Sketches

India in jodhpur and Jaipur

Elephant ride to a fort in Jaipur. we had to wake up super early in order to ride the elephants. I was slighly dissipointed in our elephant ride because it was a very tourist experience. we had to wait in line and rode the elephant about ten minutes up to the fort only to get off at a port and walk into the area. however, it was still pretty amazing to see elephants up close. Even more amazing was the architecture and views, the port was located up on a mountain that overlooked Jaipur. it had hand painted facade that was redone because it had faded over time. we stayed and walked round the fort for a couple hours until lunch time.


Jain Temple (above) - we even met the architect of the temple, he was intimidating at first but after we sat around the temple to sketch for awhile, we came and talked to us and was a really funny guy. carved all the figure by hand from marble, it was amazing to see



Camel ride, same day we went to see temples in Osian near Jodhpur. This day we took an hour and a half bus ride to the camels, and rode them for about an hour around the desert. it was an amazing experience just to be able to sit and watch the landscape and take it all in. it was very hot and dry that day, like many of the days in India, and visiting the temples got to be very tiring. the heat made a lot of us dizzy that day and we kept having to sit down and catch our breathe. We traveled to Jain temple and Some of the Temples at Osian.

We're Back!

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur India DAY 6 (above) started by Jodha the 15th Rathore Ruler in 1459 and continued to thrive with Jaswant Singh and Maharaja Man Singh until 1800's. contains several palaces and courtyards. The fort was really beautiful but I felt sick that day so I miss a lot of it. Clairissa, Tommy, and I sat on a bench and watched the people while everyone else went with the tour guide. One thing I did love about the place was the view it had of Jodhpur and the blue city. the top image is one of my favorites...


Red Fort, Dehli DAY 5 (above) constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar in 17th century. Was the mughal capital until 1857. We had a new tour guide for this fort. He was crazy and in a huge hurry to show us the place. He would point his finger right in Jewel's face and get very up close and personal with everyone. Then we had some free time to draw and some of us found a really nice spot under a tree that looked at the building in the above image. once we sat down and started to draw lots of people came up and tried to take our picture. I felt like I was in a zoo or somthing because people even came and sat in front of us to watch us. it wouldnt have bothered me as much if people had asked us if it was okay, but instead they tried to be sneaky about watching us.
Stuck in traffic (above) we were stuck in traffic probably 1/3 of our trip to India. but i wouldn't have it any other way because it's all about the experience and experiencing what it would really be like. This was on our way to red fort with Uncle as our tour guide, he was so animated and happy to help us around India. This day we also went to New dehli and the markets to walk around. it was very crowded and i was uncomfortabe at first, but we had a great time walking through the crowds and doing a little shopping on our way to lunch.


Humayun's Tomb, Dehli DAY 2 (above) tomb for Humayun, a Mughal emperor in 1562. was the first tomb with gardens around it. This was one of my favorites! we had almost two hours to walk around and sketch the tomb. it was a perfect day, not too hot, and was really nice to go and explore everything. I loved all the Jali- or latice work on the windows and everything made for really amazing pictures!







Qutb Minar, New Dehli DAY 2 (above) started 1193 by first muslim ruler Qutb-ud-din Aibak, part of indo-islamic architecture, was finished by successor lltutmish, and last story added by Tughliq in 1386. initially had 27 hindu and jain temples, but were destroyed and used to build qutb minar. We went in the morning and walked around the complex for a couple hours. Our professors teacher also came and talked to us about the complex and it's history. I enjoyed having free time to walk around and take pictures and the complex.

above- beggars who performed for us when our bus was stuck in traffic. They were really talented!
India Gate was our first experience being bombarded. We went there after lunch and lots of school had gone there as well for field trips. all the children were very interested in us and tried to talk and take pictures of us. Since this was the first time this happened I was really uncomfortabe. however, I started to get used to this kind of attention as the trip progressed.



Parliament and President's house. (above) we walked to parliament on the first day which i really enjoyed. the place wasn't as dense and we got to have a more "calming" first experience. both sides of the street are completely symmetrical overlooking the presidents house. we walked around about an hour before traveling to india gate

Above are images from our first few days in India! It was a great experience and we saw so many amazing buildings. first day was pretty scary for me... I wasn't expecting all the people and all the attention that we got from locals. Everyone was so interested in us and why we were there.

Topic Outline

While in India, I will be exploring many types of architecture, but in particular temple architecture. This will be done first by researching on the internet and in books before and after the trip. Also I will take photos, draw, and research about the temple while we visit them. In particular, I will be looking at the design features of Jain temple in Ranakpur, and other temples we visit. I want to focus on the timeline of change from the earlier temples to more recent. When returning from the trip, I want to combine the information I found with that of my partner and come up with a compilation of images and information that is interesting and shows a lot of research.

Topic Selection

Coming up March 5 until the 21st, A group of us are traveling to India to study their architecture and culture. Jennifer Deal and I are hoping to group together and specifically study tomb architecture as our research for a presentation following the trip. If this subject has been taken, We would like to look at temple architecture as well.