Delhi Darshan - 3

Continuing my outings in Delhi, yesterday I had made up my plans to visit ISKCON temple and Lotus temple on Sunday. Google maps has indeed become very handy in locating places. In the map, both the temples were close by, so I decided to cover both in the same day. There were no direct busses to both places, according to DTC bus route finder, and the closest place nearby to both was the Nehru Place terminal, according to Google map.

Today morning, I started at around 10:30 AM, and took a bus to IIT gate. From there, I changed bus and took another one to Nehru Place (bus No. 764). From Nehru Place, I took an auto to ISKCON. By the time I reached ISKCON, it was around 11:30.

3 big Gopuras of the temple stood before me. As I entered the temple's main gate, there was Govinda's restaurant on the left side and I noted down the timings of lunch, as I had already decided to have todays lunch here.

This temple is on Hare Krsna hills, so had to climb a few steps.

I proceeded towards the main temple and I saw Garuda idol directly opposite the main diety.

I proceeded furter towards the main temple. All thru the way, chanting of 'Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare', the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra was heard aloud in different tunes. I was surprised to know that people were allowed to take snaps inside the temple, unlike many other temples where photography was not allowed.

As I entered the temple, a few people were dancing in one side. There were the idols of Sri Gaura Nitai on the left, Sri Radha Parthasarathi in the centre and Sri Sita Ram Lakshmana Hanumana on the right. At the entrance was the idol of the founder of ISKCON, A.C. Swami Prabhupada.

All the 3 dieties were so beautifully decorated that I couldn't take my eyes off them. They were so colourful and blissful. I dont have many words to explain the feeling, but it was such a great experience!

In the centre of the roof was a huge beautiful chandelier. All thru the roof on all sides, paintings of Radha-Krsna and Chaitana Prabhu were done.

I was about to go round the sanctum sanctorum of all the 3 Gods, but it was 12 PM and they had to close the Garbh Gudi. They told that it would again open at 12:30 PM. So, I came out and checked out what else could be done. I saw a building on Vedic Expo and went there. There the Prabhu told that there is one Gita Saar show which would start in 5 mins, and had to purchase ticket of Rs. 50 for it. I bought the ticket and went in. There was a huge model of Godess Lakshmi worshipping Lord Vishnu.

Behind it was the pics of GOD (Generator - Brahma, Organizer - Vishnu, Destroyer - Maheshwara)

The show started and we were taken to a dark room. This show is unlike the one which is in Bangalore's ISKCON, here we were asked to move from one room to another. In all the rooms, splendid laser shows were there describing Mahabharata and the Gita Saar. They explained about the soul prelimenary and other aspects of life. It was such a superb show, which lasted for half an hour.

I came out of the show and over there was a photo of the 10 Avatars of Lord Vishnu.

I came back to the main temple where Maha Mangalarti was being done. A huge crowd had gathered and now many people were dancing to the tune of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. I took the Mangalarti and proceeded to go round the sanctum sanctorum, which was called the Krsna Art gallery. Over here, photos of all main dieties of ISKCON all over the world are put up. I was amazed to see the photo of Lord Krsna-Balarama, which is in Vrindavana, as this was the same pic in the calender which Vandana had given.

After seeing this, I began to feel hungry and thought of going to the Govinda's restaurant below. I went there, but was shocked to see that the Prasad was being served there at a rate of Rs. 270/-, which was a buffet meal with 56 dishes. I decided not to go there, and instead have a pizza or a burger. I went above again where there was some confectionaries sold and had a pizza. Over there I saw another board which said thali would be served in the new confectionary built, which was near the parking lot. I proceeded towards it and found it, and had the lunch over there at Rs. 75. I thought lunch would be served as Prasad on sundays, but my guessing went wrong. But the food was damn tasty - no onion, no garlic.

After having lunch, I asked for the route to Lotus temple, and the guard over there told me a short cut to reach the place. The Lotus temple was visible from the ISKCON temple campus only. It took around 20 mins to reach the place, and I had a very rare view of Lotus temple, from the backside, and it looked superb. I dont think this photo of Lotus temple is published anywhere, as many people take the snap from the front.

I reached the Lotus temple grounds, or the Bahai grounds at around 2:15 PM in the scrotching sun. From here, I could see the Gopura of ISKCON temple too.

The crowd was heavy in the Lotus temple and a huge garden was present over there. I proceeded towards the temple where they asked me to remove shoes. The ground was so hot that I had to hop around!

At the entrance to the temple on the side, there was a little queue. The temple's people came and gave a brief introduction of the temple and Bahai faith. The Bahai Houses of Worship is open to all regardless of religion or any other distinction. Here, people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions. This is a pure white marble and is also known as the Taj of modern India. We were asked to go inside the hall and pray, and no photos to be taken inside. Insite were a row of seats placed in a semicircular fashion and nothing else. I entered, and sat for a while and exited. From the top, the garden looked very splendid.

I came out of the temple campus and proceeded towards Nehru Place, when I remembered that someone had told me about Kalika temple nearby. I just checked it out and it was very close. I walked down to enter it, but on seeing the rush I decided not to go further. As I opened my camera for a group of small children surrounded me and asked me to take their photos and of their families. I had seen this kind in films and TVs, and for the first time I experienced it. I told them that I wasn't a journalist and took a few snaps of theirs and their beedi smoking granny.

They were so pleased with me that they offered me tea, and I must say, the chai was so good!

After this thrilling experience, I set out to return to my guest house, and walked down to Nehru Place. Immediately I got the same bus and got down at IIT Gate and took another bus to Hauz Khas. I finally reached the guest house at around 5:30 PM.

Today again, I had a wonderful time touring Delhi's landmarks. Finally, an eventful weekend ended with this.

Looking forward for plenty more..