Kushalnagar, Halebidu, Belur, Mysore..

The weekend after going to Nandi hills we took another trip around the south of india. part of it was USAC organized, but a group of 15 of us left a day early so we could see a couple other areas as well.

We left Thursday night on an overnight bus that was supposed to bring us to Coorg at about 6 or 7am. instead what we found was that at 4:30 in the morning there were 15 of us standing in the middle of a foreign, sleeping town with no idea of where we were or what to do. we decided, most logically, to try to find a hotel where to sleep for a couple of hours until daylight came and we could ask around for help. this turned out being quite a mess though because we were such a big group and no one can ever agree on anything with such big groups. fortunately, a man told us that we werent' even in the city we were aiming for as our final destination...the bus we had taken wouldn't actually go to the other city, but there was another bus leaving in 15 minutes that we could catch. the city we were aiming for was about an hour or so away, so we got there just as morning was breaking, perfect timing. thus we arrived at the city of kushalnagar....we signed in at a hotel where some of our friends from Bangalore had stayed earlier and had recommended to us, and then most of the group went to sleep for a few hours. Nia, Renee (her sister who was visiting), and I decided that there was no time to sleep though...we were awake, and we had only one day to see what was in the area...we had to be on the move from the start.

so we caught a rickshaw and headed to a place called Dubare where there is a popular elephant reserve. we ate some breakfast out there, caught a boat, and looked at some elephants being scrubbed to death and controlled by chains. it wasn't the happiest situation, i don't think any of us were as pleased with it as we thought we would be. we left somewhat...gloomy. but the good part is that we met a very nice couple from Holland out there...they were two beautiful people, and very fun to talk to. on the way back to the main road, when we were walking in farmland trying to figure out where the bus stop could possibly be, they drove by, picked us up in their car, and drove us all the way to kushalnagar without asking for any sort of payment. it was so lovely.

we returned to kushalnagar, ate some jackfruit (mmm, so good!) and then headed to the Golden Temple, a buddhist temple in a buddhist community right outside of the town. we walked around the temple for hours, looking at the monks and little monks-in-training. we saw the first temple with the 7 golden statues where we sat in silence and did some yoga, looking at the colorful surroundings. we went to a second temple and looked at the prayer hall where all of the monks gather and chant. and then in the third building we saw three 60-ft tall statues of some of the different incarnations of Buddha, where we sat and meditated together. it worked out so perfectly...it was quiet and empty all the time that we were there, and when we were just ready to leave a large group of loud visitors came through the doors. it was so nice, too, just being the three of us, because it was so much easier to go with the flow, see what felt right at what moment and how long we would want to stay in which place...we didn't have to worry about another 12 people pushing and pulling to go their own ways..




after the Golden Temple we ate a delicious meal, walked around the city center, visited the bus stand to figure out our plans for the following day, and went back to our hotel to nap for a couple of hours. when we woke up it was in the evening and the rest of the group still hadn't returned. Nia and I went into the hotel yard where there were hammocks, a volleyball net, playground toys, and a small back terrace with tables and music playing. we drank some tea and discussed the events and impressions of the day until the rest of the group returned, at which point we lit up a bonfire and sat around it staring at the dancing flames. words were hardly necessary...the feeling of being in the moment was so deep. and the fact that above our heads we had palm trees and actually visible stars, while around us we had indian music playing and crickets and lively green beings made it a paradise.

the whole day went amazingly except for one slight complication at the end. because we were such a large group we were sleeping with 3 people in every room for 2. i was with Nia and her sister...the bed was big enough for 3 but the hotel employees had brought an extra mattress and i was so excited to sleep on the floor the way i normally prefer to. i was preparing for bed when all of a sudden a huge furry creature came out from under the master bed and crawled towards me. i jumped back, staring at it and pointing, but in silence, while Nia looked at me questioningly from across the room. the moment she saw the tarantula, though, she screamed twice and the chase began. it was a tarantula of decent size and as it crawled onto my bed i jumped onto Nia and Renee's bed. two of the boys from next door heard Nia's squeals and ran in to see what had happened. Renee also came out of the bathroom where she was...everyone was expecting some sort of big, gross bug...but nothing like the big, furry spider that was still sitting in our room, at this point on the wall. regardless, one of the guys captured it and brought it peacefully outside into the hotel yard. but all of us were somewhat shaken up and i really didn't want to sleep on the floor anymore...between the cockroaches i had seen there before and the spider that had come out just then, the last thing i wanted to do was go to sleep wondering what sort of creatures i would have on me when i woke up in the morning. i had a very restless, disturbed sleep that night in nia and renee's bed.

The next morning we woke up before anyone else and caught a bus to Shravanabelagola to see one of the major Jain pilgrimage sites. There is a temple that stands on the top of a large hill..you have to climb up 600+ steps to reach the top where there is a giant monolithic statue of one of the Jain deities (i dont remember the name). it was in shravanabelagola that the three of us met up with the rest of the USAC group and then headed to two other temples in the region, namely Halebidu and Belur. Both of them were built by the Hoysalas and are mostly impressive because of the beautiful architecture they demonstrate. they are built out of sandstone and there were carvings everywhere...of deities playing music, fighting wars, dancing...legends from the sacred Hindu texts, and pretty much anything you could imagine. it was so impressive. both of the temples were quite similar, but i really couldn't believe my eyes at all of the work that must have gone into the construction...there was so much detail in all of the carvings, and they were all so unique, one from the other. wow. pictures won't even do it justice, but i know my words aren't making it even CLOSE, so you will have to wait a bit longer till the pictures do come..

After the temples at Halebidu and Belur we headed to the city of Mysore where we spent the night. The next day we were simply in Mysore too where the main thing we saw was the Mysore palace...i think the tour guide we had there was probably one of the worst i have ever seen, but the palace itself was very impressive with its Indo-Sarcenic (Hindu-Muslim) style of architecture...it was beautiful. very ornate, very overwhelming at times, but the combination of architectural styles and the colors of the marble and other materials used made it so welcoming and just..quite perfect really. i was very impressed. One of the other things that was very unique about it is that the entire outside of the palace is covered in lightbulbs...at night they light up and the entire palace shines golden. we didn't actually get to see this when we were there, but the pictures i have seen of it look amazing. the palace was built in 1912 and then modified from there onwards..you can definately tell it's more modern, but also extremely well done.


And that was that! our weekend jumping from city to city, visiting everything from elephants to buddhist monks to old stone Hindu temples to a recently-constructed palace that shines a blinding gold....it was wonderful. i love the forests of southern india. i love the history of india. i love traveling around india. basically, i really just love india. =)

namaste.

---

---