Raj Ghat, Red Fort and Chor Bazaar!

Raj Ghat : Back from Akshardham temple, we headed to memorial to father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi - Raj Ghat. As it was a government holiday that day, we could not enter the memorial. So, we had to be content viewing it from outside. Following are the photos of the memorial.

Raj Ghat, Delhi

U-Turn - Simple and Thrilling!

Prologue : I remember, Pawan Kumar, in his short film making workshops, emphasizes on how a creative person develops a personal disturbance into a story. Sometime back, Pawan had witnessed a giant fuel tanker falling off a flyover near Nagarabhavi, Bengaluru. Quite disturbed, he had shared the incident in his Facebook status. Now, if you see U-Turn, you can readily make the connection. 

What is U-Turn about? U-Turn is a simple story revolving around a traffic violation, so commonly seen in Bengaluru. But you can change the setting to any metro in India and you will find the same story shaping pretty well, there too.

India Gate, Humayun's Tomb and Akshardham Temple, Delhi

India Gate : After Jantar Mantar, we headed to India Gate located near Rajpath. The 42-meter high arch is built in memory of 70,000 Indian soldiers who died fighting for the British army in first world war. You can also see the names of the soldiers who lost their lives on the walls of India Gate. Amar Jawan Jyoti, located below the India Gate reminds us the spirit of Indian soldier. This was added after the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 with Pakistan. Visiting this war memorial is a proud moment of any patriotic Indian. This memorial is guarded by men from Indian Army 24 x 7. 

India Gate, Delhi

Beating the summer heat, the North-East way!

Planning : The mystic Himalayas have always intrigued me. Finally in the month of March 2016, I started planning for the coveted trip. I had tough time finalizing the itinerary. Northern Sikkim is a must visit, said my friend Sandeep. But I could find only few trip packages, which included it. After some deliberation, I finalized the package, exactly a month before the tour!

Escaping the heat:  Bengaluru had already crossed 37 degree Celsius in the mid of April. I was going to beat that heat by going to one of the coldest places in India! But during the packing of warm clothes for the trip, I ensured that they were minimal, so that luggage stays light. Visiting various places within a week, carrying lighter baggage is always better. Following was my itinerary visiting Sikkim and Darjeeling

Jantar Mantar, Delhi

Next day, our first stop was at Jantar Mantar. Good thing about ASI monuments is that their entry is open from sunrise to sunset. So, one need not wait for some precise time for the monument to be open and make the trip plans accordingly!

Construction : The observatory was constructed by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur following the order of Delhi's Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah in 1724. It was early in the morning when we entered the place and nobody else was there. So, we could stroll around the green lawns of Jantar Mantar and take photos at will! Built primarily to estimate the times and movements of sun, moon and other planets, Jantar Mantar at Delhi is not the only such observatory in India! But it was the first one to be built. You can also find the observatories in Jaipur, Varanasi and Ujjain built by Jai Singh himself! Interestingly, there is no telescope in these observatories built by the Maharaja!

Misra Yantra, Jantar Mantar, Delhi

Yantra's : There are 13 different yantras inside the Jantar Mantar complex. To elaborate on few, Misra Yantra  was designed to determine shortest and longest days of the year. It was the only instrument not invented by the Maharaja Jai Singh.

Delhi Metro, Chandni Chowk and Birla Temple

We wanted to experience the Delhi Metro while exploring the city. So, boarded the metro train from Kalkaji to Chandi Chowk, one of the busiest business places in the national capital. We strolled down the road to spot Gowri Shankar Temple. At the end of the road, we could see the Red Fort, for which the entry was closed for the day. It was already late in the evening and we had to jot down the plan to visit other tourist attraction before our flight to Bengaluru in the afternoon.

Kalkaji Metro Station. Delhi

We hired a taxi from there, who would drop us to the hotel and would drive us through Sri Lakshmi Narayan Temple(Birla Mandir) and India Gate.