Amritsar

The final leg of my whistle-stop tour up to Dharamsala was Amritsar, in the state of Punjab, close to the Pakistan border. I met up my friend Jordi there (while I took about 2 weeks to make it north, being the super trooper that she was, it took her one 50-hour train ride). The main (some would say only) attraction of Amritsar is the Golden Temple, which is the center of the Sikh religion.




We were both amazed at how peaceful, clean and quiet the temple was. It's enormous, with a wide white marble walkways surrounding a water tank containing the actual temple. Tons people are pouring in and out at any given time, and the line to get into the temple itself is always huge. But everyone seems calm and happy. There is a 24-hour free canteen that anyone can eat at, and no beggars are around the temple at all. It felt like the Sikhs took care of each other very well, and were also welcoming to visitors. Everyone regardless of religion was able to go inside the temple (as long as you cover your head and wash your feet!). It *is* spectacular - literally covered in gold (100 kg) on the outside and opulent on the inside as well, with more gold, crystal chandeliers, and intricate marblework. And definitely a living place of worship, with continual readings from the Sikh holy book all day and people filling every nook and cranny sitting and meditating.

Orchha

Continuing north, I took another night train to the village of Orchha, which is the site of a large number of palaces, temples and cenotaphs (tombs for kings). These were built between the 15th and 17th centuries and have a combination of Hindu and Muslim architecture due to invasions and power changing hands back and forth.



I happened to be in town during the important holiday of Shivratri, dedicated to the god Shiva. There was an enormous parade (for the size of the town) featuring men with flowing white beards on horses, women dressed up like dieties, young guys throwing paint at you and kids dancing wildly to techno music. And lots of people carrying what appeared to be large floor lamps powered by these scary looking generators (they resembled large sewing machines).



I didn't run into a lot of tourists in Orchha, so I was surprised to see Chris and Lisa, some lovely people from England that I met in Hampi. They had just made friends with this local farmer who invites people over to his fields to cook them dinner. I had a super rustic meal with them out there which was a lot of fun. Fortunately they were out of the 35 rupee (about 75 cents) bags of wine that they had the night before. Evidently hangover central...

Ellora and Ajanta Caves

Next up were the Ellora and Ajanta Caves. These are a series of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu caves that were carved completely out of the sheer stone faces of cliffs in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Mumbai.



The Elora Caves were created between the 5th and 10th Centuries, and reflect the shifting of religions in the area over time. The Buddhist caves came earlier, in the 5th to 7th centuries, and then the Hindu ones were created later, as Hinduism resurged and largely wiped out Buddhism in India. These caves were used as monasteries to live and worship in, and the craftsmanship is incredible. All of the statues, columns, etc were carved directly out of the rocky cliffs.




All of the caves are pretty awe-inspiring to imagine how they were created, but the main Hindu temple, called Kailasanatha Temple, is just out of control. It looks similar to other Hindu temples around the country, but it and everything inside of it is carved out of a single piece of rock. It's difficult to get your mind around how the carvers could plan and execute such a feat.




The Ajanta caves were a bit further north and are famous for having paintings on the walls and ceilings that have survived since ancient times. Some of the earlier caves are dated back to the 2nd Century BC.

Pune

From Hampi I wanted to find a place that was a reasonable train distance away, and a night train took me to Pune, home of the world-famous Osho Ashram (that's the Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh for those who remember him in Oregon). This wasn't really on my list of places I was excited about but it turned out to be my favorite larger Indian city so far. It was clean, had nice architecture and good food due to all the ashram attendees. I stopped by the ashram but didn't go in - it cost $30 a day and they seemed really into primal screaming and dancing. Instead I had another unexpected and surreal experience.



I was walking by this building and saw what I thought was a political poster on the wall. You see them everywhere in India, a big picture of the main guy in a white robe, and then a bunch of smaller mugshots of the other people in the party. But when I looked at the mugshoots, I was like, "That's funny, it's all these beefy shirtless guys holding sceptres". Just then, about 10 heads popped around the corner of the door and invited me inside. Turns out I was standing in front of the practice gym for an Indian wrestling club!



They were very excited to have a guest and proceeded to show off for me for over an hour - doing endless pushups and burpees, as well as lots of practice rounds that got pretty violent. Indian wrestling evidently takes place in a pit whose floor is full of crumbled red clay. When someone loses a round, they take fistfuls of the clay and throw it on themselves and the other wrestler. After a while everyone starts to look completely red, like Hellboy or something. Very unexpected and fun experience!

Back to India, Hampi

I've been so busy these past weeks that I've gotten a bit behind in the blogging. I've actually been back in India since Jan. 26th! I spent a little over 2 weeks back in Tiru, going to a spiritual intensive from my teacher Mark, and then another week catching up on things and waiting for my debit card to get mailed from the States. I stayed with another student of Mark's, Tom, who had a great house next to a rice paddy out in the country a bit. Other than the quick trip through SE Asia with Cindy, I'd been in this area for almost 3 months now and was ready to see some more. Moving on from Tiru, I made my way north, with the goal of making it to Dharamsala as the south of India started to heat up. It was already getting into the high 80s by the time I took off. I wanted to travel by land the entire length of the country to get a feel for it, as I had flown down last November.




On Feb. 16th, I took a 5 hour bus to Bangalore, and then immediately a train to Hampi, which is in the Indian state of Karnataka. Hampi is one of those places in India where you go to and then end up staying longer than you thought. I planned on being there for a couple of days and finally drug myself out of there after a week or so. It's a bit like India's Angkor Wat, with a huge number of old Hindu temples constructed in the 14th and 15th centuries, spread out over a large area. But it's also just a pleasant place to hang out for a while - a big backpacker destination. The landscape is a wild combination of huge boulders, rivers, along with rice paddies and palm trees. With a practically infinite supply of rocks, Hampi is the bouldering capital of India, which means that there were these people walking around with enormous mattresses strapped to their backs. There is an idealic area across the river from town (you have to ride a little boat to get out there) full of cheap guesthouses and restaurants. I stayed in this little paradise across a tiny path in the middle of a rice paddy (I only fell in once) called Manju's.



Manju, the owner, was one of those everyday saints that you just loved the minute you met him. He had little mud bungalows with thatch roofs, and a big gazebo restaurant where you could just hang out all day. The people there were wonderful, and I met some folks that I would run into later on in my trip. I rented a motorbike to go tour some of the local villages and a nearby reservoir, ended up taking a wrong turn, and found myself on this Indian highway with enormous trucks on all sides of me - kind of like a final exam for Indian driving. On the way back to town, I gave this Indian guy a ride to his house, and he invited me in for a drink of water. His entire family gathered around me and sat and watched me for about 10 minutes - very sweet and curious, and then it was time for them to get back to work and me to be my way. On the final day I went to the famous Hanuman temple up on a hilltop, supposedly his birthplace, and appropriately full of monkeys. Sunsets on the hills were a big event every day, with many people making the pilgrimage up for the amazing views.