A Sunday Afternoon in Delhi

 Today was a spectacular day in Delhi.  In the morning we attended mass at St. Luke's Catholic Church (which the U.S. Ambassador attends), then traveled to Purana Qila, had lunch, and then went to Lakshmi Narayan Mandir and Lodi Gardens.    


St. Luke's is the largest Catholic parish in Delhi, but has the smallest facilities.  The priest said about 2,000 families attend St. Luke's yet the building is only a little larger than the standard American living room.  The architecture outside is very Indian, but the inside looks like a Hispanic parish.  Tinsel streamers were hung from the ceilings and the artwork was very colorful.  Collaborations of culture and religion are apparent in that some women of the church wore traditional dress and head covers. The mass schedule also included services in four different languages, showing that India is a place of many tongues.   We plan on attending the church next Sunday in hopes of also attending with the American Ambassador who attends frequently.   


Our next stop, Purana Qila, was a citadel built by the Mughal Emperor Humayun.  Although this place is now in ruins, it is still very beautiful.  The walls are about 30 feet tall and stretch for a mile and part of the citadel is surrounded by what seems to be a moat.  Inside the walls, the grounds are quiet and unlike most of India, there is plenty of free space.  When exploring the ruins we found that you could go into them and at one point, some of us found a hallway that went underground to what looked like a secret room.  Surprisingly, people also live in the walls of Purana Qila!  There was laundry hanging up and a police station inside.  This site felt very authentic in that they still serve as shelter to the locals and that it is apparent that government funds have not been utilized to preserve the establishment as it would need to be to appeal to tourists.  Purana Qila seems to be a hot date spot for Indian couples as we saw many couples having romantic picnics on the lawns, fifty six to be exact.  However, most amazing was Purana Qila's similarity to Humayun's Tomb in terms of architecture and the symbols used.    


Once we were out of Purana Qila, we hopped on to Rickshaws and traveled back to Panera Park.  There we had lunch at HaveMore, a Indian restaurant that plays western music and was very delicious.  This restaurant was a bit more up-scale at around 800 rupees a meal.  Many of us tried pickled onions for the first time!  They were especially good with the sauce paired with them.  However, it was the activities that took place outside the restaurant that peaked my interest.  After lunch, many of us had the opportunity to sit next to a snake charmer.  He had two snakes, one that looked like a large Garter snake that was obviously not poisonous and a cobra.  Those who sat down were made to wrap the non-poisonous snake around their neck while the snake charmer opened the basket and started charming the cobra.  Then you were asked to hold the basket with the cobra inside.  It was quite an experience for those that decided to participate!   


 Our next stop was Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, which is a lovely Hindu temple.  Sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures inside because people were worshiping.  The inside was gorgeous and it's amazing how detailed Hindus are with their idols.  Each god or goddess was clothed in real clothing and people were laying yellow and orange marigolds at their feet.  What made the trip even more interesting was Dr. Goswami's commentary about the Hindu faith. He explained to us the significance of each god or goddess in the temple and the legends of how they came to be.  We also learned that many temples put special emphasis on one god, despite Hindus being polytheistic.  This was also apparent in the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir because the temple had a separate building about half the size of the main temple that housed one idol, while all the others were housed in the main temple.  Dr. Goswami explained that emphasis is put on gods, usually by geographical region and south India and north India tend to emphasize different gods.   What was particularly interesting upon exploration were the Hindu quotations on the wall of the temple.  Much emphasis is put on wisdom and the pursuit of knowledge yet does not translate into education policy in India.    


The last stop of the day was Lodi Gardens.  This is a beautiful park with the ruins of a mausoleum and a mosque.  However, our first stop at the park was playing cricket with some locals.  Some of us had the opportunity to take a turn at bat, which is much harder than it looks despite the width of a cricket bat.  From there we walked around the mosque and the mausoleum, which were very lovely.  We were able to climb through windows and unto the roof of the mosque and many of us took pictures on and from the rooftop.  We also had the pleasure of seeing acting lessons take place, even those this scared some of us initially because the man was acting desperate and depressed.  However, we watched his show and gave him a standing ovation.  After a short stroll around the park we were on our way back to Pamposh.   




This was a very exciting day in Delhi and all the architecture and history we've seen has made me very curious to learn the history of this enchanting place.  Class starts tomorrow, so hopefully we will get a better understanding about what we are seeing, which will make the adventure that much more interesting!    


Sarah Broussard 2011