At the beginning of August, I took a whirlwind tour of southern India, spending a few days each in Hyderabad, Chennai (Madras), and Kerala. I will cover each of them separately, so we'll start off where I did: Hyderabad!
Hyderabad proved a special treat, because I got to reconnect with Neha, a friend whom I first met nearly ten years ago, at the Baptist Campus Ministry of my undergraduate alma mater, Western Kentucky University. Neha was one of the first international students I met through BCM, and I went on to serve in the BCM's international student ministry for the next six years as I completed my undergraduate and master's degrees. Neha had graduated from WKU after my freshman year, so it was a delight to reconnect after a long time.
Neha works in the tech industry, which is the bedrock of Hyderabad's economy (along with filmmaking; Hyderabad is the center of Telugu-language films, making it Tollywood to Mumbai's Bollywood). Along with Bangalore, Hyderabad serves as one of the chief tech centers in India, earning it the reputation of India's Silicon Valley. Driving around Hyderabad, you find every major multinational represented with a high-rise office building, from Google to pharmaceuticals.
The Buddha Statue from a distance
Another claim to fame for Hyderabad is hosting the world's largest monolith statue (that is, from a single stone) of the Buddha! For some reason, in the 1980s the region's Chief Minister wanted to have a big statue of Buddha, and by golly he got it. In place since 1992, the statue stands 58 feet tall in the middle of Hussain Sagar, a man-made lake built in 1563, which separates Hyderabad from its sister city, Secunderabad. Neha and I visited the lake and the statue on Saturday evening after my arrival.
Neha and I with the giant Buddha.
From inside Golkanda Fort
On Sunday, Neha took me to Golkonda Fortress, a sprawling complex of palaces and fortifications dating from the 1500s, when Hyderabad and its environs were ruled by the Qutb Shahi dynasty, before the Mughal Empire conquered the territory in 1687. The complex is truly beautiful, and it offers a wonderful view of Hyderabad.
Looking down from the fort.
And looking up at the fort.
On Monday, we had a full day of further treasures in Hyderabad. First up was the Salar Jung
Mark in the Salar Jung pose.
Museum, one of India's great museums. It houses an immense collection of Indian artifacts, artwork, and handicrafts, bought by the eponymous Salar Jung, who was one of the ruler of Hyderabad's prime ministers (more on the ruler of Hyderabad a bit later). The museum became a national museum in 1951.
The collection is incredibly large, so I will just highlight a few of the things which caught my eye there.
These carvings, each from a single elephant tusk.
My favorite of the ivory tusk carvings.
A vast menagerie of canes, with colorful handles.
As well as some weapon canes: several of these handles pull out as blades, or tiny pistols.
A truly innumerable collection of Indian blades, just some of which are shown here.
This was in a whole room devoted to wooden toys, but I like the arrangement of all the elephants.
Chowmahalla Palace, seat of the Nizams of Hyderabad
Now speaking of the ruler of Hyderabad...Hyderabad was one of the largest, and richest, of what were called the "princely states" under Britain. That is, rather than being directly ruled by the British, Hyderabad retained its "native ruler": Hyderabad had declared its independence from the Mughal Empire, which ruled most of current-day India before the British, in 1764, but came under British "protection" in 1805. This meant that the Nizam retained nominal independence, but with a Britsih resident supervising control of the realm. That nominal independence did, however, allow the Nizams to become some of the wealthiest people in the world. Also, when British India became independent in 1947, Hyderabad along with the other "princely states" didn't necessarily join, or at least not at first. Most of the princely states negotiated a transfer into India by 1948, but two had a rougher time: Hyderabad, which Indian soldiers invaded in September 1948; the other, Jammu and Kashmir, has remained a source of tension between India and Pakistan ever since its Hindu ruler opted to join India, against the wishes of its majority Muslim population.
All that to say, Neha took me to the Nizam's palace in Hyderabad, called Chowmahalla Palace, which is now a museum. (The Nizam's descendants now mostly live in France; Indira Gandhi stripped the former princes and royal families of their stipends and titles in 1972.) It is a truly beautiful place, with lovely gardens, and like Salar Jung Museum, lots of collections.
Arms in the collection at Chowmahalla
So many swords
View of the Palace from a courtyard.
The extensive collections speak to the Nizam's great wealth, as does the collection of vintage automobiles, one of the Nizam's prized possessions. The last car in the collection was a Buick from 1947.
View of the pool and gardens at Chowmahalla
A sitting room. Tea, anyone?
Neha even got a photo of me in the royal surroundings:
As this is coming out on Thanksgiving back in the States, I really can't say enough how thankful I am to Neha, who was a perfect host in Hyderabad. I'm also thankful to the faithfulness of Kentucky Baptists, whose gifts and hard work made (and make) the Baptist Campus Ministry a great place to meet people from all over the world. I honestly believe my interest in world affairs would not have grown to the degree it has without the influence of BCM, and especially of the many friends which BCM allowed me to make.
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Two videos today: one serious, one amusing. (Or maybe both amusing, if you like old-timey news announcers.)
The first is a video recording the Indian invasion and occupation of Hyderabad in 1948, an often forgotten episode in the creation of the modern Republic of India:
The second was brought to mind by the parrot-topped cane in the museum, which immediately made me think of Mary Poppins' umbrella in the film. (Apparently one can't embed such a video, so you'll have to follow the link.) And it's always a good time to go fly a kite: https://youtu.be/g89NxTTycxc?t=2m53s
In mid-July, I went to Kolkata (Calcutta) in West Bengal along with my friends from the Agra trip, and some other new friends. My friends had invited me to come along to join them in putting on a workshop at the Baptist Mission in Kolkata, where they were inviting local Christians (especially young people) to talk about how to influence their communities with Jesus' good news. I was privileged to join in!
Ravi and Oliver; Oliver led us in the singing throughout the workshop.
Workshop participants worshiping together.
The Baptist Mission Station in downtown Kolkata.
I actually went a little early so I could do some research at the National Library of India, which is in Kolkata. Calcutta, as it was then known, was the capital of British India until 1911, and one of the holdovers from this period is the National Library. Like the Library of Congress or the British Library, it serves as a comprehensive library, with the aim of holding all books published in or about India. I went to look for (and found!) some rare books from the 1920s and 1930s concerning the figure I study in India, V.K. Krishna Menon.
National Library of India
Another place in Kolkata reminding us of the British period was the Victoria Memorial, completed in 1921 (20 years after Queen Victoria's death). Victoria never came to India, but in 1870 she was declared its Empress--a title held by the British crown until 1950, when India became a republic. The building is beautiful, though it certainly stands out as a very British building. Kolkata is a hybrid sort of city, with lots of British colonial buildings remaining (as well as street names: one coffee-shop we went to was on Shakespeare Street). Much more so than Delhi, Kolkata retains a certain British presence.
Victoria Memorial
Equally impressive, though less imposing, was the Kolkata Botanical Gardens, home of Asia's largest banyan tree! The Great Banyan is thought to be over 250 years old, and it has spread itself over a wide circumference, such that we couldn't even capture the whole thing!
The Great Banyan
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For a further appreciation of the British Empire, see the following video:
I do apologize, I've been neglecting this blog for far too long. But the year's getting away from us, and I've got so much to tell about my time in India (June-September) and France (October-December)! So let's get right to it.
In mid-June, a friend of a friend invited me to come with them and several of their other friends for a weekend in Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal, and a town about 3 hours' drive from Delhi. This was my first time meeting these friends, though they are now very dear to me, and will recur often in these India pictures; so, it's worth an introduction:
Clockwise from top: Oliver; Caitlin; Noora; and Ravi
Left to right: Kelsey, Anurag, and Gary (plus Oliver)
All these folks live in New Delhi and welcome folks from abroad often, which usually means a trip to the Taj Mahal. Therefore, rather than just go to the Taj for the millionth time, they took me along on a different sort of trip, helped along by their friend John, who runs a great bike tour of Agra ("Agra by Bike"). John took us out on the river Yamuna, next to the Taj, so we got to see it reflected in the river:
John: check out <agrabybike.com>!
We then also went to the roof of a nearby cafe, and got to see the Taj from land:
The Taj is a mausoleum, housing Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and was completed in 1643. The Taj Mahal is also a functioning mosque, so it is closed to visitors on Fridays for prayers.
Although one of India's main attractions, and among the most photographed buildings in the world, I have to admit I found the view from the rooftop as interesting for the contrast it offered: between the fairly typical 21st century north Indian scene in the foreground, juxtaposed with this massive, iconic, almost inaccessibly famous and beautiful piece of architecture in the background. (It was made a little more grounded by the scaffolding around one of the minarets.)
As a believer that every person who lives and has ever lived has been "made...in the likeness of God" (Genesis 5:1, ESV). As such, the juxtaposition between normality and grandeur that one sees in Agra helps me appreciate that: (a) despite what our world tells us, every person (not just queens and kings) deserves a Taj Mahal; but also, (b) even if we don't have a Taj Mahal built for us, every person has inherent and incredible value, as much value as the Taj. I hope that ultimately, the beauty of a building like the Taj Mahal, built for a person, reminds us not that we ought to have a palace, but that we are made in the image of a God who deserves all the palaces there could ever be. And thankfully, "in my Father's house there are many rooms. ...And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:2,3).
John in his office, with Che Guevara, who probably didn't own a bike shop. Maybe a motorcycle shop?
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With all this talk of the Taj Mahal, why not listen to the building's great blues music?
