The NorthThe Gangetic Plain (mostly)
The images here are mostly from the complete circuit I made around India, as described in the travels in India section of this website. That is to say, they are mostly of the Gangetic plain, stretching from Delhi to Calcutta. There are also a few images from my 6 month 'winterless' journey across Asia (Istanbul to Rangoon) undertaken a few years later, which extended further west, to the border of Pakistan, and mopped up a few places in the north, such as Khajuraho, that I had missed off my first itinerary.
Harmandir Sahib
Also known as the Golden Temple, at Amritsar in the state of Punjab. Like Sikh Gurdwaras throughout the world, and quite unlike the holiest Hindu and Muslim sites, the Harmandir Sahib is open to everyone, regardless religion.
Harmandir Sahib
A closer view of the Golden Temple, reflected in the Amrit (holy water) of the temple tank.
Haridwar
The waterside at Haridwar. Haridwar is one of the Sapta Puri, the seven holy cities of Hinduism, and also one of the four sites (along with Ujjain, Nasik and Allahabad) where the Kumbh Mela is held, a festival which marks the sites where the Amrit (immortal nectar) fell to earth.
Bathers
The Hindu faithful bathing at the ghats of the Ganges at Haridwar.
Haridwar
A busy street and colour signs in the centre of Haridwar.
Old Delhi
Traffic, shops, homes, and temples all crowd together and add to the claustrophobia of Old Delhi's streets.
Jama Masjid
The Friday Mosque in Old Delhi. Commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, builder of the majestic Taj Mahal, the mosque dates from 1656. It is the largest mosque in India.
Taj Mahal
The sine quo non of a visit to northern india. For a description of the Taj, and an insight into its origin, see the article on Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the history section of Travels in India.
Buland Darwaza
The 54 m. high entrance to the Fatehpur Sikri complex, given additional height by the sweep of the steps leading up to it. Its name means 'great gate' in Persian.
Buland Darwaza
Arabic enscriptions on the entryway to Fatehpur Sikri.
Khajuraho
Examples of erotic sculpture at Khajuraho.
Khajuraho
The elephant-headed god Ganesh.
Bharatpur
A roadside stall during a quiet moment of the day.
Lucknow
Examples of what Kipling called the 'garish style' of Lucknow.
Varanasi
The holiest of the Sapta Puri (seven holy cities of India), Varanasi is dominated by its waterfront. This is Prayag Ghat, one of the many ghats at Varanasi.
Varanasi
The statue of a nandi bull at the ghats at Varanasi. I particularly like the washerwomen, gossiping down by the water's edge.
Calcutta
A typical road in the Sudder Street area of Calcutta.
Calcutta
A beat-up Hindustan Ambassador Classic taxi belching its way past the Victoria Memorial.
Move on...
Go to the next Gallery section: India » The South.
Go back...
Go back to the previous Gallery section: Pakistan.
Delhi Deadlines by Sheldon Smith
A washed out journalist, posted to India to cover a bloody election campaign, uncovers truths about his son's life - and death - in the country, truths that test loyalties forged in the war zones of Bosnia and Rwanda. A fiercely evocative narrative of modern-day India, filled with the clamour and hot stinks of its capital, this is a novel of death woven through with life.
"The writing is very very good... the mysteriousness of Wyndham's death and the narrator's involvement will entice the reader to keep reading." - 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Expert Reviewer
