In Indore, Jay’s parents and extended family were there to greet us and drive us to the Essentia Luxury Hotel, arriving many hours before the 2:00 PM check-in time. We killed some time eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant, then the front desk staff got our rooms sorted and us upstairs, possibly out of pity based on our travel-weary appearance, but more likely to get our group of ten people plus luggage out of the lobby, as they were preparing for a wedding and reception that evening. We spent the afternoon napping, the wedding party did some planning, we all had dinner at the hotel restaurant and went back to bed to try and reset our body clocks.
On Tuesday the 24th, we ate breakfast in the hotel, learning about new Indian dishes at every meal, then took a walk around the neighborhood. Indore, population 2.2 million, is the largest city in the state of Madhya Pradesh and the largest metropolitan area in Central India. It is mainly a commercial center, with little tourism, and the residents are proud of their community being repeatedly selected as “India’s Cleanest City” Map link: Indore, Madyha Pradesh. The afternoon was spent at the upscale Phoenix Citadel Mall shopping for wedding clothes, followed by a late lunch at the mall’s food court, then back to the hotel.
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| Indore, near the hotel |
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| Essentia Hotel on the right |
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The view from our hotel room. Nice pool and outdoor bar, with
an outdoor wedding on the lawn. Smog in the air was common. |
On Christmas morning we had an early breakfast at the hotel, then Ubered to the Saint Francis of Assisi Cathedral for their Catholic mass in English. In Indore, the cathedral is known as the “Red Church,” distinguishing it from the Protestant “White Church’ across the street. Christianity is India’s third-largest religion, after Hinduism and Islam, but Christians comprise only about 2% of the country’s population. The cathedral was beautiful and the service was well attended by more than 200 people. During our three days in Indore, we rarely saw other Caucasians, and the journalists and photographers covering the Christmas festivities were very interested in our presence, especially when we interacted with locals.
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| Merry Christmas from Indore! |
After church, we drove to Jay’s parents for a visit, then hired three Uber cars by the hour for some sightseeing in Indore. We were so glad to leave the driving to someone else, since the traffic in the middle of the city was completely insane, with cars, buses, auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuks), bicycles and pedestrians all jockeying for the very limited space on the narrow streets and lanes, with little regard for traffic laws and etiquette. But it all seemed to work—we traveled in safety and saw no mishaps. We visited Rajwada Palace, which was mostly closed for renovations, but were able to enter part of the temple and gallery dedicated to the Holkar Dynasty that ruled here in the 18th century. The main building of the palace suffered extensive damage during the 1984 riots following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. We also visited Kanch Mandir, a Jain temple that is lavishly decorated with glass mosaics, then returned to our hotel.
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| Rajwada Palace gallery courtyard |
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| Kanch Mandir temple |
On Boxing Day, December 26, we had a planned rest day with no family activities planned, which turned out to be fortuitous. We had some ideas about more sightseeing, but beginning with breakfast the older folks in the group started to drop out one by one with traveler’s dysentery (aka Delhi Belly) and by midday both Kathleen and I were flat on our backs and sick in bed. On the 27th we were still recovering, but Kathleen found the energy to attend Mehendi; Day 1 of the wedding activities, where women are decorated with elaborate and beautiful henna designs on their hands, arms and feet.
The main wedding ceremony was on December 28 at our hotel. The bride and groom were on a small stage, sometimes joined by family members, and directed in a series of rituals by two Hindu priests chanting in Sanskrit. Amy, Kathleen and I all had a part to play, although there was no rehearsal and I’m still not exactly sure what was said and what we did. During the ceremony, guests moved freely between watching, visiting with each other and eating—a notably different format than a Western church wedding. The reception was also free-flowing, with guests mingling, taking and posing for photographs and enjoying the two buffet lines. The food and service were excellent and it was fun to meet so many of the Parchure’s family and friends, most who spoke enough English to communicate. Many of the locals expressed surprise and appreciation that we chose to wear Indian outfits. We found our new clothes to be beautiful and comfortable and were delighted to have had this experience.
On the 29th there was a family-only ceremony at the Parchure’s house, the main purpose being to welcome Danielle into the household. Traditionally, an Indian bride moves in with her husband’s family, and even though Danielle and Jay planned to return to the U.S. after their honeymoon, the ritual was observed. At the end, Jay’s mother, Sarita, sidled up to us, winked and slyly stated “she’s ours now,” confirming that Kathleen and I had given our daughter to their family. They seemed like nice people.
After three days of wedding events, we left Indore on the 30th for some sightseeing in Northern India’s Golden Triangle, consisting of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. We first flew to Delhi, and were met by our van and driver who we’d booked in advance through Amin Tours, then drove five hours to Agra to meet Sadiq, our tour guide. Our only stop that day was at the enormous and magnificent Agra Fort, home of the Mughal Emperors during the 16th and 17th centuries. Map link: Agra, Uttar Pradesh
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| Agra Fort |
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The sloping entrance ramp was defended by rolling boulders
down it and pouring boiling oil over the walls onto invaders |
On December 31, we awoke early to arrive at the Taj Mahal by sunrise, mainly to avoid the crowds—the hazy smog prevented much of a sunrise spectacle. Completed in 1653 on the banks of the Yamuna River, construction of the Taj Mahal was begun by Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emporer, as a mausoleum to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. Made of white marble inlaid with semi-precious gemstones, it took more than 20,000 workers 22 years to build, is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, receives more than five million visitors annually, and is considered to be one of the most attractive buildings on Earth. We would agree—it is a stunning structure that gets lovelier the closer you get, and its beauty, presence and story of love and grief brought more than one member of our party to tears.
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L to R: Kathleen, Tony, Melissa, Owen,
Lars, Rachel, Caroline & Amy |
After the Taj, we had breakfast at our hotel, then made another long drive to Jaipur, stopping at Fatehpur Sikri citadel, another Mughal palace and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then it was on to the Chand Baori stepwell in the state of Rajasthan. This magnificent, 13-story structure was built in the 8th-9th century to store rainwater that was plentiful during the summer monsoons and scare during the winter months. The ingenious, inverted pyramid and 3,500 steps allowed access to water regardless of the water level. Movie buffs may recognize it as the prison pit Batman escapes from in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. A group of peafowl appeared to be living there, and we took just as many pictures of them as we did of the stepwell. They are the national bird of India, protected by law and an important Hindu symbol, associated with Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Peafowl feathers are believed to bring good luck and good fortune. Fun fact: Only males are called “peacocks;” females are “peahens,” and together they are “peafowl.”
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| Human Parcheesi board, Fatehpur Sikri citadel |
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| Chand Baori stepwell |
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| Peafowl |
We arrived at our hotel in Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital, and were treated to a complimentary New Year’s Eve buffet and dance party. The food was terrific, but the noise level was painfully loud, and even the youngsters in our group opted out. Map link: Jaipur, Rajasthan
On New Year’s Day, we visited the massive, hillside Amer Fort, with its myriad of gates, palaces, pavilions, ramparts, temples, gardens and courtyards, all overlooking Lake Maota. Begun in 1592 and taking 150 years to complete, this popular attraction averages 5,000 visitors per day, and was probably higher on the day we went due to the holiday. Many tourists take an elephant ride to the top, but we walked, led by Kishor, our guide in Jaipur. The Amer Fort, also called the Amber Palace, was home to the Rajput Maharajas and their families. Its first occupant, Raja Man Singh, had 12 wives and built a residence inside the fort for each queen.
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| Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) |
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| Jaigarh Fort, connected to Amer Fort by a tunnel |
We spent that afternoon in Jaipur at the City Palace and Jantar Mantar observatory, then closed out the day at Galta Ji, known as the Monkey Temple, where rhesus macaque monkeys from the surrounding hills are as regular as the tourists and pilgrims. Jaipur is sometimes called the Pink City—in 1876 Maharaja Ram Singh ordered that the city be painted pink (the traditional color of hospitality) to welcome the Prince of Wales (who became King Edward VII). Today, residents of the Old City are required by law to maintain the pink facades.
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| Hawa Mahal in the Pink City |
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| City Palace |
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| Jantar Mantar observatory |
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| The Scorpio Twins |
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Galta Ji (Monkey Temple) |
On January 2 we had an early start and drove to Delhi to meet Raghuveer, the assigned guide for our last day of sightseeing. One of the world’s oldest settlements and India’s capital, Delhi is officially called the National Capital Territory (NCT) and was led by various Hindu and Muslim sultanates until Babur, the first Mughal emperor, seized power in 1526. The Mughals ruled for some 300 years until the British colonized the sub-continent in the mid 1800s. The original capital of British India was Calcutta, but it was moved to Delhi in 1911. King George V ordered that a new city be built as the seat of government, and New Delhi was created, south of the original settlement. India gained independence in 1947, when the British Crown ended its rule, or Raj, and split the region into India and Pakistan, based on Hindu and Muslim majorities. In 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Map link: Delhi, India
The NCT’s population was an astounding 16.8 million in 2011. The 2021 census was postponed due to COVID and the 2025 population is estimated to be well above 20 million. To say that Delhi is crowded is an understatement—we got a small taste of it as our driver struggled to get through gridlocked traffic, and Raghuveer eventually put us in tuk-tuks or on foot to navigate the throngs of people and vehicles. Delhi also has some of the worst air quality in the world, and it’s especially bad in winter, when high pressure air masses trap the smog. We’re glad to have seen India’s capital, but the overcrowding and pollution makes it unlikely that we’d return. We visited Jama Masjid mosque, the Chandni Chowk spice market, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh temple, Humayun’s Tomb, then capped off our final evening in India with an amazing dinner at Chido, before being dropped off at the airport for early morning flights home.
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| Jama Masjid mosque |
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| Chandni Chowk spice market |
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| Delhi crowds |
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Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh temple. Besides being a
place of worship, its enormous kitchen staffed by
volunteers provides free meals to thousands daily,
365 days a year, to anyone who wants one. |
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| Humayun’s Tomb: 2nd Mughal emperor, buried here in 1556 |
After again connecting through Amsterdam, we arrived home on the afternoon of January 3. We were exhausted and exhilarated—visiting India was a memorable and incredible experience, made very special by the strengthened connections with Jay’s family.
Photo Journal:
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| Camel in the passing lane |
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| Bracelet maker at the market |
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| Happy travelers, riding in comfort |
Cows are sacred in India; they are tame and roam freely
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| Cow dung is used for fuel and people dry it wherever they can |
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| Rose-ringed parakeets |
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| White marble inlaid with semi-precious stones |
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| Lunch in Indore |
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| Monkeying around |
