Traffic in Old Delhi

A lot of the traffic in Old Delhi is manual labour... even old men have to drag around with heavy loads

Ox carts coming a long way from the country side have to be unloaded 

And if you don't own a vehicle, you earn your money by carrying the loads yourself and on your head.... look at the cushion platform for support

 

"Only action frees us from the machinery of action. These are the words of the "Gita": "let everybody do his duty" "(Gita Mehta) 

In the streets of old Delhi

Streets in old Delhi are choked with traffic. Rules do not seem to exist. The traffic on wheels is doomed to a permanent standstill. Walking is the best option

 The sidewalks are blocked with exhibits from the neighbouring stores, foodstalls or beggars sometimes asleep

Being an electrician must be one of the most challenging professions around here. Apparently in the time of monsoon a fireworks of electric shorts stops the power supply in the houses

Street kitchens offer all kinds of typical specialities with names like samosa, jalewi, hupra, nuwpkin, chok and dhonmanli

Nextdoor somebody has a fruit stall

 Nice to watch the whole hubhub from above...

 This girl watches and feeds a sheep tied to a fence next to Jama Mashid mosque

It eats quietly in all the chaos around

But despite all the chaos and the loads of people, it is a friendly and safe place and fun to walk around

Moghul Delhi

After the thirteen's century, subsequent waves of islamic invaders conquered northern India. They established the Moghul empire, which lasted until after the arrival of the British. Most of Delhi's monuments are from this time and therefore islamic origin.

 

In 1656, it took 5000 workers only half a year to built Jami Mashid Mosque in Old Delhi. It can accommodate 20.000 people and is India's biggest mosque

Delhi so far has had six reincarnations, even more if the parts of the city built by the British and in the time of the Indian Republic are considered. The area of Old Delhi, Jama Mashid and the Red Fort is regarded as the seventh city of Delhi, built after 1638.

 

Purana Quila is the citadel of Delhi's sixth city, built by Hamayun, the second Moghul emperor, around 1540. After his death in 1556, it was soon abandoned. 

 

Purana Quila houses a mosque, which was actually built by the Afghan ruler Sher Shah. He conquered Delhi, replaced Hamayun and ruled for a couple of years. After his death, Hamayum was able to recover his throne.

 In January 1556, the mosque saw Sher Shah's posthume revenge. Hamayum hurried down the steps to attend the prayer in the mosque, slipped and fell to death. 

Haji Begum, his senior wife, got him constructed a tomb, called Hamayun's tomb, which was one of the examples for the building of Taj Mahal in Agra. After it got the status of an UNESCO monument, it was renovated and its gardens rebuilt. Here some gardeners, who sweep together dead leaves with tiny kitchen brushes and shovels, take a rest from their work.

 

The vast complex of Hamayun's tomb not only houses his own tomb, but also this smaller one of Isa Khan, a 16th century nobleman, and, remarkably enough.... Hamayun's barber!

Maybe this was the gratitude that the barber did not cut Hamayun's throat during one of his services....

Construction site in Delhi

A new house is built. Watch out for the dwelling to the left, where a worker's family lives. The rest stays in the building itself. One of the women is loading bricks on her head to carry to the upper floors. A man is warming his hands at a little fire.

 

 The construction of this building around the corner has stopped. Squatters have taken over and dry their clothes on the decaying concrete steel enforcement.

The "service to enlightened pupils" appears to be a school for coaching children bad at school after hours to improve their knowledge in english and chemistry.

The Delhi Ridge Forest

Running south west to north east, Delhi has a little hilly ridge which is still covered in forest. It is home to pigs, monkeys and other animals, people sleep in it, but it is a wonder that it still exists in the middle of a third world city of 13 million.

 

Apparently the prosecution of violators is not handled very strictly. Look at the heaps of garbage behind the fence to prevent people from entering the ridge. The man on the next picture, a little down the road, has climbed a tree to cut and collect wood.

But the city of Delhi, with the upcoming commonwealth games, responds. In only 4 weeks a kilometer long wall was constructed along one street crossing the ridge to either prevent people from getting into the forest or foreigner from observing people living in the forest.