Unholy mess

Place: GARHMUKTESHWAR

Boatmen have meagre business during most of the year except for a few holy days on the Hindu calendar

As almost any Indian will know, if not admit, in India, religious and dirt are synonymous in the country. Whether it is that the major religious texts of the country do not stress on this aspect, or it is simply the people who do not want care, there is hardly any public place in India associated primarily with religion which is not simultaneously a garbage dump accompanied by a melee of poor.

Garhmukteshwar is no exception. The closest point on the Ganga to Delhi, where those following rituals go to fulfil those obligations, it has all the failings of a religious site in India. The ghats are a short distance away from the city centre. Now there is a huge bridge that goes very near the ghats and offers great views of the ghats.

Right from the time you approach ghats, and you will have either ways taken the NH 24 to reach here, the general look of apathy and decay start.

The way to the ghats is not paved, and you often have to wade through slush mixed with cow urine, manure, sometimes human excreta, decaying fruit and vegetable droppings, little tea shops with their garbage piled right next door, so that you can check whether they have by chance used anything that might benefit your health. Never an easy experience unless you are a rural child of unruly disposition.

Then there are the shops. You have navigate through a short walkway that goes past small shacks selling a mix of religious needs - brass utensils, prayer beads, flowers, incense sticks, plastic and glass bangles, plastic toys, cups etc and plastic toy shops that cater still to the rural hinterlands. You would have to strive hard to find anything that costs Rs 100 or more. And this is pushing sale, so you may touched and told, begged, cajoled, berated into buying stuff that you would not want to be seen dead with.

The ghats here have been concretised a few years ago, and theoretically are decent. But the The river here is broad and muddy. It has already lost most of its speed after reaching the plains, though here is it generally fairly fast, and quite in torrent during the monsoons.

Garhmukteshwar is also famous for its Ganga Fair, held in October - on the day of full moon in kartik, when it is estimated that about eight to ten lakh people take a dip in the river. This is regarded as auspicious, though exactly what good things have happened to people who have taken the dip in still unclear to me.

There is a fair amount of aquatic life, including the famous, and famously shy, river dolphins. You have to sit still in a boat in the middle of the river to catch a site of these beautiful creatures. There are a number of birds as well. The other bank of the river is largely fields, and in season ie late winter and autumn, they are lovely.

Just before the ghats are another unique offering, cane furniture. This is basic, and at prices that are a fraction of branded offerings, though more than in other unbranded places. Increasingly there are innovations happening, and this time I saw a shelf that was positively enticing. We did end up buying a few modas though for my cousins!

For me, what was most rewarding was the drive up to the place, through lush green fields and ripening crops. 

Beyond love

The Taj Mahal has visitors lining up from before
the monument opens at 6am! 

Place: AGRA

What is left to say about the Taj Mahal? As the pinnacle of Mughal architecture, its fame has ensured that people have seen it through a populist frame, where the excellence of design and aesthetics have got overshadowed by a 'love story'.

The love shared by Khurram and Arjamand Bano Begum, better known today as Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal, clearly involved a lot of intercourse, and Mumtaz died giving birth to their 14th child in Burhanpur. Grief stricken Shahjahan, newly Mughal emperor, pledged to build something the world would marvel at. Shahjahan commissioned the Rauza-i Munauwara or the tomb of his wife to be built across the bend in the river and visible from his then residence, Agra Fort.  In this of course he was absolutely successful, and to date the monument to love is something visitors from literally all corners of the world. 

For me, what has been remarkable is the extreme symmetry of design in the monument complex. The complex does follow the Timurid concept of charbagh, associated usually with Islamic paradisical imagery. The entire complex is 55.5 acres in a rectangular plot that stretches from the Yamuna southwards, acquired from Raja Jai Singh. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri was roped in as architect, though Shahjahan himself was very active in conceptualisation. 

The numbers are mind blowing. The project took 22 years (1631-53) to finish. Just the foundation, plinth and main structure took 15 years - can't even imagine planning and waiting for so long! Of course, the builders had no modern equipment at all - not even a plastic scale, of course no cranes or forklifts, or computers. 20,000 workers reportedly worked on the project over time. 28 varieties of semi-precious and precious stones were used to adorn the Taj with exquisite inlay work.

Heritage haveli

Place: UNCHAGAON

A leisure resort in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, Fort Unchagaon is a largish old haveli in the middle of nowhere. An early 20^th century haveli, it is now a hotel.

The imposing entrance to Fort Unchagaon

Reaching it will not be easy at all – we took a road trip till Garhmukteshwar, and then a boat ride down the Ganga. Now this may sound interesting, unfortunately the mighty river in this stage of her life is rather staid. On both banks all you can see are grey bluffs and some crops in the field if you have taken the right season, read winter. It is a really long journey by boat, and if you stop by the rather picturesque island along the way, the journey only becomes longer. But entire worth it as it is a relief from the grey waters and banks. If you are a couple on a romantic trip, better not have disagreements, for the two of you is all the company you shall get!

And be warned, despite the boatmen claiming there are river dolphins in this stretch, you will encounter them more in the way you meet tigers in a tiger reserve. “Pug marks are all I ever see, and on this journey at least, this is how I saw the dolphins. However, to be fair, I did see the dolphins on a later trip in this stretch!

Disembarking after what seemed endless hours on the boat, hungry and tired – the chips and other goodies had been on different boat, we made to the banks again, only to discover there was another road trip, and this time through almost non existent roads!

Anyhow, reaching this tiny hamlet dominated by this haveli was a bit of an anti climax – the interiors are all dominated by erstwhile semi rajahs whose only passion seems to have been to decimate fauna in the area. The walls are lined with tiger, deer and other animal heads, and that is definitely not my preferred interior decoration motif.

It turned out that the rooms are pretty large, and draughty, and if at the end of haveli, can be spooky as well. Given that it is an old palace, not all amenities are as updated as you would want them to be. And no, there is no TV in the rooms! Food is standard fare, ordinary north Indian. Alcohol is local or strong beer. Despite the increase in tourism in India, this little hole in the wall has not yet caught on, and people stare when you step out of the haveli.

The lawns are easily the best part of the haveli. As there is not much else to do, prepare to entertain yourself!