As we exit the Red Fort we observe that the crowds of visitors have significantly increased. There are long queues to enter and the huge plaza in front of the Red Fort is packed. Of course visiting on a Sunday was not ideal but it is not like we had a choice in this. And then it is time to cross a busy road in Indian fashion, which means taking it a step at a time and praying that every tuk tuk and car is stopping prior to killing you, to arrive at the Sri Digambar Jain Lal Temple.
The temple is the oldest and most well known of the Jain temples in Delhi. We really didn’t know before arriving to India but Jainism is a religion separate from Hinduism practiced by six million people, most of them in India. They also are quite animal friendly, as many Indian religions are, with a focus on birds as demonstrated by the famous Birds Hospital in the courtyard of the temple. And that is where we go when we are shouted at, supposedly we were supposed to leave our shoes at the entrance in the courtyard, not the temple as we were used from Japan. So we do that and barefoot, no socks either, it is time to climb to the hospital proper.
As we climb towards the hospital we encounter many representations of the religion but without an overview of the tenets of the religion we are not certain how to understand them. And then we enter the hospital, which is free, and wander barefoot near the many cages examining the birds which are mostly pigeons with a few crows and parakeets. This is while we try to avoid stepping barefoot into any bird droppings on the floor, which is luckily quite clean.
Next it is time to enter the temple and there are so many restrictions on leather and items that we decide to go one by one. It is quite a beautiful temple and not as visited as we expected based on the hordes of people outside, we barely were able to enter the temple as the people traffic was unrelenting. However here it is quaint almost and we spend some time, each, examining the temple and the shrines.
The colors and details are special and we admire the intricate decorations and small paintings detailing the lives of the gurus and gods, as far as we can guess.
There are many shrines and nooks and crannies to explore and we do exactly that until it is time to exit. We put our shoes on and as we want to exit the shoe minder starts to yell, “Tip tip” at us. That is after we noticed more than 3 other people, all Indians, exiting without paying or being asked anything. And we know it is free so we ignore and exit into tumult outside as it is time to visit the most busy place in Delhi, and maybe India, Chandni Chowk, the Moonlight Bazaar.
