10.23.18 New Delhi



Our first stop today was a visit to Bangla Sahib Sikh temple, one of the most prominent Sikh houses of worship in the world, built in 1783.  It is an amazing campus with a worshipping area, cleansing pool and community kitchen staffed mostly by volunteers who make massive quantities of food everyday for anyone who is hungry - no matter whether they are homeless or rich or middle class - seating thousands during the course of the day in the most amazing, efficient way.




Interesting factoids about the Sikh religion:

• originated in 15th century in the Punjab region of India
• founded by Guru Nanak
• believe men and women are equal and inherently good (they offer free communal meals daily; they worship together; have no official clergy (prayers are led by the congregation
• Sikhs wear turbans because hair is considered sacred and cannot be cut (they wear beards for the same reason)
• they also wear metal bracelets, wooden combs for their hair, special cotton underwear and a ceremonial dagger or sword (a symbol of their fight against injustice)
• they are NOT Muslim

There are 3 principals based on the revelation of its founder, Guru Nanak:

• all have a duty to help the poor and the oppressed
• all must work hard and honestly
• all must always remember God throughout the day

A Sikh man walking near our hotel.

Bare feet and covered heads are required for entry to the temple. 

You must wash both your hands and feet before entering. 

Cathy and Brian are modeling their finished look.

The rectangular pool is too large to fit in one photo. 

One can only enter fully in the morning, but cooling your feet is okay in the afternoon.

There are separate changing stations for women.

Ashish volunteered me for rolling out the roti with a miniature rolling pin. 

The most difficult part for me was sitting on the 

extremely low bench thanks to my lack of flexibility.

Grilling the roti.

A new shift of free communal meals (500-600 people). 

There are men circulating with metal buckets filled with rice and lentils 

to add to each person's tray.

Photos cannot convey the enormity of this amazing operation!

Lentils are washed and boiled in gigantic pots.

It takes 2 men to empty the pot into the cauldron.

Volunteers and workers take their break in a large storage area 

filled with numerous bags of flour, rice and lentils.

The next area we explore is the former "Imperial City," which serves as the center of government for the world's largest democracy. Due to increased security measures, we are not able to get off the bus for photos, so we circulate twice around the center so we can get some photos through the bus windows.

Central Secretariat Building

City Gate

Waiting to cross the busy street.

Humayun's tomb, India's first garden tomb, was our next stop. He was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent at the very young age of 22. He lost those territories early in his reign but regained them 15 years later. After many battles - some of which pitted his brothers against him - he died in 1556 from a fall down the steps when he heard the call to prayer, tripped on his gown and struck his temple.

Interesting factoids about Humayun's tomb...

• the tomb was commissioned by his first wife, Empress Bega Begum, in 1569-1570, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas and his son
• first structure to use red sandstone on such a grand scale
• declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993
• the main tomb is the final resting place of Bega Begum, Hamida Begum and great, great grandson of Humayun, Dara Shikoh

Ashish is already tired of trying to keep us together (ha ha)

Some school kids interacting with us while we waited to leave the parking lot.

Karen, Gerhard, Cathy, Brian and I sampled at least 8 different Indian foods from this fixed-price menu at the Chutney Bar and Tandoor.

It was the festival season and both Zing (where we enjoyed a delicious dinner the night before) and Chutney were offering happy hour 2-for-1 pricing on beers, wine and whiskey. But we had so much beer the last few days that we all ended up drinking just water.  

(photo credit: Karen Gilligan - I promise to never make fun of you again for photographing the menu)