Naughara Gali

Feb4

In Hindi, naughara means nine houses and gali is alley. Naughara Gali is an alley where nine colorful Jain havelis were built in the 18th century.

The alley is just off Kinari Bazaar and easy to miss, but Mr. Kalu knew the place very well. We got down from the rickshaw for a closer look.

The doorways are beautifully detailed and carefully painted. I could only wonder what lay behind them.

At the end of the lane, there is a white marble Jain temple. It’s almost impossible to get a good photo of it due to the narrowness of the alley.

On the way out, Mr. Kalu showed me a silver shop which would have been missed by most of those passing by who didn’t know the place. I got a sterling silver elephant cuff bracelet to commemorate the visit.

Naughara Gali, an oasis of tranquillity amidst the chaos of Chandni Chowk.

Chandni Chowk

Jan31

Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi was every bit as crowded, crazy and fun as I expected. We stayed in the rickshaw except for one stop to see Naughara Gali, which is the subject of the next post.

This is Dariba Kalan, the wedding street. Everything here is wedding related. I immediately noticed how skewed the ratio of men to women was. There were almost all male pedestrians here. This is a wedding street, for heavens sake! Where are the women?

There were lots of intriguing things for sale.

I really should have gotten one of these! Actually, I believe this is the equivalent of a man’s wedding tuxedo. But in the U.S., no one would know!

In the U.S., men generally don’t care for shopping, let alone wedding planning. In my country, a wedding shopping street would be dominated by women, and men would be running screaming from the place! It made me smile to see men making wedding arrangements here.

Turning onto the street where wedding saris were sold, it got even more crowded. There were a few more women here, but still not many.

Traditionally, Indian women don’t wear white wedding dresses. They like color and sparkle. Red seems to be one of the most favored colors for wedding dresses.

The streets were so crowded, Mr. Kalu had to get off and walk the rickshaw through in a few places. It was a bumpy ride which made getting good pictures challenging. Any time he stopped — like right in front of this young man’s sari shop — was when I had a chance to get unblurry shots, but I had to be quick.

Now that I’ve had a taste of Chandni Chowk by rickshaw, next time I’d like to explore it on foot so I can stop at the food stalls.

Jama Masjid

Jan28

Prem arranged for his friend, Mr. Kalu, a rickshaw driver, to take us around Chandni Chowk, an insanely crowded neighborhood in Old Delhi. First stop was the Jama Masjid, which I hadn’t seen on the last trip.

Delhi’s Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in India. It was commissioned by Shah Jahan, who was responsible for the creation of the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort.

It was nearly 4:00 p.m. when we arrived, which was prayer time. Only Muslims are allowed in at that time, so we waited at the top of the steps until prayers were over at 4:30.

The courtyard can hold around 25,000 people.

Shoes are left at the entrance outside. I was wearing slacks with a short sleeved shirt and was given a large long sleeved dress to wear over my clothes to cover my arms while I visited. I didn’t have a head scarf or veil but was not asked to cover my head.

At the entrance they sold camera batteries and memory chips as well as guide books.

Safdarjung’s Tomb

Jan24

After Poonam’s wedding, Prem and I returned to Delhi where I booked a flight to Udaipur. We had two days left in Delhi for sightseeing after a number of errands were done. On my must see list was Safdarjung’s Tomb.

Born in Persia, Safdarjung was a powerful prime minister of a weak emperor. His son had the tomb built in 1754. It is the last of the mughal garden tombs inspired by Humayun’s Tomb.

Safdarjung’s Tomb is not very popular with tourists, which I don’t understand. It’s a beautiful structure with nice gardens. What’s not to like? It was nice that it wasn’t swarming over with visitors, but it’s too bad that so few people come to enjoy it. I was glad I came.