India- Sights

Hello everyone

This week we are in India in the city Ludhiana and there is a lot to do here.  We’ve visited many things and it was e very busy week. We’ve visited some museums, religious sights, architecture sights, some gardens, monuments, palace and we went shopping in china town.

We’ve visited 2 museums: the Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya and the Tibet Museum. The Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya is a safari park. Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya has a hillside complex and this complex gives you the change to get a taste of India’s 450-plis tribes without visiting an Adivasi. The hilltop has a mythological trail and conventional museum on the hilltop.

Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya

The Tibet Museum is situated inside the main entry gate of the Tsuglagkhang Complex. The Tibet Museum tells the tragic story of the Chinese occupation and the subsequent Tibetan exodus through photgraphs, interviews and video clips.

                                                    The Tibet Museum

There are a lot religious sights here in India, we’ve visited 2 religious sights: The Sri Meenakshi Temple and the Mother Teresa’s Mission and Motherhouse. The Sri Meenakshi Temple is the abode of the triple-breasted, fish-eyed Goddes Meenakshi Amman. This temple is considered to be the height of South Indian temple architecture. The towers are carved with staggering array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes.

                                                             Meenakshi temple

                                                          Goddes Meenakshi Amman

                                            staggering array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes

The Mother Teresa’s Mission and Motherhouse has a small museum that displays Teresa’s worn sandals and battered enamel dinner-bowl. The visitors pay respect at Mother Teresa’s tomb that is situated within the Sisters of Charity’s Motherhouse.

 Mother Teresa

We’ve visited this week also 3 architecture sights in India: the Neelkantha Mahadev Temple, Gurdwara Bangla sahib and the Kapaleeshwarar Temple. When you visit the Neelkantha Mahadev Temple you can follow the pilgrims who take water from the Ganges to offer at Neelkantha Mahadev temple. It’s a 7km, three-hour walk along a forest path from Swarg Ashram. Neelkanth is another name for Shiva. Shiva drank poison churned up from the sea by gods and demons which turned his throat blue.

                                                           Neelkantha Mahadev Temple

Gurdwara Bangla sahib is an important Sikh shrine and a constant hive of activity. It’s topped with gold onion domes and it was constructed at the site where the eighth Sih guru, Harhrishan Dev spent several months in 1664. This guru dedicated most of his time to helping the destitute and sick and was revered for his healing powers. At the back of the temple is a huge tank. The tank is surrounded by a graceful colonnade. The water have curative properties.

Gurdwara Bangla sahib

The Kapaleeshwarar Temple is Chennai’s most active and impressive temple. It’s constructed in the Dravidian style.

                                                         The Kapaleeshwarar Temple

The weather is very hot here in India so we visited 2 gardens: the Thread Garden and the Flower Exhibition Centre. The Thread Garden has a lot of irony and kitsch. The Thread Garden has 150 species of plants from around the world which are meticulously re-created using ‘hand-wound’ thread. The work took 50 craftspeople 12 years to complete it. The Flower Exhibition Centre is a greenhouse full of exotic plants.

                                                           Thread Garden outside

                                                          Thread Garden inside

The last things that we visited were the Gateway of India ( which is a monument) and Maharaja’s Palace. The Gateway of India faces out to Mumbai Harbour. The Gateway was built to commemorate the 1911 royal visit of King George V. Today the gateway is a gathering spot for locals. There are giant-balloon sellers, photographers, beggars and touts rub shoulders with Indian and foreign tourists. You can also ride in a Victoria one of the horse-drawn gilded carriages that ply their trade along Apollo Bunder.

                                                         Gateway of India

                                                        Victoria ride

Maharaja’s Palace is the official residence of the Wodevars, the erstwhile royal family of Mysore that ruled the princely state of Mysore for over seven centuries. It’s one of the most famous tourist attractions in India. Tourists are allowed to visit the palace but they aren’t allowed to take photographs inside the palace. Visitors must remove their footwear before entering the palace.

                                                                Maharaja's palace

                                                           Maharaja's palace by night

We visited the Shopping Centre China Town and this was of course my favorite sight of India. There are a lot of Chinese restaurants with the traditional Chinese and Indian Chinese food and there are a lot of markets and clothing shops with typical Chinese things.

So that was it for this week, I’ve really enjoyed my stay at India and I’m looking forward to visit Pakistan.

Talk to you soon!

Xoxo

Mieke

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/sights?sort_dir=desc&sort_order=popular