Today is a holiday in India. Republic Day. There was a parade that I watched on TV, complete with a motorcade with the Prime Minister, saluting, awkward arm-swinging and face-to-the-side marching by various military branches, camels, and fun floats, even one dedicated to the differently-abled, complete with dancing wheelchairs. Because of all this, roads near the center of New Delhi as well as the metro (or at least the main stops) was closed all morning.
An excellent day, as it turns out, to go to Akshardham.
It was also my first foray outside my neighborhood!
So I walked out the gate of my apartment building, all getting ready to hail my first autorickshaw (I had double checked about the feasibility from my co-workers), when the friendly gate guard did it for me. Then, after three autorickshaws turned me down, I found out it was because they cannot cross state lines. (Akshardham is in Delhi, while I am technically not.) What to do now? That’s when an Indian family walking out of the same building complex I’m staying in also started looking for an autorickshaw to Akshardham. Very awesome coincidence! So the four of us piled into an autorickshaw that just took us up the street where we could share a taxi the rest of the way.
The autorickshaw was not as tight, uncomfortable, or scary as I thought it would be. And it was kind of fun!
Photo of a Photo: Akshardham
There were plenty of people, but not the crushing crowds I was led to believe there’d be on this sunny and cool peak-season day. The family I was with explained that they had actually turned back the previous day because of the crowds, but having a limited metro (Akshardham has its own metro stop) decreased the number of people drastically.
All electronic devices, like mobile phones and cameras, are prohibited at Akshardham. (As well as “smoking, alcohol, tobacco, and addictive substances” – guess it is a good thing they did not notice the chapstick in my pocket during my pat down.) If it were not for the camera restriction, then this page would have taken a LOT longer to load as I displayed the two hundred photos I would have taken. I paid 130 rupees (under $3) for an official one, then took a pic of that.
The complex, which has free admission, was amazingly detailed (the interior as well) and beautiful. You could pay 170 rupees to enter the exhibition area where you heard the story of Narayan, the Swami / Yogi / Guru / Spiritual Guide for which the temple is dedicated to. There is a series of mini-theatres with animatronics (the ‘English’ version was less crowded) that told his life story, then in the next building you can watch a quite well-done IMAX-sized movie about his same journey. After that, you can take a boat ride a-la It’s a Small World, and enjoy a snack in the food court. One of the workers there chatted with me for a bit (as he intermittently chased people off the fountain steps) and told me that SwamiNarayan had a center in Denver! I can’t find evidence of that (I might have misunderstood), but there is quite a large temple in Chicago that I saw a photo of.
Akshardham from the Metro
(took this on a later, rainy, day)
Although I tagged along with the nice family from Mumbai (their son is moving to Delhi to work, so they were doing some sightseeing before seeing him off) for quite some time, I was on my own by the end and had to figure out how to get home. I wandered out the exit, debating between a taxi and trying out the metro, when an autorickshaw guy waved me down. After I told him my neighborhood, he agreed that he couldn’t take me past state lines, but that I could switch to another auto there. Unsure of what this meant I decided, after a moment of thought, to try it out. Indeed, at the state line, there was a little pull off. Another autorickshaw pulled up right next to him (seemingly pre-arranged) and I paid the first, then stepped right into the second. And off we went!
After I made it back, I ran into the nice family again at the hotel and said hello (and thanked them again as they refused to let me pay for my portion of the taxi ride). I also ran into a coworker and her family who live in the area. Cool to have familiar faces to see. I managed to purchase something to hang wet laundry on from two very helpful employees at the uber-crowded supermarket/housewares/clothing store. And I managed, with two other helpful employees at a very crowded electronic store, to get a rice cooker. There are so many people in India (that will work cheap) it means that every building is overstaffed. I appreciated that tonight!