Day 2: Akshardham Temple (aka Hindu Disney World)

On our second full day in Delhi, we set out to visit the world's largest Hindu temple, Swaminaryan Akshardham.

By Swaminarayan Sanstha - http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/index.htm

Akshardham is enormous! Again, Indians really appreciate a good, sizable monument. The mandir (temple) itself is over 86,000 square feet in area alone. There are beautiful gardens surrounding it, and most importantly: an animatronic exhibit hall, an IMAX movie, and a boat ride. In my head, I was thinking of it like the Small World ride at Disney, but more spiritual. I'm pleased to say...it met all of my expectations.

J and I arrived at Akshardham after taking the Delhi subway system. The subway was a little intense (very crowded), but actually very easy to navigate. Most of the subway is elevated, so we got to see some of Delhi as we traveled to the eastern bank of the Yamuna river. We got off at the appointed station (appropriately called Akshardham) and were immediately entreated to take rickshaw rides by a number of vendors. We decided to take one, as we anticipated that we would spend most of the day walking and wanted to save our feet. Little did we know, we had agreed to be transported by a bicycle rickshaw. I know that bicycle rickshaws (also known as pedi-cabs) are a thing, and very popular in college towns and on the late night bar scene. But I promise you, in the United States, bicycle rickshaws do not get on major highways.

Only in India.

We arrived safely at Akshardham, paid our bicycle rickshaw driver double the fare we had agreed on (it felt like hazard pay), and set off to see the sights. Akshardham security is SERIOUS though. This was easily the most security we had to go through the entire time we were in India. They seemed to be most concerned about people bringing in cameras, though. The set up they had there was pretty sophisticated, with a separate gate-house where there was a bag room. We had to fill out an inventory slip for our bags cataloguing all of the items we had in our bags (cameras, cell phones, other electronics), and then they took a digital picture of us with our bags (open to display the wares) to store in their system. It seems pretty efficient to combat any claims of theft later on. I felt very comfortable leaving my belongings there.

Obviously though, that means I did not get any pictures at Akshardham. At the end of the day, J and I bought a picture book from their gift shop because I really wanted to have photos of the temple, it was just so amazing.

Before we actually saw the temple, though, we went and experienced the exhibits. This was easily the best run, most professional tourist spot we visited in India. They had lines set up for Hindi speaking guests and English speaking guests, and each group got an experience in their native language. The attractions all started pretty much one right after another, so we were shepherded through the exhibits pretty efficiently.

The first stop was the Sahahjanand Darshan, or the "Hall of Values." It was essentially like walking through a Disney ride (think Pirates of the Caribbean), and in each room, learning something about the Bhagwan Swaminaryan (the spiritual leader), his life, and his teachings. The next stop was a boat ride through dioramas of Indian contributions to society. Which was JUST like "It's a Small World" (without as much singing and dancing). And last, a 40 minute movie about the Bhagwan when he was a young boy on his 7 year journey through all of India. All of it was pretty interesting, though the movie got a bit tedious. 

Then the Mandir. The actual temple itself. So gorgeous, so ornate, so elaborate. I really wish I had photographs to show you all.

We then made our way back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and went to the New Delhi Train Station to take our first ride on the Indian Railways! It was a little confusing to try and find our train and where we were supposed to go, but we made it on, and made friends with a grad student who sat in our cabin with us and offered us snacks. Then she got off the train, and a huge family with a 1 year old baby got on the train with us. We had a great time with them. I was so surprised at how social and friendly people are on the trains in India. In the States, everyone would just pull out a book and ignore the others around them. But every time we were on a train pretty much, our cabin-mates spoke with us, asked us questions, offered us advice, and even offered us assistance. Which was VERY necessary in figuring out which stop to get off at, because Indian train conductors do not announce a THING. 

Stay tuned for a summary of our time in Agra!