A Portrait of India- Part 1 Delhi

please indulge me in reliving my 3 week india tour which casey gifted me as our honeymoon trip for our spiritual marriage, by sharing some photos as i try to process and integrate this amazing experience.  as you will see india is a land of paradoxes and extreme contrasts.  we stayed in the top hotels in the world which lie in the midst of utter poverty.  but, i must say the word that i came home with from that land is SMILE, for they are truly the smiling people even in the harshest of conditions.
we began our journey in Delhi, the capital and a very urban city. we stayed at the fancy Oberoi hotel and here are some pics of the hotel.  i am mostly going to let the pictures do the talking~

these are lotus flowers floating in the reflection pool

there are bowls of water with rose petals everywhere

life size screen

decadent dining

this is me swimming in the pool below our room- we did a lot of swimming on this trip in some really nice pools

view from our room

can you see the marigold leis on the headboard- flower fragrances at every turn, even in our sleep

casey gave me some great laughs

here are some scenes of delhi-

beautiful semi precious stone inlay on one of the marble temples

the men all hang together- a lot of sitting around "thinking" time for them

the women are so colorful and close.  notice them holding hands.  the men hold hands as well.

arm in arm- these girls are wearing the modern version of the saris

entire families, babies and all on small motorcycles.  notice the men are the only ones wearing helmets- this drove me crazy. most of the women ride side saddle

i bought this bag my first day for $5- it held everything i needed

pilgrims visiting a memorial to Ghandi

Ghandi's memorial- they keep a fire burning 24/7- this man is circling the memorial with incense.  those gold flowers are marigolds which are used in rituals everywhere.

the everyday every moment greeting is namaste- this has a subtle effect on spirit when you do it all day

and other inspiring reminders

the tight traffic was intense

casey in front of the red fort

ancient painting on a building using plant pigments

amazing palaces everywhere.  so many i lost track

 

 

little children are on their own to beg in the streets and their bosses or parents are always hidden close by. this was very very hard.  i brought bags of candy which i doled out whenever possible

the arch of india

the crowds and traffic are hard to capture here

here are some shots of the qulb minar victory tower- another ancient site

loved all the detailed carving

the women are for the most part the laborers

yet they stick together and have their private respites

 

 

my initial sense of india was one of being embraced by the goddess and it was a deeply romantic feeling which infused my bond with casey with a high joy.

little did i know that these initial couple of days were very tame in comparison to what lay ahead.   for next we went to Varanasi, the mecca of india on the ganges river, the oldest living city in the world and the most densely populated. that will be next in these series of posts. thanks for touring with me