For me, each time I return to India it feels like entering into a bathtub of memories, both relaxing and energizing. There is always something new to experience, creating translucent layers of the present over the solidified images of the past. This trip itinerary is centered around several places I have not been in Uttar Pradesh, the main state of Northern Central India. It is a journey that will culminate in attending the great Maha Kumbh Mela on the flood plains of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, which only happens once every 12 years. This is my last chance in this lifetime to experience this remarkable event, the largest gathering of human beings on earth It is also a journey upward from the Natural World of plant and animal life in Dudhwa National Park near the Nepal border, to Mogul and British History as seen in the city of Lucknow, Buddhist Presence in Kushinagar where Buddha died, Religious Traditions in the city of Varanasi, and finally Spiritual Intensity at the Kumbh Mela. I will be traveling only with my old family friend Bill, a wonderful travel companion, but I am a little sad as my good friend and planned roommate, Ginny, was not able to join us due to a last-minute mishap. At our age, we are all only one fall away from a change in any well-made plans.
So follow along if you wish on this tour organized by Platinum by Trans India, an excellent high-end travel service, and let me know if you wish to continue to receive my blogs on my present exploration of this ancient land.
Day 1 Delhi
Delhi in 2025 is of course very different from the Delhi I knew in 1965, almost 60 years ago, when I stepped off my first international plane flight. The city has greatly expanded outward with tall new building, large apartment complexes and small market areas with upscale shops. Traffic has always been terrible with the ubiquitous black and yellow taxis now replaced by private cars and small white commercial vehicles, many of which now sport a green license plate indicating their electric power source. Many more traffic lights have replaced the long ago turban-topped British-style policemen directing movement from the middle of traffic circles. And, most significantly, it seems that today these traffic lights are actually obeyed by the drivers creating slightly less chaos and honking on the road. But much remains the same, the sounds, the smells, the sense of a culture being created and falling apart at the same time.
With only 2.5 hours sleep due to jet lag, it was hard to enjoy the full buffet breakfast spread at our large hotel with 2 types of South Indian steamed rice cakes, made-to-order dosas, and a large array of north Indian breakfast dishes, together with pancakes with egg and meat options available as well. With one free day in Delhi before our official tour begins, Bill and I decided our morning visit would be to the much-photographed Lotus Temple, an architectural marvel and the main center of the Bahai faith and our afternoon would be spent, with what little energy we still had, at the National Museum, with an invitation to lunch in-between.
The Lotus Temple, as it is commonly called, was filled with a stream of people from every walk of life, from rural tribal woman in traditional garb to a group of young men from Argentina. Bill, of course, was greatly interested in the architectural design and construction of this building which is a large open space inside for religious meetings. It was competed in 1986 and can hold 1300 people but when I asked one of the many volunteer guides whether it was ever filled, she replied with a shake of the head, not really but it was almost full on very special holidays.


In between our cultural forays, we were invited to lunch at a market by our tour operator at a wonderful restaurant, Zaffron, in a market with one-story shops, selling goods from basic cell-phone accessorize to expensive clothing. The food was especially good but there I began my saga of trying to find non-spicy vegan food in a culture centered on its love of chili and dairy products.

To our very tired brains, the National Museum was an over-the-top immersion in incredibly beautiful stone pieces starting from 4000 years ago as well as delicate mogul paintings, the great bronzes of Hinduism, and a separate building of Buddhist art. The majority of the small paintings were uniformly framed and matted although I question whether they used museum-quality glass for these priceless images. Many of the display cases throughout the museum were poorly lighted, or with bulbs that were burned out, or the lighting was from the back so that it was impossible to see the fine details of the ancient carved faces and finely detailed metal work of the bronze statues. But the beauty of the art still shone through. I am beyond exhausted.

We have a very early departure tomorrow for the airport to fly into Lucknow so I will attempt to sleep for at least a few hours.