Delhi Akshardham Temple

There are so many interesting things to see and do in India. Where to begin?

This was our first sightseeing trip of the day. The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in New Delhi is a relatively new Hindu temple that was opened in 2005. Photos of the interior are not permitted so this street view was taken outside the gates.

The streets of Delhi are extremely busy and we were thankful to have a skillful driver. It seemed that street lights were only a suggestion and the lines on the road were completely ignored so that six lanes of traffic could zig and zag their way through 4 painted lanes. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, tuk tuks, people, cows, dogs, horses, goats and anything else that moved or didn’t shared the road with little incident. Our driver said that three things were needed to drive - good brakes, a good horn, and good luck - all of which were in continuous use. The luck was provided by a little statue that adorned the dash.

In addition to the Hindu temple, we also visited India Gate and walked down the street between the parliament buildings of the world’s largest democracy. Canada donated one of the four Dominion Towers that stand in the great court of the North and South Block buildings.

The last stop of the day was at the Mahatma Gandhi National Museum, which is located in the house where Ghandi lived in the months just prior to his assasination. Displays in the museum chronical his life and his motivation for peaceful activism.