Traveling India.
Gate of India. This structure was erected to commemorate the landing of their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary.
The Gateway of India is an arch-monument built in the early twentieth century in the city of Mumbai, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was erected to commemorate the landing in December 1911 at Apollo Bunder, Mumbai (then Bombay) of King-Emperor George V and Queen-Empress Mary, the first British monarch to visit India. At the time of the royal visit, the gateway was not yet built, and a cardboard structure greeted the monarch. The foundation stone was laid in March 1913 for a monument built in the Indo-Saracenic style, incorporating elements of 16th-century Marathi architecture. The final design of the monument by architect George Wittet was sanctioned only in 1914, and construction was completed in 1924. The structure is a triumphal arch made of basalt, which is 26 metres (85 feet) high.
As India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, poverty is on the decline in the country, with close to 44 Indians escaping extreme poverty every minute, as per the World Poverty Clock. India has been able to lift a significant percentage of its population out of poverty, but many still live in it. India had 73 million people living in extreme poverty which makes up 5.5% of its total population, according to the Brookings report. In May 2012, the World Bank reviewed and proposed revisions to their poverty calculation methodology and purchasing power parity basis for measuring poverty worldwide. It was a minimal 3.6% in terms of percentage. As of 2016, the incidence of multidimensional poverty has almost halved between 2005–06 and 2015–16, declining from 54.7 percent to 27.5 percent.
Mumbai, storm surges hit high levels, as locals play and take advantage of high water levels coming over the wall.
As a man i have needs, one of them being, i need to shave every so often, India you can find men on most street corners that are willing to give you a shave and a head massage, to me it is worth every minute of getting shave and a head massage whilst in India.
Children play whilst mothers and father work 7 days a week in Mumbai's biggest Dhobi Gard.
Mumbai there are many children without beds to sleep in, there is little food, and the Sexual abuse that happens to these children most of the time goes unpunished.
A street child is a child "for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults".
Homeless man lays in front of a bakery, whilst the rest of the people go about their business.
From the late 19th century through the early 20th century, under British colonial rule, poverty in India intensified, peaking in the 1920s. Famines and diseases killed millions each time. After India gained its independence in 1947, mass deaths from famines were prevented. Since 1991, rapid economic growth has led to a sharp reduction in extreme poverty in India. However, those above the poverty line live a fragile economic life.
With a population standing at around 1.2 billon people, the chances are extremely slim for a child to get anywhere in life, most children are forced into the sex industry or are forced to beg to make money for the greedy.
The different definitions and underlying small sample surveys used to determine poverty in India have resulted in widely varying estimates of poverty from the 1950s to 2010s. In 2012, the Indian government stated that 22% of its population is below its official poverty limit. Based on 2005's PPPs International Comparison Program, in 2011, the World Bank estimated that 23.6% of Indian population, or about 276 million people, lived below $1.25 per day on purchasing power parity. According to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme, 270 million people out of 1.2 billion Indians, roughly equal to 21.9% of India's population, lived below the poverty line of $1.25 in 2011–2012.
Women sort through plastic and paper to make very little money, and sometimes they find a surprise or two.
For most that work at the Dhobi Gard its a full time job, most of which live on site and continue to work around the clock.
The Dhobi Kalyan & Audhyogik Vikas Cooperative Society, the apex body that represents washermen, estimates the annual turnover of the Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat at around Rs 100 crore. For 18 to 20 hours each day, over 7,000 people flog, scrub, dye and bleach clothes on concrete wash pens, dry them on ropes, neatly press them and transport the garments to different parts of the city. Over one lakh clothes are washed each day. Some of the wealthier dhobis have given up on manual cleaning and have now installed large mechanical washing and drying machines. The dhobis collect clothes from all corners of the city, from Colaba to Virar. Their biggest clients are neighbourhood laundries, garment dealers, wedding decorators and caterers, and mid-sized hotels and clubs.
Worker hangs out sheets in Mumbai's largest Dhobi gard.
Dhobi Ghat (Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat) was an open air laundromat (lavoir) in Mumbai, India. The washers, known as dhobis, work in the open to clean clothes and linens from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. It was constructed in 1890. Inspired by the Mumbai (then Bombay) Dhobi Ghat, the British built Dhobi Ghat also in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1902.
Passing time on a train in India can take its toll on you, the trains never seem to run on time, overcrowded and hot as hygiene seems to go out the door. It was said to me once, if you can travel India, you can travel anywhere.
India has an estimated one hundred thousand or more street children in each of the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Mainly because of family conflict, they come to live on the streets and take on the full responsibilities of caring for themselves, including working to provide for and protecting themselves. Though street children do sometimes band together for greater security, they are often exploited by employers and the police. Their many vulnerabilities require specific legislation and attention from the government and other organisations to improve their condition.
Indian man smoking a pipe in down town Pune.
Rajasthan Camel festival, Up to 4000 Bedouin Farmers and herders with there camels come to a place called Pushkar which is found in the Rajasthan province, This festival is extremely important to these people Its trading learning and getting to understand their environment, the festival takes place around November of each year.
The Pushkar Fair, also called the Pushkar Camel Fair or locally as Kartik Mela or Pushkar ka Mela is an annual multi-day livestock fair and cultural fête held in the town of Pushkar (Rajasthan, India). The fair starts with the Hindu calendar month of Kartik and ends on the Kartik Purnima, which typically overlaps with late October and early November in the Gregorian calendar. In 1998, over 1 million visitors came to Pushkar throughout the year. The Pushkar fair alone attracts over 200,000 visitors.
Pushkar fair attracts nearly 200,000 visitors. The Pushkar fair is one of India's largest camel, horse and cattle fairs. Apart from the trading of livestock, it is an important pilgrimage season for Hindus to the Pushkar lake. Pushkar fair has also become a significant tourist attraction for domestic and international travelers, given the cooler season, the abundance of colorful cultural themes.Cultural events and competitions include dances, tug of war between women teams as well as men teams, the "matka phod", "longest moustache" competition, "bridal competition", camel races and others.
The World Bank has been revising its definition and benchmarks to measure poverty since 1990, with a $2 per day income on purchasing power parity basis as the definition in use from 2005 to 2013. Some semi-economic and non-economic indices have also been proposed to measure poverty in India. For example, in order to determine if a person is poor or not, the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index places a 33% weight on the number of years that person spent in school or engaged in education and a 6.25% weight on the financial condition of that person.
The Pushkar Lake is one of India's holiest sites, it is said that the hindu gods where born here.
Pushkar is a city in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated about 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of Ajmer and about 150 kilometres (93 mi) southwest of Jaipur. It is a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Sikhs. Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples and ghats in Pushkar are from the 18th century and later, because many temples were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among Pushkar temples is the red spired Brahma Temple built by Gurjar samrat Pushkar, who is father of Vedmata Gayatri, who was a chechi kanya married to lord brahma. It is considered a sacred city by the Hindus particularly in Shaktism, and meat and eggs consumption are forbidden in the city. Pushkar is located on the shore of Pushkar Lake, which has many ghats where pilgrims bathe. Pushkar is also significant for its Gurdwaras for Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. One of the bathing ghats is called Gobind ghat built by the Sikhs in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh.
Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is located in the town of Pushkar in Ajmer district of the Rajasthan state of western India. Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures describe it as "Tirtha-Guru" – the perceptor of pilgrimage sites related to a water-body and relate it to the mythology of the creator-god Brahma, whose most prominent temple stands in Pushkar. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC. Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats (a series of steps leading to the lake), where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima (October–November) when the Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu temples are situated around the lake precincts. Tourism and deforestation in the surroundings have taken a heavy toll on the lake, adversely affecting its water quality, reducing the water levels and destroying the fish population. As part of conservation measures, the government is undertaking de-silting, de-weeding, water treatment, and afforestation as well as mass awareness programme.
India today women still cover their faces, a sign of respect and tradition.
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period. Practises such as female infanticide, dowry, child marriage and the taboo on widow remarriage, have had a long duration in India, and have proved difficult to root out, especially in caste Hindu society in northern India.
Women carry jugs on there heads for there daily routines.
During the British East India Company rule (1757–1857), and the British Raj (1858–1947), measures aiming at amelioration were enacted, including Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, and Age of Consent Act, 1891. Women's rights under the Constitution of India mainly include equality, dignity, and freedom from discrimination; additionally, India has various statutes governing the rights of women. As of 2018, some women have served in various senior official positions in the Indian government, including that of the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. However, many women in India continue to face significant difficulties. The rates of malnutrition are exceptionally high among adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women in India, with repercussions for children's health. Violence against women, especially sexual violence, has been on the rise in India.
The holy city of Varanasi.
Varanasi grew as an important industrial centre famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BCE when he gave his first sermon, "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", at nearby Sarnath. The city's religious importance continued to grow in the 8th century, when Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi.
A Varanasi local on her way to school carries her companion on her back.
For most tourists going to Varanasi its quiet common for them to take a boat thats rowed by an Indian to take them along the shore line of the Ganges river in Varanasi.
During the Muslim rule through the Middle Ages, the city continued as an important centre of Hindu devotion, pilgrimage, mysticism and poetry which further contributed to its reputation as a centre of cultural importance and religious education. Tulsidas wrote his epic poem on Rama's life called Ram Charit Manas in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas. Guru Nanak visited Varanasi for Maha Shivaratri in 1507, a trip that played a large role in the founding of Sikhism.
Men grab their catch for the day, they sell the fish they catch to local restaurant to provide fresh fish to the tourist trade.
Behind one of the 7 wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal.
Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (U.S. $827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.