Of course, it is not possible to talk about everything in the training here. Usually, the first week of the monthly trainings go slow because the student tries to adapt to the program and the environment. After the first week, it comes to an end before you know it. The same happened for this group. It was such an intensive training, every day was like 3 days long. 🙂
After the TTC, to rest a little and also to join different workshops we went to Dharamshala again but this time to stay 5 days long. We had such a pleasant time for 5 days, we had fun, we did shopping, and maybe some of us had to buy bigger luggage because of too much shopping (They know themselves!😂). It was a very relaxing time.
Agra – Taj Mahal
After 5 days, our bus trip of 16 hours from Dharamshala to Agra had started. As I mentioned before, India is such a big country, to go somewhere always takes so long. If the place you will go takes some time around 5 hours, you say it’s close. After a month of cold weather, this time we were going to really hot weather. Agra is a city in the Uttar Pradesh State. The name of the city was mentioned as “Agrevana” for the first time in Mahābhārata which is one the most important books of the Indian Philosophy. 
The city is very famous because many of the artifacts from Mughal Era are here of which the most famous one is Taj Mahal which we all know and which is in the Unesco World Heritage List. Once again we got off the bus after hours, but this time weather is so hot. After 1 week, the desert heat would start in Agra. I couldn’t help to think myself if this was the heat where it didn’t start already, how people live here during the desert heat.
Taj Mahal, is an ivory-white marble mausoleum which was built in 1631 to house the ruler Shah Jahan’s favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb. His tomb is also there. It took 22 years to complete it and 20000 artisans worked to built it. The mausoleum and its gardens are really beautiful. Even though the weather was really hot, when we got out we realized that we were there 3 hours long.
Delhi
We got on the bus with which we came from Dharamshala, this time to go to Delhi. The trip that was supposed to take 5 hours, took probably 7-8 hours. Being under the sun all day long, the most of the group was sleeping when we got to Delhi. Delhi had welcomed us with crazy traffic. In addition to this, our bus driver got lost but it was very normal for him not to know the roads in Delhi because he lives in another state.
We had 2 days in Delhi. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t expecting much from Delhi because everyone I know talked badly about it (Including a girl I met in India who leaves in Delhi). But in my opinion, there are many places to visit in Delhi. The Bhagavad Gita exhibition in Iskcon Temple was really great. And there is a temple called Swaminarayan Akshardham, if you get to visit one place in Delhi, it should be this. It is not allowed to take pictures inside, so the photos I add to this article are from their website. (http://akshardham.com) It is a temple made of pink marble and sandstone according to traditional Indian architecture opened in the year 2005. The main temple building is called mandir. 
And a mandir stands on the shoulders of the elephants both traditionally and symbolically. The elephants on the bottom of the Swaminarayan Akshardham don’t just only stands there but also tells us many stories. I think the most magical part of the Ashram is these beautiful story telling elephants. The purpose of these elephants, to honor the elephants and also give a message about peace, compassion, and kindness.
And the journey back home…
One night, again we got into crazy taxis and arrived at the airport in half an hour which was supposed to take 1,5 hours. When we got to Istanbul, after the hugs at the airport we all made our way home. Now it was time to apply the information received in the TTC outside the ashram in the normal life.
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