Lodhi Gardens, Lotus Temple

This is Part 2 of a 2-part post that starts with Lost, or Just Wandering?



The rickshaw driver dropped us off on the side of the block that was nowhere near Nienke. Which by this point is basically same old, same old. We took a hike, and met her about five minutes later.

As we were talking, I noticed a Western Union. Now, I had no money with me at all, and so I figured I’d be best off running over there for a minute. So I did, and cashed out. When I came back, Megan and Nienke were…



wait for it, wait for it…



looking at shoes.



Go figure.

I got back and we talked for another couple minutes while the girls selected what shoes Nienke should buy. We were just about to leave when I realized that I had forgotten my passport in the Western Union (yes, I know, I know…I’d forget my own feet if I could go anywhere without them). I went back, grabbed my passport, and we went to the Baha’i Lotus Temple.

The Lotus Temple is absolutely gorgeous. It’s like a cross between a lotus flower and the Sydney Opera house. Pictures are on Photobucket. We walked onto the grounds, and, after shrewdly stashing our shoes in my backpack so we didn’t have to check them, we made our way up the steps to the temple in our bare feet.

We filtered up and joined a line right next to the door. The doors were shut, so I figured the line was just meant to be for getting into the temple once the doors were opened. So imagine my surprise when just a minute later a cute Indian woman is next to the line yelling out instructions in Hindi. My first thought was that we had accidentally joined a tour group…as it turns out, she was just giving instructions for entering the building. I understand maybe 3 words, but enough to recognize that one of the commands was to turn off our cell phones. Unfortunately for me, though, after my cell phone is off, she repeats the instructions in English, so I don’t get that rewarding feeling of having a heads up because I can understand enough Hindi to know what she’s talking about.

We walk in, and it’s more beautiful on the inside than on the out. Far from the extravagance that marks Hindu temples, the Baha’i temple was as plain as could be. Other than a small, clear podium and a rug at the end of the pews, the only other decoration was a golden symbol at the highest point on the ceiling (which looked to be over a hundred feet above me).

The beauty, though, was in the simplicity and harmony. The place was silent, and yet simultaneously the light from the windows made it bright and welcoming. A bird flapped its wings as it flew from side to side. All in all, the image was nothing short of serene.

Megan, Nienke, and I sat at a pew for a few minutes and took it all in, then walked outside. We headed down to a poster presentation that was spread out below the temple, under a walkway and out of the sun, which talked about the Baha’i faith.

Baha’i is one of the most forward thinking meta-faiths that I have ever seen. Its basic premise is that there is a god or gods who changes his appearance to suit the needs of the era, and that notes that each incarnation suggests that another will come after him. According to the Baha’i, that final god is the Baha’u’llah, who lived in nineteenth-century Persia.

While the religion is based in the 1800s in a land that is still a ways away from racial, religious, and gender equality, the Baha’i faith is almost as modern as the western world. It recognizes and practices gender equality, and treats itself more as a belief system than as a faith – there is no church hierarchy or services, per se, although there are occasionally speeches made by members of the community. Its belief system is very loose, and the affairs of the church are managed through a republican form of governance.

In other words, this was one of the most interesting things I’ve ever stumbled across by accident. When I was done looking at the posters, though, and joined back up with Megan and Nienke, it began to rain. We had two choices – pack out all our garb, in our bare feet, in the rain, or wait it out. And so we sat down.

A few minutes later we were joined by a random Indian woman in a saree with a young child. I have no earthly idea why – maybe they just wanted to hang out with the white people. Either way, I made faces at the infant for a couple minutes and we tried to carry on a conversation with the woman, who didn’t speak a word of English. Most of the 15 minutes that we sat there together were spent in awkward silence. Meanwhile, a second parent was trying to attract my attention so I could make faces at her baby as well. Go figure.

Finally, a guard came to stop people from loitering. We pretended we didn’t understand him because he wasn’t speaking English, and did nothing. However, about 5 minutes later the rain stopped, and so we got up and left.

When we exited the grounds, we were set upon by the auto drivers who wanted to either charge us 200 rupees (an exorbitant amount) to get to the Lodhi Gardens, or 20 rupees (an exorbitantly small amount) if we agreed to visit a shop they new first. If it was a con (and I expect it was) it was a pretty horrible one, and I can only hope they didn’t get any takers. We walked down to a major highway and hailed a rickshaw to get us there for a reasonable price.

Before we entered the Lodhi Gardens, we ate at the Habitat Center, which is where I tried my first Raj Kachori. I can’t really describe it, but here’s an attempt. It is a big hollow ball of fried dough with lots of good stuff inside. It tastes sweet and spicy at the same time and is nothing short of beautiful. If you’re ever in India, I highly recommend trying one (and yes, they are vegetarian). And that’s as close as I can get.

The Lodhi Gardens include a collection of structures built in the 16th to 18th centuries. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know what they actually were, other than that they were built as early as 1517 and thus are OLD. We saw two tombs and a mosque. In the mosque, I was standing around when a bunch of Indian men came up and wanted a picture with me. Again, there are enough white people around here to see one or two on occasion, so I don’t know what the big deal is…but I took 3 pictures with these guys before they left.

After the Gardens we went back to Dillihaat, the sight of the Indian Food Tour from the weekend we went to Old Delhi. There we ate and the girls shopped a little. Finally, we went back to Nienke’s flat. I should note that the rickshaw driver dropped us off at the SAME PLACE as before. Luckily this time we knew which way to go (Nienke hadn’t been to that side of the market before). Did I mention I’m getting used to things just not working the way they should?

We went back to Nienke’s and hung out until about 9, then caught a rickshaw back to the guest house. All in all a good day.