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Published: August 5th 2005
The following is an unedited account to my travels thru India from June to September. I sent this writeups to my friends and family. As such it is aimed at those who know little about Indian history. Please read that last sentence, "aimed at those who know little about Indian history." So to all the veterans out there this is but my mere interpretation of what I saw in India. I'm sure you will find it biased beyond imagination so I hope I didn't insult anyone. And if I do, well stop reading . Anyway, I have not cut anything so here goes...
Namaste ("hello" in Hindi),
How's everyone doing? Long time now hear, I know. I write to you from India today. The last few months at home have been refreshing and entretaining, specially since I was near friends and family. I've started a new journey on the 20th of June. This time around, i'm in Asia. My trip internt is to explore Northern-India, Nepal, Myanmar, and the rest of mainland SEA. However, it remains to be seen if I can visit all of those places as it depends on a series of political, medical, and economical
reasons. The world today is a tough place and some of the destinations I had propossed such as Kashmir and Nepal may be presently off-limits due to political uprest. Medical, well we all know what happened last time I was in Asia... the SARS virus prevented me from revisiting China. I'm following the news closely this time so stay tune on where i'll end up. For now i'm in India enjoying the Monsoon season of Northern India.
Anyway, the trip begins at Mumbain (Bombay), India. After a series of long flights and boring airport layovers at Houston and Frankfurt, I found myuself in the caotic city of Mumbai at 1 AM. My first impressions of India were a blur as they happen rather quickly. I had no set plans or hotel reservations on arrival and so i didn't knew what to expect. I can tell you one thing though, I can still remember that aroma of burned plastic with something else that permeated the hot humid air. After getting thru immigration and picking up my bags, I walked outside the airport to get some cash on the ATM. The Indian currency is the Rupee and for now the exchange
rate is about $1 USD for 45 Ruppees. After gettting the cash, I got a prepaid taxi to take me to Colaba, where tons of budget hotels are located. The drive from the airport took me thru some of the slums of the city. I can still remember seeing hundreds of ppl sleeping on the side of the road with no shelter or something to cover them. I knew India had tons of poor, but nothing prepared me for the sight. Even taxi drivers where sleeping onton of their cars.
I scored a tiny room at the Indian Guest House for $6 USD, which is better then the $4 USD dorm down the road. Once I recharged my batteried, I took of on a quest to explore Mumbai. My first stop was at the Gateway of India, which was built to conmemorate the 1911 visist of King George V and Queen Mary. Its peculiar Indo Architecture makes it a sure eye catcher. Right behind this monument is the impressive Taj Mahal Hotel, which has a beautiful front design and a towering red dome. Walking down the main avenue, I reached the Chhatrapati Sivaji (formerely known as the Prince of
Wales) Museum. I enteres this museum and was awed by the vast range of Indian, Asian, and European art and artifacts. The building itself, although British in style, has a lovely hint of persian and Central Asia. Inside, I spend a few hours seeing hundreds of displays ranging from archeological artifacts from India and Asia to artwork from all over the world. My favorite section was the Indian miniature and tankhas that depict centuries old stories from everyday life in India.
After the museum, I walked further up the avenue to see the impressive Victoria Terminus or CST (Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus), which is said to be the most impressive show of Victorian Gothic architecture in India. It certainly is one of the most beautiful train stations i've seen. I avoided the caotic lines and waves of ppl inside as I ventured to counter 52, the only empty counter. Incidently, it is the foreigner counter. It is here that I bought my ticket to Aurangabad.
It is worth mentioning that at the height of the summer, now, India faces the monsoon season, which brings about one of the hottest and humid conditions in the planet. I thought San Antonio
was the humid capital of the world, but boy was I wrong. A few minutes out into the a leissurly walk in Mumbai is all you need to cover yourself in sweat. I've been drinking almost 5 liters of water just to make up for the liquids I lost each day.
Traffic is another interesting monster all together. There are so many cars out there that it can and does get hectic. Adding to that confusion is the fact that they drive on the other side of the road! Nothing new to me as i've seen it before, but it is a bit disorienting at first. Walking on the road can become dangerous as the roads have no clear lanes so a 2 lane road can be converted into a 4 lane road easily by ingenious drivers and walkers in Mumbai. Oh yes, don't just thing the car is the king.. hell no, everything is game, even a cart-wheel. The masses are so big as well that a huge mass can bring a road to a halt, no matter how big your car is or how fast your bike goes on the road. Bottom line, traffic in Mumbai is
a mix of cars, bikes, motos, ppl, and animals. Thankfully, you don't have auto-rickshaws on the equation, but that alone is another monster.
I made my way through the hectic traffic of Mumbai and reached the Crawford (Jyotiba Phule) Market. The outside facade is of a French Gothic, which apparently was design by Emerson. It is quite interesting inside. You have your usual market devided in sections. You have your fruits, veggies, fish, mutton (sheep/goat) and poultry, etc. The meat market in particular is worth seeing for it's atrocious site. As I entered it after hours, I got to see what really goes on after it closes. The whole place is infested with rats, hundreds of them! Across the street from the Crawford Market lays the Zavari Bazar. It continues on for blocks and hundreds of little shops selling everything your heart desires can be found.
As I exited the bazar, I started a walk that would take me the rest of the afternoon. I walked besides the Cross Maidan field, across to the Azan Maidan, and into the Rugby field, where India was playing Sri Lanka. I continued on to Pope Paul Maidan and stopped to apreciate
the architectural marvels at the Clock Tower, which is part of the University. The Library bldg is a 15th century french style bldg, while the actual tower is based on the Giotto's Campanile in Florence. It is covered with a beautiful array of sculptures designed to represent the various casts in India. At this point, I took a wrong turn and ended up walking in the wrong dirrection for hours! It was interesting seeing the way ppl live in Mumbai with many private fenced/walled residences and dozen of destitute poor living in make-shift tents right outside their doors. My legs finally gave up on me so I took a taxi back to the Gateway of India.
Lunch is a big deal in India. Labor is so cheap and cost effective that is had led to an interesting and elaborated system whereas the lunch made by the housewives reach the husband, bread winner, just in time for lunch. This is possible by an army of people called dabbawallahs that set up on a long journey from the suburbs into town. They are given the task of delivering the home cooked lunch to each individual person. The wives don't have much
Ajanta - scenery with caves
Doesn't it feel like a scene out of 'Indiana Jones'?to worry about as each day the dabbawallahs gather each packaged meal (packed in tin canisters) and order it by a number so that it can be dilivered into town. Somehow, the system works flawlesly so no lunch gets lost.
Speaking of food, I had my first Indian dish today. It was a Chicken Taki Masala complemented by 2 tortilla-looking chappatties. Dinner was different as I found a stall selling a spicy meat kebab rolled into a chappatti.
I woke up early the following day and headed to the Gateway of India, where I took a ferry to Elephant Island. The sea was calm going there so the boat ride took about 1 hour. The boat anchored at the end of a long pier. I joined up with a solo Japanese backpacker and together we walked down the pier. BTW, there is a slow train for those lazy bums . The path leads to the bottom of a steep climb. As we reached the top and paid our dues, we were lead into the Elephant Caves. The caves where carved in the 8th century and a complex detailed temple was crafted in honor of Shiva. The portugese named
this island for its many colosal elefant figurines. The main entrance has a couple dozen pillars that come out of the gound as if a scene on Indiana Jones. There were several dozen carved statues of various Hindu gods and dieties. Perhaps the most impressive of them all is the Makesvara, the lord of the Universe. Siva is represented with its 5 heads in a 3-D view: front, left, and right. The 4th head is on the back and the 5th head can't be seen by humans. The left head is that of Vishnu, the creator (though some suggest it could be a feminine rendition of Siva). The right face is Rudra or Bhairava with snakes in his hair. The central face is Siva in its true form. Incidently, I met Hilda and Mario inside the caves. They are two students from Monterrey, Mexico (my hometown). They were in a trip sponsored by their uni, ITESM. Funny who you meet on a secluded Island half way around the world! Continuing on with the walk, I saw the other temples and shrines. On the way out, I saw a family of monkeys, that although looked cute, where actually quite aggressive. The
1.5 hr return trip was a bit more sloppy with high waves splashing into the boat, thus soaking us down to our skin! I bid a farewell to my fellow Mexicans as I went into Mumbai. I walked around for a while and had a thali (set lunch) for an incredible 16 Rupees at a cheap veggie stall.
Having the afternoon to kill, I took a taxi to the Hanging Gardens. Nothing hanging in it though. Apparently, the name was given for its location being situated on top pf a series of water tanks that provide the water supply for the city of Mumbai. The pleasetn gardens have a wide range of sculptured topiary animals and flowers. Alas, it can be a sure miss site. The good thing of the park is the superb views of the city, but otherwise i'd give it a miss.
A well, today was my last day in Mumbai as I set my eyes to the countryside. India is one of the densest countries on Earth with over 1 billion people and counting. It is said that by the year 2050 it may very well surpass China and become the country with the
highest population of people. Mumbai doesn't divert from this mold. It has over 16 million ppl and it shows it! The city itself doesn't have much history and attractions. Such as those found in and around Delhi. The ppl living in Mumbai seem to be more modern as well. Many of them wear western clothes. Nevertheless, the city merits a visit of a few days. Two days was enough for me!
I took my first Indian train tonight as I left from the CST Terminal on a train headed to the small city of Aurungabad. The ride was interesting. I took the sleeper class service, which provides a bed in an open wagon. The wagon holds about 50 or so beds spread across in several sets of 3 tier beds plus an extra 2 tier bed system across the hall from each of the sets of 3 tier beds. As if it wasn't enough, there were ppl sleeping on the floor! Although it doesn't have A/C, it does have powerful fans and access to open windows. Thus, it was quite cool at night.
I met Jack, a Britt from London, and a large group of Koreans on the
train. We all got a bet at the YHA in Aurangabad. Early that morning, I joined the Koreans in a laughing yoga session. It was a good stretching excersise plus a good laugh.
Jack and I visited the Ajanta Caves today. The local bus took about 3 hour to get us there, but they ended up being well worth it for it provides a superb view of the countryside and the local ppl. The Ajanta caves are situated in a spectacular "U" shaped gorge. Dating from 200 BC to 650 BC this man made caves stand looking as if they were cut right of a scene of Indiana Jones... more so then the smaller one in Elephanta Is. The 27 caves follow the edge of the canyon so you get to walk along its "U" shape. We visited all of the caves. The entire complex served as a Buddhist Monestary, which at its height housed well over 200 monks. Over the years, they carved into the rock to create these monumental caves. Ajanta is not known for intricate stone carved sculpting though, as it lacks the style of Ellora. Instead, it is known for the well preserved murals and
painting depicting interesting scences of the Buddhist religion. Before you enter the caves, you must remove your shoes. As you do see this caves, you noticed the Persian and Greek influences in both the stone carved sculptures and the paintings. You can even see what apears to be greek facial expressions and faces in some paintings. A testament to the extent of trade between the Mediteranean, the Arabic Sea, and India. It is interesting to note the sharp contrast in the way this ancient Indians dress compare to their modern counterparts and their modern traditional clothes. As where the Roman and Greeks, this buddhist caves depict alot of sexual arrousing scenes that clash with todays modest Indian Society. Towards the latter caves, one can trully appreciate the ornamental circular flower designs. All they are missing to make them European Baroque is a chandelier. Of course, this European architectural design wasn't designed until much much later in the 1700's! Now, to give you an idea of their size, some range from a single room, while other had multiple spacious rooms, and still others had tall ceilings over 2 stories high. As a central figure, the Buddha stands out on most of
the caves. These Buddhas were over 3 meter talls at times and where carved in a sitting-meditation position. We spent over 4 hours touring the caves before taking the 3hr bus back into town.
The next day was a tiresome, but well spent day. In the course of 14 hours, Jack and I visited archeological and present monuments and temples that span from different centuries (some as old as the 6th century) and that covered 4 different religions - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
Our first stop was at Daulatabad, a fortress situated atop a towering hill (250 meters above the sorounding land). We hopped on a bus from Aurangabad that takes less then 30 minutes to get there. As the bus approached there, my eyes popped out in awe at the site that was ahead of us and the sorounding scenery. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realised that the bus had continue past the entrance and was well into the next hill about 1 km away, argh! No worries as we walked through fallen and dilapitating parts of the fortress, remenants to the fortifications that existed long ago. We also walked through various
cultivated fields. It was as though we were walking into medieval India as we strolled down to the site on this marvelous day. As we aproached the site, a tall Islamic call to prayer tower became apparent, sure testament to the muslim invasion that started in the 1200's and laster well into the 1900's. The impenetrable fort was built before that of course. Legend has it that the muslim invaders bribed there way into this fort. So much for extra protection eh? Well, it only took us foreigners a few minutes to climb up and down the outer wall. As we walked in, we could have entere without paying, but instead we were caught and told to go back to the main gate. So with ticket on hand, we set forth to the arduous climb (1 hr or so) to the top. The fort has some amazing Persian influences, including a bldg that was once covered with tile near the beggining of the trek. Below the top, a bldg with Moorish style open windows stood looking over the hill. At the very top lays a cannon with Persian inscriptions.
We arrived to the town of Ellora tired and starving.
After filling up with a thali (meal), we set up to see most of the Ellora caves. There are three sections on this site. It lies on the face of a hill and from East to West in order you have several Buddhist caves (7th and 8th century), several Hindu caves (late 6th century and onwards), and several Jain caves (9th century). Unlike Ajanta, Ellora is known for its intricate and detailed stone carved caves, sculptures, and bldgs. Although they lack the majestic and scenic location of Ajanta, the caves of Ellora captivate your imagination and heart by the sheer man power that must have taken to create them. We started in order with the Buddhist caves. What Ajanta had in paitings, this cave had in stone carved statues. Remembering the caver are man made as it is of course, one has to wonder how many years it took to carve them. The architects and artisans had to come out with a mix of space and asthetics to render a masterpiece. In most of the caves, the Buddha lays tall in its teaching position, which is sitting in a chair rather then sitting cross legged in its traiditional meditation position.
Various forms of the Buddha and other buddhist figures were intricately carved in sizes ranging from under a meter to over 5 meters (15 feet)! Perhaps the most impresive cave of this group is cave #10, which is the only chappel in the group. The 2 story cave has a collosal 4.5 meter Buddha in its center. On one side of the chappel, you can see the Buddha laying on the floor next to the tree of enlightenment. Another cave worth noting is cave #12, which has 2 sets of 7 Buddhas, one set on the left and the other on the right of the central shrine. These symbolize the 7 times the Buddha has visited the year in 5,000 intervals. Of particular interest, Jack noted that the color of the rock shifts drastically and it affects one of the buddhas in particular. The color change occurs right through the middle. One side is white and the other is black. What an advertisement against racism no?
The second set of caves are the Hindu caves. The first two are quite older then the rest. As if wanting to surpass the quality and workmanship of the beautiful Buddhist caves, the
Hindu caves stand as a true testament to the vast supply of good cheap labor in the Indian sub-continent. See, they not only carved into the wall to create caves, oh no. In the so called cave #16 (Kailasant Temple), they single handingly carved a building from top to bottom out of 85,000 cubic meters (1 meter is slightly longer then 3 feet/1 yard) of rock in the hill. The result is one of the most impressive architectural designs i've ever seen. We began by climbing around the edge of the remaining hill. It felt as though you were on top of a 10 story building (at least) looking into the Kailasant Temple, which in itself is as tall as where we were standing. Let me tell you, I have seen many impressive carved building in my time, but never have I seen one as large as this one coming out of just one single section of rock. Normally, it is made out of several rocks carved together to perfection, such as the case as the archeological sites made by the Incas. This one though, is from one rock! What these Hindu did was and still is a one-of-its-kind marvel.
Just imagine the time it must have taken them to do it all without the aid of modern drills or dinamite! In the building itself, you can see massive elephants, lions, and of course various characters and gods of the Hindu religion. The main shrine is on the second floor. Observe the detail paintings and sculptures on the ceiling. Before stepping down, take a walk to the back side of this floor, where you can admire beautiful murals on the walls of the terraces. As you walk down the stairs, there will be ample time to admire the remenants of the colourful coat of plaster and paint that once must have adorned the entire building.
The third set of caves were build by the Jain pilgrims and priests from across the region. As in the case of the other groups of caves, these caves were built on an important crosspoint of a trade route between Central India and the West Coast. Do not skip this Jain caves though, for as time progressed so did the quality and detail of the carvings. Although smaller then the Hindu caves, the Jain detailed work makes up for the size. The main figure
of the Jain temple is Mahavir - "great hero." You can usually spot him with his captivating eyes. At times, he is seated below the enlightenment tree, which in itself is carved in immaculate detail up to the veins of the leaves of the tree. Oh, and right outside these caves, we spotted the cuttest monkeys as we exited. They had black skin with white hair. I enjoy looking at their graceful moves.
By the time we left the caves, the sun had set. Yet, our day wasn't over. After a cool drink, we headed down the road to the Hindu Temple of Ghrishneshwara, which we were relieved to find it remains opened until 9:30 PM. We first visited a nearby Hindu temple where some school children were singing and chanting. Afterwards, we entered the Ghrishshnewara Temple. The door is quite small so you have to almost kneel to get inside. This temple houses on eof the 12 jyotirlinga, part of the Siva's linga. It was quite an interesting experience. One must remove their shoes to enter the complex itself. Then, all males must remove their shirts to go into the main temple. The smell of insence was present on the air. The Nandi bull was sitting near the entrance. The main altar at the back is where you can see and workship both Siva and the jyotirlinga. I'm not too much verse in Hinduism yet, so tried as best as I can to pay my respects. Always hold your hands in prayer. Also, do kneel and bow your head in front of the gods. A good rule of thumb of course is to do as the pilgrims do so as to portray respect.
The following day was less exciting as I waited for my afternoon bus. Jack and I started things off by visiting the Bibi Ka Maqbara, a mousoleum of Aurangzeb's wife, Rabia Daurani. This was built by her son. As you enter the gardens, you are awed by the sheer replica to the much larger Taj Majal. This one is not completly made out of marble though. Jack and I walked down the entrance and into the mausoleum. It is worth checkign out the intricated carved windows as you enter the bldg. The simple tomb is covered with a green carpet. A walk around the gardens is well worth your time. You can even see some of the interesting muslim design of the sorounding bldgs.
We spent the second half of the morning at Pan Chakki, a watermill built in 1696. It runs from a spring. The water was a bit stagnated on the pools, but one could still see the mill runing even to this day. There is a small muslim mosque in the premise as well.
I said my farewells to Jack as he was set to go north. As for me, I was set to take a long bus from here to the state of Gujarat. I wasn't sure what I was getting into as I waited for my bus in the messy state bus station. It was only a room with a roof and no walls. Some benches did allow you to sit down and wait though. I noticed ppl began to pile up in the waiting area I was in and so it became apparent that there were more ppl then seats available on the bus. When the bus approached, it was a push and shove competition over who would get a seat. Adding to my dilema was my huge backpack! How would I fit it in there? Why didn'tthey have luggage room? Silly questions in India I guess. As luck had it, the bus coordinator pointed me to a sit. It was a three men bench seat design for two ppl and with a muslim man already taking the window seat. You could tell he was muslim for he was wearing a nice characteristic hat and a large beard that would make Muhamad proud! I sat myself and I shoved the backpack in font of me. This was not going to work. I was on a 3 men bench and so a 3rd men stepped to the sit. I didn't know what to do with the rucksack so I just shoved it into the floor between the bench adn the one in fornt of it. So much for leg room! The other bench mate was a muslim as well in similar atire. He was kind enough to let me use his leg room as well. So there I was sitting between to muslims on what would be a 17 hour bus journey on an old rocky bus ride. As luch had it, ppl began leaving the bus as the night progressed and by around midnight I had the whole bench to myself. This meant I had a makeshift bed to sleep in
These last few days at Aurangabad have shown me a different, quieter, India compare to the caotic city of Mumbai. I wasn't about to ruin this either. I arived to the Ahmadabad, a city in the state of Gujarat, which is the southest state in India that borders Pakistan. From there, I took a delux bus (a/c and reclyning seats) to the small city of Bhavanagar. It may not have the fame of other cities, but to me it prove to have a good character that eventually grew on me. I stayed at a cheap hotel right by the main bazar. After settling in, I went out on a walk to explore the city. The first thing I notice, heck, the first thing any visitor in India notices, is that cows are everywhere. There are holly and sacred to the Hindus. I vividly recall seeing a young guy distributing crackers to the cows as a person from back home would do so to the pigeons in the park. It amazed me nonetheless. Cows may very well rule the road and do bring traffic to a standstill. I have this amazing pic of dozens of rickshaw (motorized try-cycle taxis) trying desperately to avoid a single cow. Now, this is a city of 500,000 or so, not a small hamlet or town with tons of open grassland. Therefore, you can expect to see cows taking desperate measures to find food. I've seen cows eating out of dumpsters. Perhaps the worse was seeing a cow gulp down a piece of cardboard as it was a green juicy piece of grass! Mind you, this is but one species trying to survive on the city roads. Cows share their turf with pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, dogs, water buffalo, and an occassional camel or elephant. Now, w/ all the animal assortment you would expect to find good non-veg restaurants everywhere no? Wrong, there are hardly any decent non-veg restaurants in India. Why? Well, for religious and historic reasons. Hindus, Buddhist, and Jain don't eat any animals. Muslim don't eat pork. So, your choices are usually reserved to mutton (sheep or goat), chicken and fish if you are lucky to find such a place. Mind you, after seeing what this animals eat one may want to go veggie here in India . Not me though, I can surely use my meat .
Now, back to the bazar, Ah, the sites, the aromas.... How can I describe the narrow alleys packed with sellers on each side. They seem to run in sectors with some selling appliances, another section selling clothes, another veggies, and so on. I walked around it, more like got lost in it . I do remember this juice place where I stopped twice for a fresh juice. Once I exited the bazar, I walked around town, thru a park, and across a bridge to a small hindu shrine that had once been the location of a muslim temple. I relaxed for a bit and took the city life into place. Another animal trivia, what's up with India's dogs? There are hundreds of them out on the streets with no set owner, but a clear set territory. Most work in packs devowing whatever food they can scavange. In some cities, they have even become a nuisance.Bhavanagar is also a good base to visit the Jain pilgrimage town of Palitana, which is a 2 hour bus ride away. I still remember this rickety bus I took to get there. It was shacking so much that I felt as though it will brake up in pieces as we drove. Funny enough, it did broke up and left a bus full of us stranded in the middle of nowhere. LOL! Another bus wasn't far from us so we all crammed into it.
I then took a rickshaw to the Shatrunjaya Hill, which is one of the hollyiest Jain sites. According to their tradition, Adimatha, the first Tirthankara, visited the hill several times. Jain also believe that Punderika, the chief disciple of Adinatha, attained nirvana here. There are over 860 temples on top of the hill along the two highest ridges. The Jain are proud ppl who follow and adhere to their strict religion. Similar to Buddhism, Jainism started as a reform movement of the Brahmanic Hindu religious believes of the 6th century BC. Mahavis, the great hero, was the father of this religion. He was 35 eyars older then the Buddha and even lived in the same border region of India and Nepal. Unlike Buddhism though, Jainism never spread beyond India. Nevertheless, their way of life is commendable even to the Hindus majority. As such, they developed inroads into the Indian society. Jain are really good businessmen, spreading high into the comercial fields. It's good they excell in business and banking for their view most of the other occupations as violent. Not only that, their many beliefs can be seen as strict to the untrained eye. I do have to say that after talking to a few of the pilgrims in Politana that I know realize they must have one of the world's
strictest religions. Like Hindus and Buddhist, Jain do not eat or harm any animals. They extend this rule on some veggies such as onions, potatoes, garlic, and chillies on account of them having souls! They also observe a 30 day fast (only drinking water) once a year as the Muslims celebrate Ramadan as well on a different time of the year. As in any religion, their are various factions of it. A secluded sect from South India lives such a paranoid life that their gurus live naked in fear that they may kill a soul otherwise. I've talked to a few Jain and they tell me this men walk hundreds of kilometers barefooted from temple to temple and festival to festival. Remember, thru reincarnation, they believe that even a tiny insect can be teir grandfather.
Anyway, back to my pilgrimage up the holly hill of Shatrunjaya in Palitana. The entrance to the complex is free, save for a 40 R (Rupee) fee for cameras. There are a few measures for visitors of course. Camera wise, you are not allow to take pics of their god, which sits on a meditative gaze similar, but not the same, as the Buddha. No leather items nor shoes are allowed into the temple. Tourists are allowed to take shoes up the hill path, but must remove them on top. Oh, no dark or obcene clothes are allowed either. Jain in particular wear a modest white clothes on their way up and then switch onto white robes before entereing the main temple on top. Anyway, the best way to describe the 5km hike to the top is to use the anology of following the brownish, and at times pink, brick road and stairs. Instead of a wizard though, lies a gorgeous complex of over 860 temples on top. As if to get your feet wet, you cross a few temple complexes at the start of the walk. It is here were you realzie that they still use this site as a pilgrimage center, which gives you a rather unique experience into their religion. You just don't get the same feeling in an archeological ruin withering away from neglect such as the caves of Ajanta and Ellora. What's more, some of the touristy temples up north in Rajasthan don't allow you to enter the temples during Jain pilgrimage times, which means you only get to see the architecture, but not the true religion. Try going to a church without attending mass and it's the same feeling... it lacks soul! The climb up the hill is not for the faint of heart. I went bearfoot as do the locals on the way up. It probably took me a good 2 and a half to 3 hours in the hottest part of the day. Oh, but boy was it worth it! For the many older pilgrims and lazy fat tourists, there are dhoolies that carry you to the top on a simple chair balanced with roap from a bamboo stick. This takes about the same time as the Indians who carry you need their rest from time to time. They charge about 500 R and believe me after walking it myself they deserve every rupee of that! Heck, as a testament of the sheer manpower in India, I saw a dozen men carry an electric generator using a giant dhoolie up to the top of the hill. It must have weigh several tons! I met several ppl on the way up. Some where shocked and amazed to see me. Some were curious as to why I had come. The cows, dogs, and donkies I saw along the way even looked at me squared eyed. In the end, I told them all of them that I respected and admired their religion and what they have done here. Most pilgrims come here to prey at the Adishvara Temple (16th century), which dominates the site. It is here where you will see them chanting and preying to their god. The pilgrims enter the main temple through a door that has an elaborated carving made up of a semicircle and two dragons on each side. Interestingly, it looks similar to the entrances to Hindu temples as well. The pilgrims all touch these before entering and after exiting the place. They follow this by bringing their hands together and touching their upper bodies and forehead as if they were letting the powers it bestows into their bodies. Once inside the temple, they wil hit the
bell. Afterwards, they will aproach their god, kneeling in a prayer. Some stay for a while working on elaborated designs made from rice. The most common one was the swaztica, which represents the sun and its energy plus is a symbol of good luck and good fortune. This is the swaztika that rotates clockwise. Out of respect, I followed some of them in prayer, kneeling on the appropriate times and praying as well as hiting the main bell.
Jain carvings, made out of marble are quite impressive with their many erotical scenes on the outside and the more reserved god inside. Their main god usually has gems or crystals for eyes. The idol itself can be found in white or black jade/marble. At times, it also appears in gold, silver, or bronze. Jain also respect the elephant as it makes a scene in most temples with pilgrims or gods on top of the beasts. Even though I was tired and my feet where hurting, I forced myself to visit the rest of the impressive temples. They were quite interesting. Outside that one main temple, you pretty much have the whole place to yourself. These other temples are not that well kept though, but many of them are breing reconstructed and restored. The guards will usually open them up for you to
see. Good views can be seen at Adinatha temple, which is the largest and highest temple. The walk down was plainfull with my already tired feet. It tured out to be rather pleasent as I met soem pilgrims from Mumbai. I can't recall their names, but both of them were around my age. They game me more insights into the religion. Most I have already told you about, but perhaps most shocking is the one where monks/priest have to climb up and down the hill for at least 100 times in the course of 45 days. Apparently, I visited in this very same period. As for themselves, the two pilgrims from Mumbai usually make at least 2 visits to this pilgrimage site per year, sometimes more!
As we were approaching the end of the trip down the hill, a man gave me a coupon for a free meal outside the entrance (100 meters). Both of the pilgrims recommended I give the Jain cuisine a try. I did of course! It was quite interesting to say the least. I had some sort of fried straw-looking things and a delicious piece of candy. The best though was the refreshing green drink made out of sugar, ginger, corrionder, and more. I left them a handsome donation as I left the place. After that, I made my way back to Bhavanagar.
As usual, there are two common factors in my emails. First, they are far too long, but I feel the need to express myself in full detail. I know several of you like that. For the others, just bear with me as i'll try to post some pics from time to time. The second factor is that i'm always behind in my updates. I'll leave you here for now. I'll pick up from the portugese rooted island of Diu, where I was to head next.
saludos,
Fernando
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Neil
non-member comment
Great pics and narrative