delhi: jantar mantar

of all the places we visited in india, one of the most interesting and unexpected was jantar mantar. this group of large astronomical instruments was built in the 1720s, during the Mughal era. i don't really understand how they work, but at least one of them is essentially an elaborate sundial. you can read more about them here. in person, they seem like a cross between stonehenge and a skatepark.

jantar mantar is now a park in the heart of (new) delhi, not far from the parliment building, presidential palace, and india gate. we arrived there at dusk. the lighting was beautiful. the park was not crowded. and the structures themselves are fascinating to observe from different angles.

delhi: jama masjid

i am back in chittagong, after spending spring break in india. i was traveling with several other teachers from AUW. on the first day of our trip, we flew from chittagong to calcutta, and then to delhi. we spent several days in delhi, with a day trip to agra. we then took an overnight train to varanasi (also known as benaras) and stayed there a few days, before taking another overnight train to calcutta. after a few days in calcutta, we flew back to chittagong.

it was a full trip, but not overwhelming. my traveling companions were good natured and flexible. after traveling alone in nepal and thailand last fall, it was nice to have people to share experiences with, as well as sharing the logistical responsibilities of traveling.

below are photos in and around jama masjid in (old) delhi. built in the 1650s, jama masjid was commissioned by the same mughal emperor who commissioned the taj majal - shah jahan. it is the largest, and perhaps the best known, mosque in india. in addition to being an attraction for visitors, it is still very much in use by the faithful.

 

view from minaret, with the red fort in the distance

women at prayer

view of the old delhi neighborhoods from minaret

this too is chittagong

the peninsula hotel: popular with business travelers to chittagong, and, to my knowledge, home of the only bar in the city.

tea stall

there are countless tea stalls like this one along the streets of chittagong. i took this photo a few nights ago. the second set of eyes showed up entirely by chance in just the right place.

call to prayer

it is just after five am here, and still very dark outside. i spent the last few days traveling, so my internal clock is off. i fell went to bed very early, and have been up since three making notes on john stuart mill for my ethics class.

the calls to prayer have just begun from the mosques in my neighborhood. the islamic call to prayer, or adhan, is one of the lovely things about life in bangladesh, one of my favorite things about living here. the adhan is chanted in arabic over loudspeakers by men known as muezzins. the only words i can understand are the first two: Allahu Akbar - "God is Greatest."

i often find the call the prayer beautiful and haunting, especially in the stillness and darkness of the early morning. the city is quiet in the first morning hours. there is none of the honking traffic that crowds the street in daytime, none of the commerce or the strain of manual labor. and into that stillness and darkness comes the chant of the muezzins. an unaccompanied human voice calling people to remember their Creator.

to my ears, there is something mournful, even melancholic, about the sound of the adhan. it is filled with a profound longing: a finite, mortal creature, who has no certainty of where he has come from, is liable to pain and loneliness, and who is sure to die, singing out to others such as himself, and to what he hopes is greater than finitude, stronger than death. suffering and hope mixed together. the human kind of being.