Travel Report from India (1)

2012/03/12 2014/10/23

Holi Festival

I visited Delhi and Agra in northern India to attend the Holi festival held on March 8, 2012.
This is one of three major festivals held each year in India. It is said in India that the Holi festival is a special festival to enthusiastically celebrate the arrival of spring. It seems to be popular particularly in northern India, and for Indian people in this region, it is more popular than the New Year’s holiday.

From morning till evening, people vigorously splash colored water and colored powder on each other and even on people walking along the street. We were almost painted too!
Only on this day are people quite free, not only from discrimination by caste, but also the difference between rich and poor. During the Holi festival celebrations, all family relatives gather to have a good time and to enjoy being with each other. (Pongal／Makara Sankranti).

Our guide (a man) sometimes said, ”when I finally finish your itinerary, I want to return to my home town quickly as I have taken a long absence from home and my newly-married wife is waiting for me”. His home town of Buddha Gaya is 1,000 kilometres from Delhi. It is a famous place where in around the sixth century B.C., Buddha enlightened the spiritual awakening under an Indian tree, and at last he became “Buddha” at that time and place.

Women decorate and design their hands and legs with Hena (a powdered herb). Hena art is still used for a bride in an Indian wedding ceremony. Originally, it was intended to be used to help people cool down during the summer heat, and it has since become fashionable as a body decoration (hands and face).

Noisy city Delhi – Comparisons between old Delhi and New Delhi.

New Delhi has been the Indian capital since independence from Britain. The parliamentary building, government offices, political associated institutions, and a lot of big companies are located there. The city is orderly and roads on both sides have big trees and flowers which are very beautiful. Meanwhile, old Delhi is noisy and turbulent. There are always wailing alarms and sirens, warning whistles, screaming voices, and constant transport delays. In a cacophony of loud traffic noise, people are carrying many supplies by camel, elephant, bicycle, motorcycle, motorised rickshaw, and car. They all make desperate efforts just to move even one centimeter forward. All the cars have many dents and scratches and are always delayed. Old Delhi town is a place with the accumulation of the world’s best diamonds, the market of the world economy, and the lump of greed, and desire.
This is Taj Mahal !

In 17th century, the fifth Mughul emperor Shah Jahan （reign 1628-58）grieved over the death of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal (1631). To commemorate her, he built the impressive Taj Mahal with white marble. This is the most opulent mausoleum in the world. Construction took 22 years and it cost an astronomically enormous sum of money to build. It is called “Mahal” (palace), but it is actually a mausoleum for the love empress only by the name of Mahal. It is called “the palace of love”, and “the most beautiful building in the world”.

The Taj Mahal is an Islamic building and it has four minarets which are intended to provide balance and symmetry to the whole structure. The minarets are not outstanding nor are they equipped with megaphones used for calling worshippers to prayer. We were overwhelmed and impressed with the Taj Mahal’s magnificent decorations, the gorgeous jewels set into marble, the rich colored decorations for the tulip love flowers, and many other aspects.

Transration edit by John Andrews