Shopping in Delhi, Dilli Haat and Sarojini Nagar Market

Dilli Haat:

After my recent post on Rann Utsav, the cultural extravaganza showcasing Kutch handicraft and culture, here is a post on Dilli Haat, a place in Delhi to experience the culture from across India. Though I visited Delhi quite before my visit to Kutch.

Dilli Haat is a permanent open air market set up in rural style offering craft, food and cultural activities from across India. Dilli Haat was our last stop in HOHO Bus and our HOHO bus ticket got free entry to Dilli Haat. The hot sunny day had tired all three of us and we headed straight to the food court. Had chilling lassi at Amul counter and dosa at the Tamil Nadu tourism food stall and then took the tour of the market. Dilli Haat, reminded me of Dubai Global Village, which has stalls from across the world.

Set up in March 1994, DC handicrafts allows craftsmen to have their stall in the market on rotational basis for maximum 15days at nominal price. The stalls include wooden work, pottery, leather footwear and home decors, pashmina shawls, fashion accessories and many more. There was also a stall by one of the ladies from Hyderabad, who sold handmade dolls mostly used during South Indian weddings. Looking at the dolls I could make out those dolls were from south India and spoke to the lady, only to be told she was from Hyderabad and was settled in Delhi from last few decades.

The market is a treat to the eyes, with lot of colourful stuff. Its a one stop place to experience the handicraft, food and culture from around the country.

 

 

Sarojini Nagar Market:

Very close to Dilli Haat is Sarojini Nagar market. SN market is similar to Fashion street and Linking road of Mumbai, a road side bargain market. We took an auto-rickshaw from Dilli Haat to SN market. This market is more into ladies fashion, you really find some quirky tops, footwear and fashion accessories here. Though the permanent shops have fixed prizes, you can bargain with the street vendors. Its said, its the export surplus and rejected export clothing which comes to this market, which makes even reputed branded clothings to be sold out at throwaway prices. Babu market is the lane in SN market, where you can find lined up sweet shops, and yes my eye always goes on the Agra Pethas.

After shopping here we headed back to INA to take our metro to Chandni Chowk. We stayed quite close to Chandni Chowk metro station and even kiddo had become familiar with the route. While returning back we had street food at Chandni Chowk, that was the only time we got to have food here, as the first day being holi, the market was closed and we had our brunch at McDonald's and then after either we were out for city tour or had to rush to McDonald's which was just next to the place we stayed.

Same night we left for Jaipur from Fatehpuri bus station in Chandni Chowk, which is the starting point of most of the buses playing between Delhi and Jaipur.

Travel Info:

Dilli Haat is at INA. Nearest metro station INA, which is just at the entrance of Dilli Haat.

Entry Fee: Rs. 20/- for Adult and Rs. 10 for children
Open all days

Timings: 11 AM to 9PM

Nearest metro station to Sarojini Market is INA.

SN market is an open market, closed on Mondays.

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Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Bhuj

Bhuj has many temples, every street and corner has a place of worship. I wondered, if the people had turned religious after the 2001 earthquake, but these temples are really old.

Swaminarayan temples are yet amongst those religious places in Bhuj, one of which was built by Shree Swaminarayan himself. Off their many temples, one which attracts most of the travellers is the new temple, which is off Hamirsar Lake. Just a few minutes walk from Kutch Museum reaches you to this Temple.

The original temple, was built in 1823, by Shree Swaminarayan, a spiritual leader. 2001 Gujarat earthquake destroyed the temple badly, which lead to the construction of the present temple.

The Pinnacle

Constructed using traditional Vedic architectural methods, the temple is built in  pure white marble from Makrana and Ambaji. The temple is east facing, with 7 pinnacles, one central dome, 25 minor domes and 258 pillars. There are many small shrines in the temple, off which the one in the middle, of Shree Nar-Narayan Dev is the main deity, which was relocated from the original temple. This main shrine was closed by the time we visited the temple.

Intricately carved white marble pillars

The pillars, the ceiling and the walls are filled with intricate carvings. On the outer walls, are the series of carvings depicting hindu mythological stories. Below is one from Ramayana, when Hanuman burns whole of Lanka by his burning tail.

Carving on outer wall of the temple with the scene from Ramayana

View of temple from Satsang hall

A red structure, runs around the temple from the main gate. The first floor of  this structure gives a beautiful view of the temple. There is a Satsang hall at that building, which is restricted only for men. Hubby visited the hall to click the temple, meanwhile one of the temple members eagerly shared with him the history of the temple and gave VIP passes for prasad (food).

The corridor, with the view of temple on left and Satsang hall to the right

There is a dinning hall in the ground floor, where you can have food and then donate at the donation box. You should definitely taste their prasad when you visit the temple, the simple yet so sumptuous Gujarati lunch. The temple complex also has accommodation facility. 

Main gate

Travel Info:
Shree Swaminarayan Temple is at the Swaminarayan temple road. You can visit their website here.
Timings: 7AM to 12noon, 4PM to 8PM
Entry free, open on all days

Vintage Car Drive at Fort, Mumbai

Its always fun to explore the Fort area of Mumbai during Sunday mornings, when the road is quite and all for yourself. As I had mentioned in my previous post, I attended one of the workshops last Sunday at Asiatic Society, as part of Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. We reached quite early and hubby's joy knew no bound when he found few vintage cars parked at the parking lot near Flora Fountain. Not sure if this was part of Kala Ghoda Fest, these cars then drove on the main streets of Fort area. Here are few of the pics we clicked,

A Alfa Romeo

Though most of them were Fiat cars,

 

 

Left hand drive Fiat 500L

Not sure if this was Behemoth or Impala, can somebody help me in identifying the model?

Thoroughly enjoyed watching and clicking these cars.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2015

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is the much awaited Arts festival of Mumbai. Scheduled for Jan/Feb every year, the festival is the platform for artists from different nooks to showcase their talent. 

This year the festival is scheduled for 7th of Feb to 15th of Feb. As part of the event, there is arena at the Fort area, with art installations and stores selling handicrafts from across the country. The festival also features dance, music, theater, cinema, literature, lecture, seminars and workshops, heritage walks, special events for kids. You can find the complete schedule of the event on their website here.

I had registered for the Travel writing workshop for 8th Feb morning for myself and Story telling session, recycling with Ecokids and Zumba dance workshop for kiddo. Though hubby had completely different plans of visiting the Mumbai International Motor Show, we somehow managed to convince him to reschedule his visit to expo for Saturday and accompany us for the workshops. 

We started off early, as the registration for my workshop was on first come basis, and reached Fort quite before schedule. Just when we reached Flora Fountain, we found few Vintage cars parked at the parking(separate post on the Vintage car drive). By the time the drive was over, I left for my workshop, and kiddo and hubby left for the arena followed by their workshop and here is what they contributed to my blog ;)

Window frames, from heritage windows to sliding panes, representing the constant evolution of Mumbai

Jalwa, Bollywood ka(Charisma of Bollywood)

Something for Cricket fans, the installation of Indian Cricket team shirt

OLX pe Kuch bhi bhiktha(anything can be sold on OLX), artistic Refrigerator and cupboard(then called Almirah)

Another installation by OLX, a bike out of scrape

The scarcity of water supply in Mumbai is represented by a Camel

A spider of clocks, I can recall from last to last year's display, when they had designed ants out of Petrol tank of Bikes

Book art, with the message "Save Tigers"

 

 

 

A visit to Kala Ghoda is best during week days or early hours on weekends. The event has gained so much popularity these days that, an evening visit will just end you up in crowd. The fest is till 15th Feb, do visit and share your thoughts.

The Qutub Complex - A Photo Essay

Qutub Minar is one such heritage site, which non of the travelers visiting Delhi give a miss. I still remember my grandma, narrating her tour to Qutub. More than the minar, the remains of Jain temples in the complex was what she used to remember from her tour. My grandparents had traveled most of central and western India(especially Jain Pilgrimages), and which is related to me starting this blog, yes that of course needs a separate blog post to narrate my grandparent's travel dairy. Meanwhile getting back to Qutub Minar, we reached here after the visit to Lotus Temple. We took our entry ticket in the HOHO Bus itself, thats one of the best things, if you opt to explore Delhi in HOHO Bus. Though the ticket counter was not that crowded, we were told there are very long queues during weekends. 

Though the tower is visible right from the entrance, you walk through other monuments in the complex to reach it. As you walk through the main gate, there is information center, where you get the audio guide. After a walk through the garden, you reach the Qutub Minar through the Alai Darwaza, the main gateway from southern side of Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque.

Decorated in redstone and white marble, with inscriptions, Alai Darwaza is said to be the first building in India with Islamic architecture in construction and ornamentation.

Of the remnants of seven capital cities of Delhi(check the seven capitals here), the construction of Qutub Minar was started during the second capital, Mehrauli. It is said to be started in 1192 by Qutab-ud-din Aibak to celebrate the victory of Mohammed Ghori over the last Hindu kingdom in Delhi, which was then added upon by Iltutmish and Firoz Shah Tughlaq(the last two storeys) to get its present structure by 1388.

This 73 m-high tower has five distinct storeys, each marked by a projecting balcony and tapers from a 15 m diameter at the base to just 2.5 m at the top. The first three storeys are made of red sandstone, the fourth and fifth storeys are of marble and sandstone, marking a variation in construction material and architectural style from Aibak to Tughlaq. The tower along with the other surrounding monuments are listed as UNESCO World Heritage site.

It is said that, the structure was constructed by demolishing many Hindu and Jain temples. Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in the complex still preserves many structures, which proves the same.

 

While there are many monuments in the complex, the iron pillar is one which gains significance just after the minar. The pillar is said to be originally erected by Chandragupta II in front of Vishnu Temple complex in Udayagiri around 402AD, which was later shifted here by Aangpal in 10th century. This 7.21 meters pillar weighing six tonnes, is said to be corrosion resistant which makes the pillar world's foremost metallurgical curiosities.

There is a belief that a person's wish comes true if he is able to join his hands around the pillar with his back to the pillar. The pillar is shot in many Bollywood movies, the one I remember is the movie Cheeni Kum, when Mr. Amitabh Bacchan is here to wish his loved one's well being.

 

There are many tombs and a Madarsa in the complex, including the tomb of Itutmish, who added to the construction of the minar and Alauddin Khilji, the second Sultan of Delhi.

Alai Minar is yet another structure you can't miss as you are on the way back from the complex. This is a abondoned minar, which was started by Alauddin Khilji and said to be started to be built double the height of Qutub Minar. Its construction was abondoned just after the completion of 24.5meter height. We can just image, how tall the structure would have stood, if it was completed, a minor double the height of present Qutub.

The complex is just not about Qutub Minar, but reflects a series of architectural flow from Jain temples to Islamic architecture, through the Aibak and Tughlaq rule, till the British era. The complex has lot to see and explore, which definitely needs half a day to explore in ease. 

Travel Info:

Qutub Complex is in Mehrauli, Delhi. Nearest metro station is Qutub Minar station.

Entry fee:

Indian visitors: Rs. 10/-

Foreign visitors: Rs. 250/-

Open all days, sunrise to sunset

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