From Kumbh Mela to Varanasi and Kolkata

On Wednesday morning the 6th we take a boat ride to a special sand bar at the confluence where we are sprinkled with water and blessings. Only our guide goes for a dip. But he tells us our sins are washed away just by being there. These are not western style tour boats, no seats. You are supposed to sit or kneel. Not comfortable. For the ride back I lie flat.

the boats gather at the sandbar

a family heads out to bathe

a view of a few tents

Time for the long ride back to Varanasi. We arrive back at our former hotel. Two rooms have been booked for us to get cleaned up and organized for the trip back. One for 8 women and one for 5 men. About 9PM we leave for a train station out of town and safer. The station entails dragging the bags up long flights of stairs. The porters tried to over charge so we managed by ourselves. The men helped the ladies who over packed. Packs of rats live down on the tracks. A cow comes by to graze out of the trash can. How did she get here? We wait there until our train comes at about 2AM. We have sleeper berths. Not too bad. We get a solid four hours sleep. The train attendant comes by with tea way too early on Thursday the 7^th.

Can you spot the fat rat?

how did this cow get here?

In Kolkata (Calcutta) we meet our new guide and head out to the outskirts of the city to our hotel. Lots of high rise apartment buildings being built out here. We are too tired for the afternoon trips to the temples. We hear the crystal/silver temple was amazing, but we were just to tired. We did wash.

Kumbh Mela 2013

Tuesday the 5^th we leave for Allahabad the site of Kumbh Mela 2013. The Kumbh Mela is a sacred gathering that happens every 12 years at this confluence of the Ganges and two other rivers.. All leaders of various Hindu groups have built Ashram tent camps. We are staying at a private camp, but the facilities are like an Ashram with beds of boards. We share a room with another couple.

logging company with "trucks" in front. They make furniture out of the logs

our room

We walk across one of the pontoon bridges to a main part of the encampment. There are not millions of people here yet as really important days astrologically do not happen for a week or so. The holy men are here though and we are blessed by a few. We see the man whose devotion has led him to hold his right arm up for 35 years. His hand has shriveled and his shoulder is frozen. Some of the holy men cover themselves in nothing but ashes and live lives of poverty. Although we see one talking on his cell phone. This is a huge place and some of the older ladies grow footsore and weary. So the guide hires tuk-tuks to cart us around from sector to sector. After the sun goes down the neon comes on in fantastical displays.  

one of the pontoon bridges

out side an Ashram

Holy man who gives advice. Serve others.

A holy man serves others with smoke.

Entrance to a larger Ashram

holy man

Holy man who has kept his right arm up for 35 years

Neon at night

one holy man has the stick wrapped around his penis with the other standing on it

after dark

getting in the spirit

We hear Hare Krishna chants late at night.

Kumbh Mela 2013. I would like a t-shirt for the gym. No such thing is to be found. 

Trip to Varanasi

It has been a long time since we had a reliable internet connection. Our hotel in Varanasi was always going to have a connection soon. Some time later was always named. Didn't happen.

We spent most of Sunday the 3^rd of February with flights and connections to Varanasi. Check in is interminable and I have an upset stomach. Vomiting rates me a wheelchair and a fast ride through Amritsar Airport and then after a short hop to Delhi, I am wheeled through Delhi airport. Everyone in the group follows the path blazed by my wheelchair, jumping to the head of lines and making all our connections in a confusing Delhi Airport. We decide this is a great technique for getting through airports and I was fine the next day.

Monday morning the 4th we go for a sunrise boat ride on the River Ganges. We stop for our guide to purchase matching prayer shawls for us, so he can keep track of us. Herding our group is like herding cats. 

Our guide counts out the prayer shawls

wearing our shawls

A seller of Indian toothbrushes. Sticks of the neem tree are chewed and used to brush the teeth and gums when the end is softened.

 It is very important for a devout Hindu to be cremated on the Crematory steps on the bank of the river within 24 hours of death. The body is dipped in the river one last time and then placed on a pile of wood. Only male family members are present. Women would wail and keep the spirit from leaving. After the fire burns out the Crematory workers sweep the ashes into the river. 

Cremation steps

Holy men going to the river

Color at the river

Bathing in the holy river

Washing

"Fortunate are the people who  Reside on the banks of ganga (Ganges)"

After breakfast we head out on the bus. We visit a Shiva Temple at Banaras Hindu University. This University is most well known as the site of Indian Institute of Technology, IIT. You all may know that Ashok, the intern in Dilbert, studied here.

We visit an archeology museum that contains wonderful statues of Buddha, then the site of the ancient monastery that was destroyed by the Mongols, where the statues were found, and a stupa shrine to Buddha on the site where he preached his first sermon about 24 precepts of education.

At the archeology grounds

The stupa commemorating the first lecture of Buddha.

 We also stop to buy some silk brocade. I am going to improve the decor in our bedroom.

At night we take a pedi-cab ride through the old bazaar then down to the river for a boat ride to the Arti ceremony on the water. We say prayers and set lights out on the water. They drift off behind the boat. Ceremonies of lights, music, fire and dance are taking place on shore.

On to Amritsar

In the dark there is dickering with the porters over the price per bag, I wish there was less dickering and that we just moved off into the station as the bags are sitting in a large damp place that smells like urine,

The porters balance the bags on their heads and set off at a fast pace.  Due to who knows why we are separated in different cars in groups of 6.

In the train station

Near the tracks is a lot of slum housing. No facilities here, People squat in the railroad right of way to do their morning business.  Others sort trash from huge white woven plastic bags.  Pigs and dogs rummage around.  My theory is that the pigs and dogs recycle the waste until the protein content is negligible. Possibly keeping things cleaner as we have seen few flies.  Though it is trashy, mostly plastic trash.

Further out in the country a herd of camels waits at the crossing.  Two people work harvesting a small field of sugar cane.  The fields are deliciously green.

A few of us went to the border with Pakistan to watch the ceremony for the changing of the guard.

The gates on the border open, hands are shaken, the flags are coming down.  Much ceremonial marching and cheering. Lots more spectators on the India side than the Pakistani side,

All of us went later to the Golden Temple. 

Gorgeous Sikh temple covered with gold.

We were able to go inside to see the gold inside, the beautiful colors of the decor and the holy book. Worth the long barefoot walk.

Jaipur

 Wednesday we go early to the Taj Mahal to avoid the crowds, even before breakfast. It is truly spectacular. The marble is Indian marble, very hard durable and stain resistant, unlike Italian marble. Good thing with all the pollution. Italian pollution is not as bad, but their outdoor marble statues are pitting.

After breakfast we stop at a factory/showroom where marvelous marble inlay is done. Inspired by the marble inlays at the Taj Mahal, we buy a small table.

Finally, we are on the road to Jaipur. On the way, in addition to agricultural fields, we see a large number of brick works. A tall smokestack chimney kiln for each and acres of high stacks of red bricks.

Major highways are toll roads wwith the toll booths run by concessionaires.

We pass tractors hauling trailers filled with bricks and small square houses simply built of bricks. These houses don't look earthquake proof at all. And, there are occasionally earthquakes in this region. What would you rather live in in earthquake country? A brick house, a stick house or a straw house?

About midway to Jaipur we stop to tour a huge abandoned city/fort. Fatehpur Sikri.

This column reminds me of European cathedrals.

 

Traveling on and nearing the outskirts of Jaipur we pass many small stoneworks where carvings from huge to small are hand carved, mostly from local granite. I can see the carvers at work making everything from a 5-foot-tall Lord Ganesh to small gift-shop items. These carvings are mostly shipped to Delhi for export. Sometimes the reason you find similar businesses together is that the same extended family of traditional stone carvers just set up business next to each other.

What do India drivers do if the horn breaks? Stop for major car repairs in the middle of the road.

I think they drive by echo location.

It is night and the weddings are happening everywhere. This is a good month astrologically for weddings. We pass right by one groom's procession.

The groom on a white horse.

We arrive at this lovely hotel where we have a huge brass sliding lock on the door of our sitting room and a high four-poster curtained bed in our bedroom; I'm so tired from the day's trip that I am almost dizzy.

Thursday we head to the Amer Fort in Jaipur. When we stop the bus for one photo opportunity on the way a nearby elephant sticks his nose in my open window. Petting an elephant's nose.

Getting Nosy

Since William and I will ride an elephant in Thailand we opt to race up the hill in a jeep with our guide Ravi.

A mirrored ceiling in the Amer Palace.

Farmers are delivering water buffalo milk. People make their own fresh cheese and yogurt from this milk.

Next we visit a jewelry manufacturing store where I bought William a replacement for his wedding ring lost in Mexico 4 years ago. We found a lovely star of India ruby in a nice man's setting.

The jewel like colors of India's vegetable stands.

After lunch we continued touring in Jaipur to the Observatory and Citi Palace.

We continue to the spice market and take a walk down a street filled with shops.

There was an old woman lying/sleeping on the sidewalk in Jaipur. I can't bring myself to take a picture, But this is a country with mostly no government social services. So this old woman who must have no relatives to care for her would have to rely on private charities. So she lies in the street. Also there are lots of beggars we are told to ignore.

Most of the group tires and heads back. Just four of us and the guide continue by Tuk Tuk to a Vishnu Temple built of intricately carved marble in 1986.

our Tuk Tuk crammed with 5 people

 Stained glass windows tell stories about Lord Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. One window shows the baby Ganesh. The story goes that Shiva's consort Parvati kept interupting Shiva's meditation to beg for a child. So Shiva said he would bless her with the first thing that walked by which was an elephant.

Vishnu temple

Then, on to the antiquities store where we buy a beautiful brass Ganesh for the entry. Because the shipping is the same if you buy more, William adds a brass dancing Shiva.

Home through the gathering dusk in careening tuk tuks. There are no rules of the road that are followed except he who gets there first has the right to go unless someone cuts around. Lane lines are nonexistent or ignored. Such fun. We finally get home. It's been a long day but we are not as tired as last night. But the internet at the hotel is down. So no posting until tomorrow in Delhi.

Friday is a travel day on the bus back to Delhi. This is a slow trip due to highway construction.

Upgradation?

 A gravel truck has turned over at the edge of the road and two women are hauling the gravel out in bowels on their heads about the size of my large stainless mixing bowl.

 Trucks and busses are decorated like Mexico, but no Jesus on the dashboard.

One of our number has fallen ill and her brother and his wife stop to see her at the hospital.

I think we are lost as we are using back alleys to get back to the highway in a tour bus. But it works out.

Tomorrow up early for a train to Amritsar.