Wednesday, June 29th - After a very rough flight I finally made it to the Taj Majal which is a great representation of Islamic architecture. The buildings are very different to normal American architecture with several towers and dome shaped tops. The builds are also very white for a change instead of brick red or other bland colors I see everyday, but how do they manage to keep it so clean? After lots of contemplation about the subject I continued on to find a mosque that perfectly mirrored a guest house. This mosque has huge religious importance. This was because it was forced by law to be created and it makes the entirety of the Taj Mahal symmetrical along with a guest house that mirrors the mosque.

Sunday, July 4th - My next stop was Badrinath in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The people are very focused on their traditions they tend to wear face paints, turbans, and burlap clothing. The turbans are a part of their main religion which is Hinduism and many of the buildings and celebrations are based around it as well. The buildings are mostly colorful adobe like homes but one building stands from all the rest, Badrinath Temple. This is the largest spot for pilgrimage that all of the citizens visit to make pilgrimage to Badrinath.

Wednesday, July 7th - My time was running out before school started again for me so I took the express trip to get to Jerusalem, Israel. Jerusalem itself had a lot of architecture diversity in different places but in most places the buildings were made of brick. This was because the people wanted to preserve the religious sites in the city instead of changing them and destroying their significance. The main sacred site I visited was the Western Wall which is very important to Judaism because of its connection with Temple Mount. People of that religion come here to make the holiest prayer they can make.

Monday, July 12 - My final stop was Sarnath, India to understand the Buddhist religion and the reason behind why it's so sacred. Sarnath was believed to be the place where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma which are their rules to live by. Close by was the Chaukhandi Stupa which was a shrine that represents the meeting place of Buddha and his disciples. The piece of architecture helps visualize the types of structures people created for the Buddhist religion. The shrine looks like a tall tower made of bricks with a wide pyramid base below it.