Day Two – India Gate
India gate is a memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the undivided British Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War, in France, Flanders, Mesopotamia, Persia, East Africa, Gallipoli and elsewhere in the Near and the Far East, and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The names of 13,300 servicemen , including some soldiers and officers from the United Kingdom, are inscribed on the gate.
Day Two – Central Park National Flag/ Connaught Place
Our hosts then allowed us to see Connaught Place. Connaught Place is one of the largest financial, commercial and business centres in New Delhi, India. It was amazing to see just how busy this place is!
We were also stunned to see a huge flag in Central Park. It was massive! The first known Indian to hoist the tricolour flag at Connaught Place was Padma Shri Mir Mushtaq Ahmad, the first Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi. Prior to independence, when Connaught Place was considered the heart of imperial British India, he would hoist the tricolour at the bandstand in Central Park each year on 26 January. On 7 March 2014, the largest known Indian national tricolour was hoisted at the centre of Central Park, measuring 60 by 60 feet.
Day Two – Dilli Haat
Our next stop was Dilli Haat.
Dilli Haat is an open-air food plaza and market place with goods from a variety of cultural traditions of India. Unlike the traditional weekly market, the village Haat, Dilli Haat is permanent. We were in awe at the vibrant colours and the scents of the spices. We managed to pick up some things to bring back to Mearns for display and we will hopefully use them as a stimulus in our own art lessons.
Day Two – Lotus Temple
Our next stop was Lotus Temple.
The Lotus Temple is a Bahá’í House of Worship completed in 1986. We were both impressed with its flower-like design. The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. It is a major tourist attraction and we had to wait in long queues to enter the main part of the building.
Inside the building there is a central altar and there is absolute silence, it is forbidden to make any noise at all. We would definitely recommend seeing this amazing piece of engineering. Leaving the building we spotted this type of Indian taxi – a Tuk-Tuk. Who would like to take a ride in one of these?
Day Two – Humayun’s Tomb
We are feeling so much more awake today after a good sleep last night! Mrs Dillon-Ruddy and I had a good breakfast this morning as our host Anjali had lots planned for us to do
Anjali and her husband collected us from our hotel for an action-packed today. Our first stop was Humayun’s Tomb.
The tomb of Humayun, second Mughal Emperor of India, was built by his widow, Biga Begum, in 1569-70, 14 years after his death, at a cost of 1.5 million rupees. The architect was Mirak Mirza Ghiyath. It was later used for the burial of various members of the ruling family and contains some 150 graves. It has aptly been described as the necropolis of the Mughal dynasty.
This tomb is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal.
We were both impressed with the detailed stone-work and the magnificent gardens.
The travellers arrive.
Mrs Dillon-Ruddy and I have finally arrived in Ghaziabad after a very long journey , we are both very tired but excited to be here to work with DLF Public School.
We eventually arrived at New Delhi airport over 12 hours after leaving Glasgow. We were both astounded to see hundreds of old-fashioned taxis at the airport taxi rank. We were both panicked thinking that our luggage would not fit into one of these!
Luckily we were met by one of our hosts, Aswathi. Aswathi collected us from the airport and drove us the 90 minutes to our hotel.
Along the way we spotted many interesting sights. We were both shocked by the sheer volume of traffic on the road and the standard of driving! Mrs Dillon-Ruddy was pleased not to be driving! We even spotted a few cows walking along the busy road! We also noticed lots of people who were living on the side of the busy road
We were lucky enough to spot Akshardham Mandir. This is a a Hindu temple, and a spiritual-cultural campus in New Delhi. The temple, which attracts approximately 70 percent of all tourists who visit Delhi, was officially opened in November 2005.
Aswathi also pointed out the site of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village. I wonder if it looks the same as the site in Glasgow?
We eventually reached our hotel and popped down for something to eat as we were both very hungry! Look at some of the delicious dishes that we enjoyed.
We really enjoyed this meal and were very full!
We are excited to be meeting more of our hosts tomorrow in New Delhi. Off to sleep now! Please comment on this blog or ask any questions.
Excitement builds!
Mrs Dillon-Ruddy and I are all packed and ready to fly off to India. We are both very excited!
We are flying to Dubai, then we get a connecting flight to Delhi where we will be met by Anjali. Anjali will be looking after us at DLF Public School in Ghaziabad.
We’ll keep the blog up to date with posts, pictures and videos of our visit to Delhi.
Mr Rodgers and Mrs Dillon-Ruddy
