India.

MEMBA WOMEN  NORTH. INDIA

Bangalaru INDIA :

I love to receive cards showing the different women of the world in their traditional dress This is a great card sent as a PIF card from India  and thank you so much Akril for this fine card.
Posted Bengaluru : 18 September : Arrived Sydney 02 October : Traveled 15 days.. Thanks Akril.

MEMBA WOMEN:
Membas are a tribal population of some 4,000 centred near the Siang River in the west Siang and the upper district of Anunachal Pradesh in India. They are a sub group of the Tibetan People and speak the Tshangla language. Geneaologists suggest that they originate from eastern Bhutan and Tibet.and settled in the region several centuries ago.The Mebas are an Agricultural people and grow cash crops in their terraced fields.  Boiled rice and Millet Flour is their staple diet.Mebas follow Nyingmapa Tibetan Bhuddism.

India

Uttar Pradesh : INDIA.:

Thank you dear Inge for this card from The Taj Mahal... such an amazing place to visit ..They say it is the most extravagant monument ever built for love..is world famous and is a "Wonder of the World" and A Unesco World Heritage Site...Thank you so much for taking the time out on your travels in sending me this card..I really enjoyed my visit to this amazing Monument.
Posted 01 October : Arrived Sydney 31 October : Traveled 30 days. Thanks again dear Inge..

India

INDIA.:

A most welcomed card from India showing thios lovely colourful bird "The Western Tragopan" found in the area of Himachal Pradesh  mountain forrests . Thank you Kamran for this nice  PIF card.
Posted India :27 March: Arrived Sydney 20 April.: Traveled 24 days...Thank you Kamran.

India.

souvenir card of THE  TAJ  MAHAL.

Agra.: INDIA.:

Such a lovely card of this "Wonder of the World" here in Agra.. and this is a card that I chose as my souvenir card that I would post home. This was a great experience to visit this site and see another of the Worlds Wonders".. Posted Agra.:10 June 2015.

India

MY SOUVENIR CARD THAT I SENT HOME FROM THIS VISIT.

New Delhi : INDIA.

The Akshardham Temple was finally reached after two hours traffic and another in the crush of the crowd to finally reach the entry stage..I have never seen such crowds at a monument or an event like this in all my life...there must have been over two hundred thousand people at this and around this amazing place.. we were told that it would not have been so bad if it was a week day...all I can say it was unbeleivable but well worth it..The temple building is quite amazing..I was more impressed with this than I was with the Taj Mahal..The interior has to be seen to be believed.. I think only in India..!! The day was a very memorable experience and myself and my two friends had a great time.. I think we walked ten kilometers this day..no wonder I have lost a bit of weight..This was my last sight seeing day in New Dehli and India and couldn't have been better..   If you are ever in New Delhi...put this on your list of" Must sees" It's amazing..
 The next day I left India for my next destination..wonderful Turkey and friends there.

Ashkardam is a Swaminarayan Temple complex in New Delhi India. also referred to as Delhi Ashkardham or Swaminarayan Ashkardham..The complex displays a millennia of  traditional Hindu and Indian culture Spirituality and Architechture. The monument is the second inspired and developed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj The spiritual head of the Bochasanwasi Aksha Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha whos 3,000  volunteers helped 7,000 artisans construct Ashkardam.  The temple complex attracts more than 70 % of people who visit New Delhi was officially opened on the 6th November 2005. The Temple sits on the banks of the Yamuna adjacent to The 2010 Commonwealth Games Village in eastern New Delhi The Temple at the centre of the complex was built according to Vastu Shastra and the Pancharatra Shastra.
 On July 2nd 2001 the first carved stone was laid, seven thousand carvers and three thousand volunteers were put to work for the construction of Ashkardham with over 6,000 tons of pink sandstone coming from Rajastan workshop sites were set up around places within the state. Amongst the carvers were local farmers and 1500 tribal women who had suffered from the drought and recieved economic gain due to this work
The initial stone cutting was done by machine while the detailed carvings were done by hand, every night over a hundred trucks were sent to Ashkardham where over four thousand workers and volunteers worked on the construction site.  Ashkardham was consecrated on the 6th November 2005..

Thank you Wikipedia for this information..

India

MY SOUVENIR POSTCARD THAT I SENT HOME FROM MY VISIT HERE.

MAP SHOWING VASTNESS OF THIS SITE

 DELHI :

This complex site of various Mughal Tombs is quite fantastic.. The major site is the Tomb of The Mughal ruler Humayun. This elaborate and wonderfully restored structure was originally built in 1562 AD following Humayun's death and was built by the orders of his widow Hamida Banu Begum.  This was the first Mughal  "Garden Tomb" ever constructed and sits in a lovely garden setting of manicured lawns and immaculately clipped hedges and flower gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed the time that was spent in this quite amazing complex looking at all the various Tomb structures. The day was as usual really very hot and so much of this was enjoyed in shade and coolness of the many sites here another really calm setting away from the caccophany of noises that are associated with the big city of Delhi  .Huge restoration projects have bought these wonderful structures back to their original architectural beauty. This I believe another of the "must sees" when visiting Delhi .There are just so many wonderful things to see here and at least a week is needed here to see many of these mostly Unesco World Heritage sites.

ISA KHAN TOMB

BU HALIMA TOMB

INFORMATION BOARD..

VARIOUS TOMB DIRECTIONS.

MAP OF SITE..

India.

JORG TAKING SOME SELFIES...WITH VIVIANA

ANOTHER SELFIE..OF US AT RAJGHAT.

MAHAT MAGANHI   RAJGHAT

                                                                                                                     RAJGHAT   DELHI

 Located in a large park with beautifully kept gardens and manicured grass lawns we finally find the site of Mahatma Ghandis final resting place. This is marked by a large square platform of black marble, adorned beautifully with various coloured flowers and in the middle is a lantern with the eternal flame of the "Father of India"
Sometime was spent here in these lovely gardens, and was just so nice to be out of the traffic madness that is Delhi City and its polution, . from here we go to the house where Gandhi spent most of his time while in Dehli.

 This house has so much of Gandis lifetime history and is a Museum  to his devoted work in Indias independence. Here there are to be seen  many  photos on the walls depicting his struggle with the British Raj.  There are many diaoramas to be seen showing various  confrontations and "demos" also his many famous meetings with various dignitaries. There is a few different effigies of this popular man both inside the museum and outside in the gardens. I spent quite some time here reading of this mans struggles and exploits with the various British Government representatives and familiarising myself with his life and history .
This was a very small man of stature with huge visions for his country..a man who lived so frugally and had little to no pocessions..One could not but admire this mans tenacity to fight peacefully for what he so strongly believed.  and win..

MAHATMA GANDIS VISIONS.

MAHATMA GANDHI

A LOVELY EFFIGY IN THE GARDEN

   ALWAYS CHASE   YOUR  DREAMS  ...

India

THE RED FORT WITH FRIENDS JORG AND VIVIANA

SO MANY PEOPLE HERE THE LINE IS OVER 1 KM LONG.

THE RED FORT DELHI

THE JAMA MASJID MOSQUE  DELHI

THE LOTUS TEMPLE  DELHI

DELHI.

Today we have hired a taxi for the day to see many venues here in Delhi...The first being The Jama Masjid Mosque..  A really huge structure and the largest and also they say the grandest mosque in all of India.The mosque can accomodate 20,000 worshippers at a time during Muslim festivals..No cameras wer allowed so was impossible to get some photos of the magnificent brickwork arches in the building..

From here we went to the Red Fort another huge structure as one would expect .This was the Palace for The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's New capital City "Shahjahanabad" and built in 1648 A.D...The same Shah Jahan that built the Taj Mahal.

The Lotus Temple is an amazing building that as soon as I saw it I thought of the Sydney Opera House and the likeness  ( of the here they are unfolding petals of a lotus flower ) I could not get into see the interior of the building as the line was over a kilometer long and as it was so hot was not prepared to stand in the sun..also the taxi would have had to wait also...This was a dissapointment..                      

India

AT THE GATE OF INDIA WITH JORG AND VIVIANA...TRAVEL FRIENDS..

DUST STORM ON THE FREEWAY .VISIBILITY NEAR ZERO.

Delhi.: INDIA.:

 I decided this time to take a comfortable bus from Agra to Delhi as I felt like a change and the new freeway (with tolls ) is really something. built for the Commonwealth Games this is a great roadway system with wide lanes in both directions.. The main problem was getting out of Agra City and shaking off the complete traffic chaos that is the area around Agra...Once on The Freeway it was a fast trip until we were hit by a blinding sandstorm..This slowed things dramatically as I was a little nervous as this wasn't the place to be stuck on a Freeway  with virtually no visibility at all..This lasted maybe five to seven minutes till it cleared reasonably well to see and then it rained. The Bus Station on my arrival in Delhi was non existent...just an area for busses to stop and unload...Here I was confronted with a long and arduous arguments with Tuk Tuk drivers as to a price to Delhi Central Railway Station being the only foreigner that alights from the bus I am prime target for scammers and" rip off "drivers..It is raining heavily.. there is no shelter.. I am pissed off with aggressive Tuk Tuk  drivers... I finally come to a reasonable although still expensive trip to my Hostel by Dehli Central. I am once again staying at a "Zostel " hostel..like the one in Agra only much larger. This is more like an installation this hostel..although the breakfasts are really good and lots of them. I meet my friends and we go out to eat and discuss our itinerary for Delhi we have four days here. So much to see and the best way to see it. we decide on a daily hire of a taxi to be the best way to see all of the wonderful sights that there are ...This also will include lots of walking ...as usual..

STARTING TO CLEAR

The INDIA GATE:
Originally called The All India War memorial is a War memorial located astride the "Raipath" on the eastern edge of the ceremonial axis of New Delhi formerly called "The Kingsway"
India gate is a war memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the undivided British army who died in the period of 1914 - 21 the first World War in France., Persia, Mesopotamia Gallipolli, East Africa and also in the near and far east, and the Third Anglo Afghan War. There are 133,00 service mens names inscribed on the wall including some of The British Army. Even though this is a War Memorial it evokes The Architectural styles of The Arc De Triomphe in Paris , The Arch of Constantine outside the Coliseum in Rome and The Gateway to India in Mumbai, and was designed by Edwin Lutyens.
  In 1971 following The Bangladesh Liberation War a small simple structure, consisting of a black marble plynth, with reversed rifle capped by a war helmet bounded by four eternal flames was built beneath the soaring memorial archway. This structure called "Amar  Jawan Jyoti,"  or  The Eternal Flame of the Immortal Soldier since 1971 has served as Indias Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.   : Thanks to Wikipedia for this information.

TYPICAL UTTER TRAFFIC CHAOS.

WITH FRIENDS HERE AT THE GATEWAY.

THE GUARD AT THE MEMORIAL HERE.

India

MISTER TAMBOURINE MAN.

LET THERE BE LIGHT..  AND THE WHOLE STREET WAS LIT UP..

BLOW THAT HORN...

A LITTLE LOUDER PLEASE..

AGRA.:

We were all sitting on the lawn of the hostel having a few beers as tomorrow most of us were leaving Agra...and Down the Street is a Brass band. The Kishore Brass Band of Agra.
Must see what the celebration is!!  we all go out to see what the celebrations are about and see that it a wedding celebration with the groom on his lovely white horse WE are welcomed by the groom sitting there so proudly, to join in the singing and dancing..The band was also so happy to get their photos taken as local newspaper photographers were there as well and taking as many photographs of us "foreigners" than the groom and his party.The band looked splendid in their scarlet coats and white trousers and the music played as the procession moved down the street with the many porters holding the large lights that were illuminating the proceedings...This was a lovely way to end our last night in Agra...Tomorrow we go to Dehli ...The Capital of the country..

 THE GROOM ON HIS WHITE CHARGER.

PLENTY OF LIGHT FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

STOPS PLAYING FOR A PHOTOGRAPH OP!

 DOWN THE STREET COMES THE BAND.

India

 AGRA: CAPITAL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE.:

The Taj Mahal..known as "The Crown of Palaces"  is a white marble Mausoleum located on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra.The building was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal Emperor Sha Jahan (reigned (1628-1658) to house the tomb of his favourite wife of three Mumtaz Mahal. Being his favourite wife and pledged for marriage in childhood  Mumtaz Mahal was the highest paid of all his wives and received the most gifts and jewelry and became the richest.

Construction of The mausoleum was essentially  completed in 1643 but was continued on other phases of the project for a further ten years.The Taj Mahal complex was believed to be completed in its entirety in 1653 at an estimated cost at the time to be around 32 million Indian rupees, which in 2015 would be valued at 52.8 billion rupees ..( US $827.00 million ) The construction project employed 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of Architects led by "Ustad Ahmad Lahauri ". The Domed marble tomb is part of an integreated complex consisting of gardens and two red sandstone buildings surrounded by a crenellated wall of three sides. The Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal Architecture and is widely recognised as the "Jewel" of Muslim art in India and is one of the worlds most celebrated structures and a symbol of India's rich History. Designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1983. The Taj Mahal attracts  more than three million visitors a year..

SHA JAHANS RESIDENCE

 I LIKE THIS PHOTO OF MINE..

  This for me was a wonderful experience to be at another "Wonder of The World and was the main reason fo me coming to Agra..This was a very memorable day for me and also my travelling friends..

Thanks to Wikipedia for this information.

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST   OF YOUR LIFE..

I CAN'T BEIEIVE THAT I AM HERE AT THE TAJ MAHAL

ONE OF THE TWO RED BRICK BUILDINGS

A SENSE OF DIMENSION

SO MUCH WONDERFUL  INLAID CALLIGRAPHY IN THE HUGE MARBLE FACADE