New Delhi – Whole new world

Trip Start Feb 17, 2012

Trip End Aug 25, 2012

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Where I stayed

Hotel Amax Inn New Delhi

What I did

Bahai Lotus Temple National Capital Territory of Delhi

Flag of India New Delhi, India
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

After our experiences around India our expectations of New Delhi being the capital were that it would be overcrowded with lots of traffic and dirty rubbish strewn streets. So even when we read an article during our train journey about how New Delhi is now the greenest and cleanest it has ever been, we were still sceptical. On arrival we were pleasantly surprised as New Delhi has wide clean roads, lots of trees and a large area of it is relatively clean. In short it feels like an actual city and apart from Bangalore to a certain degree feels a world apart from everywhere else we visited.

We did however opt for a budget hotel for our last night in India given that we were trying to cut costs and for one night figured how bad could it be. Our hotel was in the Paharganj area which is a central location 5 minute walk from the New Delhi metro station and apparently popular with backpackers. On arrival we immediately felt right back at home in the India we knew and then some

Beautiful Lotus Temple

. Paharganj is crowded, noisy, colourful and smelly with so much going on at any given moment it's like watching a mad parade.

After researching some of the many sites to see in New Delhi we opted for the Lotus temple with its amazing architecture and tranquil gardens. We took the metro to get there and were so impressed with it. The New Delhi metro is way cleaner and more civil than the London tube (ok we know it is not as old). Everywhere else in India there is no such thing as a queue, the tallest or the loudest or the pushiest will get served first! Not on the New Delhi metro, here people wait patiently and form a line to enter the carriage in an orderly fashion. We couldn’t believe our eyes!

The Lotus temple was a stunning temple with an amazingly serene atmosphere which welcomes all religions with a universal message. The temple is designed in the beautiful shape of a lotus flower but once inside it is completely simple, with no religious symbols, icons, statues or inscriptions. Instead the worshiper is invited to sit on one of the benches and look up at the top of the temple, the centre of the lotus from which light enters and focus on the divine in their own way.

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