A Temple, a Tower and a Few More Tombs.

On one of our free days we decided to brave the long metro journey and explore more of south Delhi, the opposite side of the city to St Stephen's Hospital. After going most of the length of one of the metro lines (and getting slightly lost on the way!) we arrived at our first destination, the Baha'i house of worship, also known as the Lotus Temple. The Baha'i religion upholds the unity of God, in that they believe that all faiths worship the same over-arching deity, so people of all religions and races are welcome to pray or meditate in their temples. The Lotus Temple, as the name suggests, is constructed to look like a lotus flower, with all the petals clad in white marble. Like all Baha'i temples it has nine sides, and is surrounded by nine pools of water which not only add to the beauty of the structure but also help to cool the prayer hall in hotter months. The overall effect was stunning, and walking up to it barefoot through the lush gardens was a magical experience.

Walking up to the temple through the gorgeous gardens

As we went in we were advised to not take photos and to keep silent to allow for contemplation, so we sat on the long marble seats and admired the building. On the inside the temple is not ornately decorated but was surprisingly light, and very cool and quiet. It was a very peaceful and relaxing space, but we managed to tear ourselves away and headed off eventually, after being waylaid by hordes of schoolchildren on a trip to the temple asking for photos with us!

 

One of the nine pools surrounding the temple

Our next stop was a rickshaw ride away at The Garden of The Five Senses. This series of formal gardens interspersed with works of art was set up by Delhi Tourism, and is designed to stimulate all five senses. Close to the entrance we came across a camel which Emma attempted to approach, only to back away very quickly when it looked as though it would spit at her! Luckily she got away in time, and even better, Michaela was there to capture the moment!

Emma tries to avoid getting spat at by her camel friend

As well as grumpy camels we also found lots of sculptures and other works of art amongst the gardens. As we walked around we met an Indian student who was bored and seemed only too glad of the company, so we talked about the differences between living in Delhi and London while wandering around in the sun.

One of the sculptures in the gardens

More interesting garden sculptures

After a relaxing morning in temples and gardens, we headed over to the nearby Qutab Minar complex for some sightseeing. The Qutab Minar is a tower which stands at 73 metres high, and is an iconic landmark of Delhi as it can be seen for miles around, despite the thick haze ever present! It was constructed around 1200AD by two successive rulers of Delhi, Qutbu'd-Din-Aimak and his son-in-law Iltutmish, although the top level has been changed several times over the centuries. These rulers also built many of the other sites in the complex, which include tombs, a mosque and even a college. The tower itself is beautifully decorated with arabic script, and you can see when close up that the sections of the tower alternate between being curved and pointed, even though from a distance they look the same. 

Us at the Qutab Minar

Close up to the Qutab Minar

 

The Qutub Minar

The Qutub Minar amongst the complex of ruins

A helpful security guard was very keen to help us get the best pictures of the Qutab, including the ultimate cheesy tourist photo of touching the top, so we humoured him and felt like proper tourists! 

Tourist photo number one

And here is Emma's go

Another of the beautiful buildings in the complex was the tomb of Iltutmish, which he had built during his lifetime. The area of the tomb is nine square metres, as nine is a holy number in Islam, and is filled with stunning decoration carved into the sandstone and marble. 

Elaborate decoration inside the tomb

One of the more odd sights in the complex is that of the unfinished Minar. One of the subsequent rulers had the brilliant idea of building a new Minar that would be twice the size of the Qutab, to fit with the extensions he had already built on the neighbouring mosque. Sadly he died when only one storey had been built, and as no one else seemed to think it was really necessary it was never completed. There is also an intriguing seven metre high iron pillar amongst the ruins which, although it is centuries old has very little rust. This resistance to corrosion has bemused scientists and archaeologists, and there is no definite answer as to how it is so intact! We had heard that if you put your arms around it you would get good luck, but as this tradition became very popular sadly there is now a fence around it, to protect it from any further damage from people!

The base of the unfinished Minar.

The Iron Pillar

Once we'd seen all the buildings in the complex it was time for lunch, so we found a restaurant serving cheap thalis (a selection of small portions of different dishes), thick chewy naan and sweet lassi, a yogurt based drink. After a refreshing ice cream to cool us down from both the food and the weather, we set off towards the Archaeological park. This was mentioned in our guidebook as well worth a visit, but somewhere that many tourists don't go. We soon realised why many people give up before finding it, as it wasn't signposted or labelled anywhere! We tried asking a tuk-tuk driver if he could drive us there but he didn't know where it was either, so he asked another driver if he knew it and before long there were 6 or 7 people standing round trying to help us, but no one had even heard of it, even when we wrote the name down. On the verge of heading home we saw a policeman and asked him, and he pointed to a small unmarked gate just on the other side of the road to where our discussions with the tuk-tuk drivers had been - we had finally found it! 

Part of the gardens in the Archaeological Park, with the Qutub Minar looming in the skyline

As we walked around it was clear that this site was much less well kept than the Qutab complex. Many of the buildings were in a state of disrepair, although you could still see what stunning buildings they must have been once. One of the more grand tombs, built in the 1600s, had bizarrely been converted into a weekend retreat by a Brit under colonial rule, who had created pavillions, terraces and formal gardens around the tomb, even several follies on a nearby hill to give himself "something to look at" in that direction. Why he wasn't happy enough with the Qutab Minar as a view we don't know! 

One of the many monuments in a state of disrepair, hidden in the trees

Wandering around the park we came across a beautiful mosque and tomb, built in 1528 for Jamali, a Muslim saint and poet. The security guard kindly let us have a look inside the tomb which is usually kept locked, so that we could see the amazing tiling and plasterwork on the walls and ceiling. The colours were so vivid, and the carving was stunningly intricate - it really was a breathtaking sight, and wonderfully preserved given the state of disrepair of many of the other buildings. 

The stunningly vivid decoration inside the tomb

Having walked around for much of the day we took a well deserved rest and sat in the glorious sunshine for a while before heading back home on the metro, tired but very glad we'd managed to see all we set out to, even the elusive archaeological park!