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Published: September 25th 2006
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The first step on our little road jaunt was a temple that was built on top of a giant outcropping of stone. I wouldn't so much call it a mountain, but maybe just a really big rock. We had to climb 400 or so stairs to get to the top, but when we did, the views were rewarding. In all of the temples we visited, it was a prerequisite that shoes must be removed. This usually entailed leaving them in the car with Shiva and then tip toeing around fragments of shredded plastic, cow crap, and discarded fruit. Once we got inside the grounds of the first temple though, it was kind of nice to be barefoot. It was nice to feel the sun warmed stone under my feet, soft and polished by the feet of so many pilgrims that have passed before me. There were monkeys playing around the columns, and women in bright colored saris taking frequent rests along the way up. At the top the temple was under construction, but for me that didn't really detract from it at all. I was more impressed i think with the view out over the countryside. In the gut of
the building they were doing some work on what they claimed to be "The world's biggest Monolith." I liked it because its penis was like, as tall as i am. Temples don't seem to subdue my perversion i guess.
We spent the night in Belur and the food we had was sooooo good. We ordered paper masala, which is a thin bread that's about the size of an unfolded newspaper rolled into a long cylinder. It's big and flaky and spicy and delicious. We had HBO and the Disney channel in our room so we watched a very short scratchy segment of "The Craft," and a more discernable "Jungle Book 2" on the Disney channel. Woohoo.
The next morning we rose and went to the temple at Belur. Architecturally speaking it reminded me a lot of Angkor Wat, only much smaller in scale. It's carved mostly out of soapstone and the detail work on the inside is stunning. There's not a single pillar that has the same design. The inner chamber of the temple was dark and dank, but it felt old and antique and i liked it. There was a giant sculpture of a cobra, which reminds
....some follow lines
time and time and time again circles break in lines they bend in you... me of a sort of funny aside.
In class one day, we were talking with Master Ji about our plans for the weekend and he started telling us about this temple that's a day away from Bangalore. Apparently it is a Serpent temple and whatever religious sect worships there, reveres the snake as it is an important part of their mythology and religion. Every day there is a ritual that is performed by priests and anyone can come and partake in it. It supposedly heals and cures people, and master ji attested to this. He's been involved in several car accidents and has had trouble with his knees. He lost the ability to sit in lotus among other various yoga positions, and he went to the temple seeking a cure. He performed the ritual and several months afterwards began getting better use from his knees. Cured by ritual or natural causes....i dunno. Anywho, he was telling us that these people belive that if you have ever seen a snake killed than severe misfortune will fall upon you or your family. He seemed to be sort of a believer in the temple's power so i kept it to myself that
i've actually ordered a cobra to be killed and then digested it.......i apologize now to my family if anything bad befalls you.
We walked around Belur for a while and then headed out to Halebid. It was a nice little jaunt. While driving out i had to laugh because i saw numerous gyms. They are all distinguishable because they advertise with comic book sized muscleagogs like arnold schwartzennager flexing on the front of the store. I can attest that i have yet to see any indian who even remotely resembles that freakish pysique----except maybe max's parent's trainer.
Anyway, it's taken me forever to upload these pictures and write all this crap. I'm sweaty and getting attacked by mozzies, so i'm gonna sign off. Hope you enjoy the pics!
Oh, and in case you're wondering.....the pictures at the bottom are from my pranayama class and me just being a jackass and showing off my wimpy little muscles for your enjoyment. Ken and Momo are the very sweet and funny couple in my class, and Chelsea and Sugi are my roomies. Ok, that's all. ----lynz
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