February 16, 2015
India update: Feb 15
We had a 4.5-hour bus ride through the state of Tamil Nadu countryside to Tanjore where we’ll be overnighting. It’s great to balance the urban life scene with the small towns and villages passed through in the rural areas. Once arrived, we visited the Royal Palace Museum where the rich cultural history of Tanjore is kept alive in the numerous paintings, statues and manuscripts that are on display.
Then we went on to Brihadeshwara Temple, another world heritage site which dominates the skyline of Tanjore. It was constructed from 1003-1009 in honor of Siva during a period when temple architecture in South India had reached its climax. The temple courtyard is gigantic and provides plenty of space to admire the several temples within the surrounding walls. The main temple, constructed of granite, has a pyramidal tower 61 meters in height. Pujas (ritual actions honoring the featured god) were being performed in all the temple sanctuaries and we were able to go in and witness them (in some other places we’ve been non-Hindus are not allowed inside the Hindu temples).
On our bus ride to Tanjore, I invited people to give examples of things that have struck them about life in India. The following collection of things shared will give you a “feel” for the India travel experience:
· incessant horn honking
· spicy foods
· the miracle of pedestrians, mopeds, rickshaws, autorickshaws, bicycles, buses, cows and goats all competing for space on the road without a lot of accidents
· two-lane highways morphing into 5 actual lanes of traffic
· the people are beautiful
· the colors of the women’s dresses (“they look better against dark skin and hair than they ever would on a light-skinned blond”)
· the wig-wag of the head from left to right that looks like a “no” but is actually a “yes”
· hoards of hawkers awaiting tourists getting off the bus
· simple, humble thatched roof dwellings of rural homes
· the intricate architectural “busyness” of the temple, e.g. the ornate figures of various Hindu gods (expressions of the divine manifesting in infinite ways)
· how industrious the people are—in the shops, fields, and construction projects
· the omnipresence of the sacred cows (seen as an animal that only does good, e.g. providing milk and cheese, and never harms others)
· the daily devotionality of the people expressed in their temple rituals (they’re obviously not just going one day a week)
· dogs laying prostrate in the summer heat
· people stretched out, asleep, in public places
· the absence of sidewalks
· the harshness of being born into Indian Society if not born into the upper caste
· plethora of empty plastic water bottles strewn about and lack of garbage disposal receptacles
· parents with their children all squeezed onto one motorcycle
· the stunningly broad spectrum of dishes in our hotel buffets—Indian, international, vegetarian and non
· the prevalence of monuments, cultural and religious, ancient and modern
· the massive maze and snarls of wiring often seen on telephone and electrical poles
· the multiplicity of light switches in hotel rooms (oftentimes 8 in a row)
· wedding processions on streets with horses, bands, colorful attire
· the long stretches of little thatched roof commodity shops lining the main thoroughfare in towns and villages
· fruit and vegetable carts on the streets
· friendliness of the people
· the challenge of non-western toilets and the need to bring your own toilet paper
· very little obesity
· how few people smoke
· the high level of air pollution
· cricket matches in parks.