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Temple Madness
An overnight bus took us from Hampi to Mumbai, where we happily killed a few hours at Leopold's ( bar made famous by the must-read book Shantaram), before boarding a rather crowded train for the 9 hours to Aurangabad.
We stayed here mostly as a base to use for visiting the famous Ellora caves. However this town had a few tricks up its sleeves...a 'mini Taj Mahal',(built by the son of Shah Jahan), did indeed look a lot like the real thing, but sadly the craftsmanship and materials used were vastly inferior, nevertheless, i struck my "Diana" pose on the bench, and we had a fun visit.
Driving back from an excursion one day we spied an Indian wedding, about 150 excited Indians dancing around the groom riding his white horse, everyone enjoying the music and atmosphere and the very loud music. We stopped to have a quick look, and before i knew it, i was whisked from the rickshaw and guided through the throng, right to the beautiful bride. I danced my little English socks off as best i could, trying to copy their style, as Guy laughed and took photos from the safety
of the rickshaw.
There was also an old fort, built drystone wall style,which we saw from the road but, with a 300 rupee entrance fee we gave it a miss, favoring a visit to a roadside brick factory.
Our friendly rickshaw driver knew the owner and we had an in depth tour, of a traditional mud brick set up. Villagers would come for a few months at a time, working and living on site, molding bricks, then air drying them, before building what looked to be a building of bricks, and setting it on fire... ask Guy's dad for details!!!
The Ellora Caves
For once i am lost for words........................ in the middle of the desert on the side of a humble looking hill, people have spent literally thousands of years hand-carving temples into the hillside.
Temples were a mixture of Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist, ranging from a few thousand to a few hundred years old. Each temple had statues of the relevant gods, ornate columns, and pillars, every available surface offered a new statue or holy image upon which to reflect. The work and dedication to such a massive project was truly awe inspiring.
The scale was unbelievable..., one temple in particular had been carved from the top of the cliff, leaving the largest complete man made object made from a singular rock in the world.........the pyramids pale in comparison ............................it was a magical experience
Please take time to look at the photos, i really am struck dumb!
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Jon Groom
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Miss you
Thanks for my brick factory picture. I'm glad to see that other parts of the world still use ancient methods for making their bricks. You both are obviously enjoying yourselves. Work this end becoming a little easier, still not a lot of chance to go fishing. Miss you both. Love Dad xxx