Connaught Place & Jantar Mantar

After a lazy Sunday, the kids and I hit the road running Monday morning. Our first stop was the huge American Embassy, where we submitted some paperwork.

From there we went to Connaught Place, New Delhi's famous colonial-era circular market. Formerly the commercial district of the British Raj, it is laid out like a wheel so is easy to wander. And it's chockful of upscale and low brow shops, the same realm of restaurants, hawkers, beggars and, per our driver, pickpockets.

We had no altercations w/ the latter, thankfully.

After a little sensory overload we sought out a snack and soda; Claire's preference was TGI Friday's. No doubt the ultimate irony after her enjoyment of chicken fingers was her later stomachache from American chain food...

From Connaught we went to the nearby Jantar Mantar, an astoronomical wonder dating from the 18th century.

It was masterminded by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur under orders from Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah.

Comprised of red brick and rubble (rubble?) the structures are inscribed with scale markings to take readings.

The Jantar Mantar features six instruments, including:

- a huge sundial known as "Samrat Yantra" or 'Prince of Dials', meant to measure accurate time of the day within half a second and the declination of the sun and other heavenly bodies dominates it.
- Other yantras meant for the study of heavenly bodies, plotting their course and predicting eclipses.
- Two pillars on the southwest of Mishra Yantra meant to determine the shortest and longest days of the year. (in December one pillar completely covers the other with its shadow; in June it does not cast a shadow)

After the completion of the first Jantar Mantar and with a view to verifying astronomical observations made at Delhi, Jai Singh built similar observatories in Jaipur, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Mathura.

After our science lesson for the day, Roop decided I needed to see handicrafts from Kashmir so we stopped at a very nice market. We got a firsthand look at how the rugs are made by tribal groups in Kashmir -- incredibly labor intensive and must require a wealth of patience. All the rugs he showed us were incredibly beautiful and of course it would have been delightful to furnish our hotel room with a variety of them. (Would also have been fascinating to watch Joe's face when he experienced that Visa moment.)

It took us a few minutes to extricate ourselves from the sales pitch, turning down offers of tea, more wares, etc.

As for tomorrow, we'll be tuned into election results (rest assured the event is getting plenty of attention here)!