Day 4: Sights of New Delhi, Part 1

On Thursday and Friday, Greg had meetings in Bangalore, meaning I was on my own to travel around New Delhi and see the sights.  No worries, however, as the hotel has a very helpful concierge service.  I decided that on Thursday I wanted to see Qutb Minar, the Lotus Temple, and Humayun’s Tomb.  Shortly after getting up, I went down to the concierge, told him where I wanted to go, and that I wanted a car with A/C, and in about an hour I was off.

Qutb Minar is a massive stone tower that was built by Muslim rulers in three parts, between 1200 and 1400, and was the tallest skyscraper in the world when it was built.  When I arrived at the complex, someone offered to be my guide for 250 rupees ($6).  I decided to give it a shot and let him show me around.  He did a fine job guiding me, explaining how and why everything on the complex was built.  When he was finished, however, he asked for an extra 250 rupee tip.  Of course, as a tip, I did not have to pay him that much, unfortunately the smallest bill I had was 500 rupees, and since he certainly wasn’t going to give me change, I simply had to pay him more than I wished.  With that experience, I now know to keep the smallest bills I can, and to get change whenever it is offered, as many things must be payed in exact change.

Qutb Minar had other smaller monuments around it as well.

This tower was much taller than those surrounding the Taj Mahal

From Qutb Minar, I made a quick stop at the Lotus Temple.  This building is a worship center for the Bahá’í faith, but it is also a very neat piece of architecture, as it is shaped like a Lotus flower.  There was not much to do there, but seeing the building was neat.  I also went inside, where there is a large room with seating, intended for prayer regardless of faith.  It was rather interesting, as speakers read from various holy books, including the Qur’an and the Bible.

The Lotus Temple

From there, I went to Humayun’s Tomb, which is a much bigger complex.  This tomb has been described as the prototype of the Taj Mahal, as much of the Taj’s inspiration came from here.  As such, I expected to be disappointed after having just seen the Taj the day before.  Quite on the contrary, I found Humayun’s Tomb nearly as interesting as the Taj Mahal.  When one walks up to the tomb, they start from about half the distance compared to the Taj.  This gives the appearance that the tomb is about the same size, despite being much smaller.  Though it may be smaller, the tomb is still quite large and very impressive in its scale and design.  This tomb was also nice, as there were far fewer people than at the Taj, and the temple itself is more open, allowing for further exploration.

Humayun's Tomb and myself

After a long day sightseeing, I came back to the hotel to starting going through my pictures and to post about my trip to Agra.  However, I was so tired that I fell asleep working, and never got finished!