Old Delhi in Northern India

I told myself that if I go back to India this year then I would journey to the north since I've only visited south India the previous 4-5 trips. I'm glad to say that I am now familiar with the capital city of India and was particularly surprised by the change in temperatures!

Temperatures in Bangalore were generally warm while I was there but, WOW, when I got to New Dehli I was surprised that temps actually dropped to 4C overnight! I certainly was glad to have brought my jacket as suggested by Yongmeth when he emailed me before coming to India. Walking out the front doors of the hotel each morning and on the various prearranged tours would have been a chilly experience otherwise.

Speaking of tours, there were a few things I wanted to see while in northern India: to understand differences between the old and new parts of Delhi and to, of course, visit the Taj Mahal. This post focuses on the old part Delhi that was, in its day, a walled city. As defined by Wikipedia, "Old Delhi or Purani Dilli was founded as a walled city of Delhi, India. It was founded as Shahjahanabad in 1639 when Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor at the time, decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra."

The Red Fort was the residence of the first emperor and is a great example of how walls in those early days protected inhabitants. As I was told by my tour guide, "war" back then was all about "getting the king". Much like chess, once the king was discovered and killed then the war was over. So it was no surprise that much effort was taken to protect the king, including walled residences where his protectors could pour boiling water (1st tier), hot oil (2nd tier) and shoot arrows (3rd tier) at oncoming attackers.

Visitors need to walk over a mote and through a gate opening when wanting to enter the walled interior. Typical of structures in the medieval ages, these gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access of people, vehicles, goods and animals.

Once behind the wall, we walked through the market area where locals sold goods and then through gardens toward the emperor's residential buildings. The royal residence consisted of separate buildings, such as one for events, bedroom, private mosque, and a legal court. While this fort was the residence of the first emperor in 1639, it was also used as a garrison and location from which the British exiled the last emperor to Burma in 1858.

The area that intrigued me perhaps the most was the Court area where residents would approach the Prime Minister and the King on his throne so they could settle disputes. My guide informed me that those found guilty would suffer horrific deaths including that of being trampled by elephants, locked in a tiger cage, and poisoned by snakes. Architecturally, the rings along the top of the structure existed to hang carpets for protection from wind while the throne itself was constructed with 28 different gemstones.

I was also enamored by the Event Hall. Even though it has not been maintained with original cladding, visitors can easily imagine the marble walls clad with gems and gold. It was evident the gems and gold were not just surface decoration but rather deeply embedded, as deduced after seeing a gem missing from the wall!

It was time to venture across town to see some monuments and points of interest in New Delhi. First on the list was having an amazing lunch of Tikka Fish and Garlic Nan which was, admittedly, a nice segue between the old and new areas of town that happened to occur around lunchtime. If you've never tried Indian cuisine, I highly recommend any of the Tikka Masala dishes with rice or Nan =)