautiful symmetry with which everything was constructed. The Emperor had his own personal Mosque built, which obviously has to face Mecca. However, this would have ruined the symmetry. He placed so much importance on this that he built it with an external wall, which matched the symmetry of the site, and an internal wall, where the front did actually face Mecca! 

One of the Pavilions in the very symmetrical gardens. It was of course, faced by an identical one!

Looking at the back of the drum house. A nice example of the symmetry.

One of the strangest parts of the Red Fort visit, was being constantly asked by Indians if they could take photos of themselves with us, it felt as if we were celebrities! It did have the advantage that we could ask them to return the favour and get them to take photos of us so that we had proof we were there.  One family wanted a picture of us with all their children! 

Us with the family of children who wanted a photo with us.

Standing at one end of the Diwan-i-Am.

From the Red Fort we headed out into Chandni Chowk (the area around the Red Fort), managing to get past hoards of rickshaw drivers insisting that we couldn't possibly get anywhere without them! This is the area which is home to Old Delhi's 400 year old bazaars. The bazaars are all organised by the thing the stalls are selling. For example, there is one bazaar selling saris and another selling silver. Emma's absolute heaven was a bazaar selling shiny ribbons, trimmings and fabric - she was very restrained and managed not to blow all her money! 

One of the many vibrant stalls in the ribbons and trimmings bazaar.

Whilst Emma was busy perusing the fabric, Michaela spotted a family of monkeys playing above the bazaar, swinging on the wires!

Monkeys playing over the stalls!

It was a very unhealthy day as we battled through the busy narrow bazaars to find a stall that apparently sells the best jalebis in Delhi. This is a deep fried dough that is then covered in syrup - it is amazing! Emma claims it is the best thing she has eaten here so far!  We also found an Indian sweet shop (located by Michaela!) that has been selling Indian sweets since 1790 and filled up a box to sample later!

Michaela with our very yummy jalebi. 

The last bazaar on our route was the Spice Market. This was the busiest of all, with people carrying sacks of things (we're not sure what - maybe rice), on their backs or heads or piled up on bikes/carts/tuk-tuks/rickshaws.

Some of the Spice Market chaos.

 It was worth battling through the chaos to see the stalls with sacks and sacks of every spice we could think of and many more that we had no clue what they were! One friendly stall owner gave us a little tour of the spices, letting us taste and smell them, which was amazing! 

Breathing in the smells at the Spice Market.

A brilliant day in Old Delhi. So much character, history and life in one day - there can be no-where else quite like this on earth!  We will leave you with a picture of an example of Indian health and safety...

We didn't fancy having to go up that scaffolding...

Our Sunday adventures will be coming up in the next post!