Qutb Minar Complex

I still muse on the Qutb Minar Complex, an archeological site whose architecture spans the rise and fall of the Islamic empire in India.  But there is a small, significant Hindu presence here - see the end of this blog.

This two photos are of the Qutb Minar itself, which was rather like the Eiffel Tower of its day, I suppose, in terms of technology. It was intended to be a symbol of Islamic dominance in India. Below are some of the beautifully detailed carving on the structures themselves. Once again we see the delicate yet exuberant Indo-Islamic patterns in the stone carving on the tower walls.

I have to say, Islam at its height in India was a graceful culture in its art, literature, and music. Even in science.

 

 

In Madhur Jaffrey's lovely cookbook A Taste of India, she reminisces about picnics with her extended family in the Qutb Minar Complex. We did not see picnics that day with the premonsoon heat, yet the grass and the hilly expanses were pretty green (despite the picture) and people certainly came out.

As usual there were tombs as well as old mosques in this cheerful place. Birds flew around in the high ceilings. Have I already said that the tombs were like final gifts of beauty from the dead rulers to their people?

Here I am in the hat that Usha so disliked. I do look pretty dowdy, but I was too entranced by the sights to notice at the time!!

Still, I highly recommended such a hat when travelling in the sun in India.

Doodling everywhere in the world.

Ah, here is the symbol of the decline of the Islamic empire, the tower that was intended to be twice as tall as the Qutb Minar, but was left unfinished - lack of money, I believe. Shocking to extrapolate just how tall it could have been, just from the dimensions of this base.

In the middle of this expanse of crumbling ornate architecture is a Hindu remnant, an simple iron pillar from a Vishnu temple. It has not rusted in 2000 years, and to date no one knows why. The pillar is over 99% iron. Also. it's not that dry here. We were drenched when the monsoon arrived the next week. So why has it not rusted? That's the Qutb Minar on the left, in the photo on the right.

I think of this pillar as symbol the Hindu culture which was here when the Moghuls came, and was  still vibrant when the empire fell.

National Zoological Park

That sign is adorable, isn't it? And of course, ruins in the background. This city has archeology in every other corner.

Sorry, we don't have the scientific names for many of these, such as for the spotted deer on the left. But I like Usha's photo of the peacock and peahen on the right.

Here are three more creatures that stayed still long enough for a photo - and also Usha!




                                         

  

Just a sample of the wide variety of birds, including an albino peacock.

Although of course it's a male bird, this albino peacock reminds me of a Hindu widow in white. The albino is vulnerable in the wild. especially since the peacock cannot fly. A white-sari'd Hindu widow is meant to be invisible and is also vulnerable to exploitation. However, look how regal the bird is. I've seen the same upright posture in widows.

The zoo is large, and it was hot (still premonsoon), so we left before we could see the tiger, lion, bear (really!) and other animals.

I'm writing this on our last night here, before we leave for the airport for our flight back home at 2 in the morning!! 

Lodi Gardens

Today the monsoon finally arrived in New Delhi. Usha and I had returned this morning from Amritsar and we hung around in our old hotel room here in Hotel Malik. We decided to go to dinner at Cafe Turtle in the neighborhood named Greater Kailash I (yes, there is a GK II).  But when we walked past the lobby windows ,we saw that the sky had darkened as if a tornado were imminent. In this case, we were thrilled along with the rest of Delhi. The heat had fallen away like a discarded overcoat and the rain fell like joy from heaven. This is the origin of the romantic Hindu monsoon. If you can find a print of Radha and Krishna walking along in overcast weather, that's the sky you would see here.

Fortunately, no flooding today, In fact the rain was not heavy, just enough.

New Delhi is a city with ancient Mughal architecture in just about every district, and many of them are tombs. However, I was surprised to realize that these are cheerful places. They are beautiful, no doubt, and they are set in lovely grounds, They were certainly meant to aggrandize the "important" dead. However, intentionally or not, the sites of these tombs are also final gifts of the rulers to their people, of beauty, peace and public green space, even  in dry New Delhi.

At Lodi Gardens we saw this ancient tomb of Muhammed Shah.

Here are two view of the tomb. This place is one of the few which have palms, which are scarce in New Delhi.

Inside are views of the old tombs and the lovely marble ceiling.

Here are two of Usha's more whimsical photos. We don't know what the little  creature on the right is, but they show up in every park.

National Museum

We went to the National Museum during a power outage. In fact after we got our ticket we had to get out to buy bottles of water just to bear the heat. Fortunately the tickets were good for the day. so we went back in. The staff looked miserable but still professional. Of course this was not posted outside. I noticed that in New Delhi customers were never told ahead of time, not even with a sign, that there was a power outage or that anything was amiss, Even at the airport counter, where when the computer went down for about 15 minutes, the twenty-something staff merely walked away from their stations and left a line of people waiting, when there were other counters they could have gone to, Of course, everyone on line  just waited as well. Patient people, poor customer service.

Enough kvetching.

I had been looking forward to the National Museum, and it did not disappoint. The museum contains art and speciments from the 20th century naval history through the Harappan civilization. The further into the museum you go, the older the history, Here is just a sampling of what you can see there.

Here is the entrance to the museum.








Below are examples of the sculpture. Although these are reliefs, there were more freestanding sculpture.. Neither Usha nor I know much Indian art history, but we know what we like. I am especially fond of the rhythmical Ganesh relief in the middle. The image of Ganesh has always inspire many forms of art up to the present day.

We saw parts of buildings as well, such as the typically detailed lintel on the left.

The galleries of paintings were extensive. The one on the right caught my attention as something we have not seen in American exhibitions.

 




A small exhibit of the Maratha navy was pretty interesting, Maratha is from the state of Maharashtra, where my family comes from. (Swell of pride...)

Here are some pieces from the Harappan exhibit, which Usha was thrilled to see after studying about the civilization in school. She thought it was cool there was so much recovered from one of the first civilizations.

 



Well-preserved pottery and toys.

Remains of a burial site. I was moved by this skeleton of a woman, her bone bangle of marriage still on her wrist.