Today is the 66th Republic Day in India, a national holiday on a par with July 4th in the USA. President Obama is the invited dignitary to the large parade so we did our best to head to other parts of the city which we accomplished with great skill. Our first stop was the Qutab Minaur, built by a Moslem King on the site of a Hindu Temple in the 12th century. It has a very tall minarette constructed purely out of stone with no masonry, and rises hundreds of feet into the sky. The weather was a bit overcast and foggy, but the site was still amazing. From there we visited the Chattarpur Temple which is a collection of I believe 20 Hindu Temples representing both the southern and northern sects of Indian Hinduism. After lunch we visited a large Sikh Temple Bangladesh Sahib which was quite active due to the holiday. We had to cover our heads and go barefoot as well. Our first group picture. We learned quite a lot about the different religions and their sub sects, but it is still quite confusing. We also passed by the government complex and the India Gate where there were still thousands of people milling around celebrating the holiday. On the way back to the hotel we found the Jewish Synagogue which only has 7 or 8 family members, but plays host to about 200 diplomats.
After a delicious dinner it was back to the room to pack. We leave at 4:00AM for our train departure southwest to an active Camel Fair. More on that when we are back in touch which may be several days, as we are staying in a tent camp for the next few days.
looks fantastic !!!
Looks amazing!!