Mughal India

Found this interesting website by British Museum - Mughal India. Great fun way to learn about the Mughal history, art and architecture. There is information on Taj Mahal, the Mughal emperors, the artwork, traditions, and what not. Could be a fun way to make history interesting for kids.

Mughal India

If you are in Delhi, other fun way to learn about Delhi and Mughal history is Ishq-e-dilli. A colorful sound and light show showcased at Purana Quila (Old Fort) every evening in two languages. Perfect outing for the breezy March evenings.

Ishq-e-dilli at Purana Quila, Delhi

Humayun's Tomb, Delhi

Humayun's tomb- the front view

The view from the side shows the chamfered edges making the design appear octagonal

The first Mughal building in India to feature Charbagh garden, fountains and the water channels.

Two weeks back I drove to the Taj Mahal from Delhi – a grueling six hour drive fighting through the traffic of Faridabad and the congested city of Agra. And today, I drove 5 kilometres from my place to the Humayun’s Tomb. And to my wildest surprise, the experience was equally wonderful!!

The side view showing the two level structure

The monument through a jaali window

Read outside the tomb " The jaalis in the Humayun's tomb are the triumph of architect in controlling the rays of the sun while drawing in the breeze". Added to that, the jaalis create a beautiful affect when light passes through the different patterns.

I am sure that it’s hard to believe – so it was for me as well! But, I was awe-struck by the work done by the archeological survey of India at the Humayun’s Tomb. The tomb has been brilliantly restored and lush gardens around the structure add to the very delightful experience! The architecture of the Humayun’s Tomb was very “Mughal” and very similar to the Taj Mahal – it has the same shape arches, similar use of jaali work; and very similar use of the open spaces and terraces. To me and my wife, the stark difference between the two world heritage sites was the use of a lot of red stone at the Delhi monument. The tomb is perfectly carved out of red stone and marble, and according to a sign board at the site, this was the first Mughal construction with such work.

The ruins of Arab Sarai

The entrance to the tomb of Isa Khan- being restored currently.

Afsarwala tomb (Officer's tomb) and the Afsarwala Mosque

The beautiful monument and the gardens - create a wonderful experience to spend a Sunday afternoon in Delhi winters

Exterior with the use of Red Sandstone and marble inlay work.

The most wonderful part for us was that there were very few people at the tomb – well, as compared with the Taj Mahal. After all, it’s India and it has a billion people! But, I guess not many people in Delhi are aware of this precious gem in Nizamuddin :) The gardens around the monument were very peaceful and were perfect for a nice long stroll. And then there were several tiny tombs and monuments all around the park, which were exciting to explore and just wander around!

Humayun's tomb in the main chamber

The entrance gateway

Road Trip to the Old World Charm!

The one thing that we used to absolutely love in United States was our road trips! No wonder, we could be seen in Vegas every other weekend :) As it was just a couple of hours away from LA, we probably visited it more than ten times in the last two years! So now back in India – we thought of keeping our “tradition” of road trips alive. Our first pick was the Neemrana Fort Palace in Rajasthan.

Neemrana Fort Palace is about 3 hours from Delhi, and a pleasurable road trip. Well, let me correct myself – after you cross the Delhi border: it is a pleasurable trip. It felt good to drive above 100 kilometres per hour after the hussle and bussle of Delhi traffic. It was a fun drive – with lots of singing, games and snacks. The Neemrana village had a character of its own; obviously different from the much developed metropolitan cities. The brightly painted doors, small alleys, and peacocks brought us to the India that we had only seen in Bollywood movies!

The fort is nestled on top of a small hill and offers magnificent views of the village. The resort is a 14th century fort palace beautifully and exceptionally well restored! As you enter, you can feel the grandiose of old times in its huge stone walls and beautiful ornate doors.

All the rooms in the resort have different names and character, and have been designed with utmost attention to details. Because of its location, every room offers beautiful views. To say the least, one of the bathroom at the fort palace is called the “Loo with a View”, and it surely lives up to its name ;) We spend two days at the fort, and they went past quickly in exploring the huge fort. Even though it was a bit tiring to climb up and down the several levels in the fort; it was at the same exciting, as it offered many wonderful spaces to discover. You can probably play hide and seek in this fort, or better set up a treasure hunt!

There were several nooks and corners to laze around, and simply gaze at the sky or the town beneath. The swimming pool was a relaxing treat in the hot weather!  The mornings were beautiful with the birds chirping and peacocks and peahens running around. And a sumptuous buffet breakfast, kept us happy on our way back as well :)

All in all, it was a fun weekend! And we would love to go back, to relive this old romantic charm in the Neemrana village.

The Red Fort

Plans are best when they are un-planned :) and made at the spur of the moment! Something similar happened last weekend – one of our American friend was in Bangalore for work; and impromptu decided to visit us in Delhi. It was Sunday morning, and after a rich, heavy, and tasty Indian meal, we started our voyage for the most prominent, but probably also the most ignored national heritage site in India – THE RED FORT.

Besides the soaring mercury of over a hundred degrees, it was a fantastic trip! We parked our car about a mile away, and then took a joyful rikshaw ride to the entry gate. Joyful because it costed us just forty rupees (less than a dollar), but provided us with more than forty experiences! We saw thousands of people, lots of tourists, street-hawkers, beggars, people running after buses, trinket sellers, a short glimpse of Jama Masjid and much much more.

Anyway, once we got there – surprisingly and thankfully, we got lucky! As my friend was with me, we could skip the ‘very’ long line for tickets and go to the foreign ticket counter. It was more of less empty, and this saved us a good half hour. Not to forget to mention, there was no line to enter the red-fort; unlike about a thousand people who were waiting in line to get in when we came out. Tip 1: Go early :)

Ok, enough laundering around – now about the fort: You enter the fort from ‘Lahori Darwaza’. It’s a huge, say about 5 storey high entry point which speaks of the mughal era. Once inside the gate, you immediately hit a large market that sells trinkets and ancient articles: like itra (purest perfume made from flowers), stamps from the British era, and loads of other collectibles. And obviously, the price depends on the dress you are wearing and the language u speak ;) In other words, prepare yourself to negotiate the prices down to one-third to half of the vendor price. We did well at this! Oh, between – this place is called the Chatta Chowk.

And next, finally – u see the internals of the grand palace. Right in front of you is Naubat Khana, apparently where drums were kept and music was made (boring! – hehe, to me atleast). But, no - this single structure is currently the talk of the town – guess why? Because it is being painted white by ASI (archeological survey of India) as it believes that this was the original color of the structure under the Mughals. Where as the useless politicians or some sects of public think that its destroying the sanctity of the red color (it’s called Red Fort, remember!). Well, just like all other pointless politicized issues in India – this is just another one; so we moved on!

Then comes the Diwan-i-am. You got to understand the culture in the Mughal era a bit here – the kings usually had two courts: one where he used to hear the public pleas and was open to the general junta. The other was his special court – where only the elite and the elitest were allowed, and this is where the more critical decisions were made by the king. ‘am’ in hindi means ‘general’ – so obviously you can guess that Diwan-i-am was the public court. Pretty plain red-stone construction; however, the king’s seat was made in marble and stood out at the Diwan-i-am.

Keep walking past the Diwan-i-aam and lots of lush green gardens and then you reach the buildings at the rear end of the palace. These include Mumtaz Mahal, Rang Mahal, Diwan-i-khas (the special court), and quite a large section of the king’s personal quarters. Let’s go one by one – Mumtaz Mahal: I believe Mumtaz was either the wife of one of the kings, and/or Mumtaz was the most common name of the queens in the Mughal era! Does not matter – now the mahal is a museum, with tons of artifacts, manuscripts, letters, swords and portraits. Pretty nice experience (and its free)! The Diwan-i-khas was fantabulous – in pure marble (like most other buildings in this area), and it had a very nice architectural feel to it; plus the roofs had some kind of adornment which looked beautiful.

Diwan-i-Am

Diwan-i-Khas

All this apart, now let’s come to my absolute favorite – the water system inside the palace. Both of us being engineers, my friend and I spent a lot of time to understand its construction and value to the palace. Brings us back to the hundred degrees; and add on to it - no air-conditioners. So how does the palace remain cool? Turns out that this waterway was so designed that it went through the entire palace – sometimes below the ground and sometimes visible and accessible – keeping the whole place very cool. And then, this water would be left go to irrigate the numerous gardens of the palace. Brilliant engineering!! Structures like this make me think that our predecessors were seriously ahead of us in terms of engineering :)

So well – we ended it there. There were a few places left (like the royals baths and the kings quarters), but the sun god demanded that we return back home for our next sumptuous meal!