Hello Good Peoples!
hope all is running smoothly in all your lives
So- its time for the latest stories from Mumbai, Goa, Hampi and now Bangalore!
Apologies if the last entry was full of random thought trains/ India bitching- truly i reckon ive gotta keep control of my monkey mind -keep a positive attitude to be able to enjoy the challenges of India.
Last few days have been lots of fun
Having arrived in Mumbai- Indias most famous city largely thanks to bollywood, this one city home to production of 40% of Indias GDP and known for its shocking extremes of wealth and poverty, i was prepared for some chore like travel in chaotic, hostile surroundings- but i knew i had to go and see it for myself at least. However i was pleasantly suprised by the cities charms. The buzz, energy, vitality was obvious in the streets, the people well-dressed and better nourished than in other parts of India, most took little notice of a lone tourist as they went about their activities with purpose, others were particularly friendly and seemingly without alterior motive.
I was busy each day with full program of activities, mostly on foot, such as Haji ali mosque- protuding out into the ocean and mahalaxmi, walkeswar temples, Mahatma Gandhis home in Mumbai- now an atmospheric museum, climbing hills for views, visiting a hanging gardens and chasing after info on Jainism with some local gurus.
Grand old colonial buildings, huge public parks in the city centre, beaches, mosques (packed for Eid festival) and a Jain temple, enthusiastic kids, riding the local train with the Mumbai commuters- these were the highlights. As quite a cosmopolitan city, it reminded me of Bangkok+some Indian style mayhem.
Youth and others dressed quite fashionably in western clothes (same now in Bangalore- a friend i made today proudly telling me that Banglaore is the worlds no.12 fashion capital....?), females even revealing a little flesh, men well-dressed in shirts and trousers. Saw two separate film crews doing their thing- one at a historic pond another at a beach volleyball scene (tried to get into the background so look out for me next time ur watching bolloywood!). no sign of any communal violence anywhere- the reason why we bypassed mumbai on a family trip back in 1994.
Marched through the cities streets, alleyways and bazaars, visited museums, chilled at the beach, always surrounded by this bustling energy of the city- not particularly hostile, just intent, active, purposeful. Jumping the fence, Dashing accross the railway tracks with dozens of locals in time to catch the next train back to Colaba was a little rush. The Prince of Wales museum was worth a visit, with an eclectic collection- without any serious focus. Comprehensive section on Indian coins dad would have liked. The Baazars were exciting to weave through- dodgying heavily laden porters who couldn't possibly see ahead of themselves!
From here a found a bus ticket to Goa despite being told they were all fully booked. 15 hours on a non-reclining seat later i decided to make tracks to Anjuna beach- apparently a prominent backpacker hangout- to meld in with the crowds for a while and enjoy some good company. However, things were not to work out as i had planned- the beach was full of British lager swilling package tourists burning in the sun, and rooms prices were hiked so high my mouth dropped at the thought of forrking out the cash- so i headed for the inland town capital of Goa- Panaji- hoping to found a more reasonably priced room there. Not much luck- so i considered going straight to Hampi after a day tour of Old Goa- which was lovely- those portuguese clearly know how to build churches cause there were some HUGE and ornate, beautful churches in Old Goa- said once to have rivalled Lisbon in grandeur. When i got back from Old Goa, suddenly the idea of 3 nights out of 4 spent on buses didnt really appeal to me, so i crashed in a dump in Panaji that cost $20 when it would normally cost $4.
ended up taking 2 days to tour the beaches in north of Goa and Panaji town, local bussing it around with Indian tourist hordes and the grim-faced locals literally being squashed by their economic lifeline-tourists. It was hard to notice the famous chill of the local people compared to most India when it seemed like most India was in Goa, but when i got a chance to chat quietly with a few shopkeepers their warmth and genuine hospitality had a chance to shine through. It seemed i was at the right place at the wrong time. The main tourist beaches of Candolim and Calanguete were ABSOLUTELY packed- more people on any beach than i had ever seen- extending for 10km, masses of people, i could hardly see the sand, i was shocked. Met some nice locals though, a lady playing host to her sister from Mumbai, and joined in with them for a ride on a Jet- Ski- it seemed apprpriate at the time even though i deplore them normally. Went for a dip- first swim in India- blissful- i even managed to barely notice the smell of Jet-ski fuel and ripping vibrations of their engines under the surface.
Overnight bus to Hampi- were i was in for another pleasing surprise- What a charming place!
granite boulders strewn throughout the landscape, amongst them, stark ruins of palaces, forts, bazaars, bathing places, hallways, and of course many temples. There is a proud history to the place- location of the capital of a mighty empire which was the bastion of Hindu resistence to Muslim incursion into india throughout the middle-ages. Talking to the people though, i felt none of the BJP style Hinduvta nationalism one might expect in a place with such history. mostly locals were friendly and smiling, offering directions and wanting to share a cup of tea, eager to know my home country and practice whatever other English they knew, in a non-hurried, kind sort of way. Ended up spending 3 days in Hampi instead of 2, saw pretty much all the temples witihin a 10km radious, and could have spent much longer.
The whole scene of the many hillocks made up of these huge granite boulders, sitting above the plains of lush crops and waving palms, winding rivers and dramatic stone monuments nestled all throughout was extremely capitivating, it had a feel of being a place for the ages, reminding us of the beauty of natures contrasts, mankinds attempts at greatness- perhaps in an imitation that though enduring, can only fade in the scale of time while nature continues.
the first day as some local festival attracting many Indian pilgrims but a friendly crowd, i visited a major temple- Virapakshar and the ground of the huge courtyard was greasy with ceremonial Ghee, discarded oil lamps, incence sticks all around, lines of packed pilgrims waiting to make their offering at the shrine, a colorufully decorated elephant another attraction for visitors. The beauty and detail of the carving was immeaditely clear to me after entering and i felt a wave of awe at the scale and beauty of the monument, not even considering the massive and towering carved entrance gates.
In terms of the architecture and iconograpy Vishnu took a more prominent role here than in other holy hindu sites i have visited such as varanasi, maheswar, om kareshwar, where Shiva and his lingas seem more prominent. This is partly because of the connection of the area with the Ramayana epic- said to be several location where Rama and his companions rested as mentioned in the epic and Rama is an incarnation of lord Vishnu. To be fair the monuments werent only religious- the rulers seemed to have many secular concerns too- like the sanitary, economic welfare of their subjects - and so built huge bazaars for trade, irrigation systems and public baths to promote agriculture and public welfare and also focussed on walls and fortification, barracks, to protect the city. Many large ruins lay scattered about the countryside without much to indicate them- exploring these empty and silent, ancient places such as a army garrision, small shrines and hilltop watchtowers, getting to these places up some rough tracks by bicycle had to be the highlight of Hampi for me.
The prominent features of the main temple were often the pillars- ornately carved with horses and sometimes musical notes were produced upon tapping these columns, freizes on pillars and walls of monuments of elephants, archers, lotus, soldiers, lions, dancers, angels, queens, meditating figures. A minor influence of tantric elements barely noticable in the occasional sensous pose or barechested figure. Otherwise passageways, heavily decorated pillared halls were major themes, many echoes of Angkor temples in Cambodia coming into my mind, though Angkor surpasses these monunments by its sheer scale.
Renewed planning for new years led me to decide to head south and further east to Bangalore (where i am now), en route to Mysore for a couple of days over NY, before Ooty- a tribal hill station in Tamil Nadu, then 10 days to relax in Kerala before spending the final few days in India around Chennai and Mamallapuram
so next entry could be from Kerala- happy new years to all, have fun as we celebrate another round of the sun- dont party too hard- my resolution will be to remember my resolution the day after! : )