These two photos of the Golden Temple were taken by my friend Louisa. This is at Amritsar where I was last weekend. I want to go back here. I felt like the experience was too rushed. Still mind bending though.
We head to Varanasi tomorrow (above). I got that picture ^ from wikipedia. You can't see the whole thing on the blog because its a panorama so just click on it and it will enlarge full screen.
Mark Twain wrote, "Benares (alternative name for Varanasi) is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
The city is said to be founded by the deity Shiva in 6th B.C.
...That would be 5,000 years old...Religious practice is known to have taken place there for that long but according to Wikipedia, the general consensus is the city itself is 3,000 years old.
Varanasi is considered the holiest of cities in India and anyone who dies there gains instant enlightenment and liberation from the infinite cycle of reincarnation.
My travel book says, "Western vistors since the middle ages have marveled at the strangeness of this most alien of Indian cities: at the tight mesh of alleys, the accoutrements of religion, the host of deities--and at the proximity of death."
...word...
This is the city where you will see the famous images of people bathing in the ganges of off large stone steps (called "the ghats")
At Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi's primary cremation ground, bodies are publicly burned in great number. There are cremation sites throughout the whole city,however, it is said that the entire "city of Shiva is the great cremation ground for the corpse of the entire universe."
I haven't been yet, obviously, but I have a feeling this place epitomizes what one thinks of when they attempt to conceptualize India.
We're also going to Bodh Gaya like I mentioned earlier and Sarnath. Bodh Gaya being the place Buddha achieved enlightenment after 40 some days under the Bodhi tree and Sarnath is the location of his first sermon setting the dharma into motion. Dharma is considered like the safety net of the spiritual path providing lessons on how to live your life. We're going somewhere else too but I forgot where.
We're gone for 10 days. Come back on a Wednesday then our group of 18 breaks into 3 separate groups the following Monday and we head to different places. My group is headed to Calcutta where we will be for something like 5-6 days.
The weekend right before Calcutta I'm think I'm going to travel to Jaipur which is only a two hour train ride away.
My electronic music suggestions:
DJ Distance, Dust Brothers, Flying Lotus, Bonobo, Amon Tobin, Mt Eden, and Little People
UPDATE:
So I just got the schedule e-mailed to me and it turns out we are doing way more than I thought.
Tomorrow: Leave by Train for Gwalior. Visit Tomb of Muhammed Ghaus and Gwalior Fort & Temples
Monday: Leave for Orchha by car. Stop on the way to Datia. Visit Orchha fort. Drop-off (meaning we get dropped off in some random area and explore)
Tuesday: Leave for Khajuraho by Jeep, stop at Nau-goan for Tea. Visit Dubela Museum. Visit Khajuraho temples. Dinner is free time, go wherever.
Wednesday: Visit more Khajuraho temples. Bike ride.
Thursday: Plane flight to Varanasi
Friday: Car ride to Sarnath (very close to Varanasi). Visit Sarnath museum. Come back to Varanasi at 1:30 p.m. Sunset boat ride on the Ganges, meet on Asi Ghat at 18:15....
Saturday: Free day....lets go look at the bodies, man...
*side note* When they give me cereal here they give me a bowl of milk and i then pour the cereal in. It reminds me of a Far Side cartoon of these two fat freckled glasses wearing brothers attempting to make cold cereal and while one is pouring milk into an empty bowl the other, who is reading a book appropriately titled "the cold cereal breakfast cook book" says, ""Oh, wait! Wait, Cory!... Add the cereal first and then the milk!"
Sunday: Train to Gaya early morning. Take cars to Bodhgaya. Mid-afternoon achieve enlightenment. Visit Mahabodhi temple.
Monday: Leave for Rajgir. Stay for two hours and then leave for Nalanda. No clue what we're doing in Rajgir...Return to Bodhgaya around mid-day
Tuesday: school stuff
Wednesday: Get back to Delhi by plane morning. Remainder of day free.
Saturday/Sunday: Free Weekend. Possibly visiting Jaipur.
Monday: Calcutta for the week
alright...
another good quote from my guide book:
"It is impossible not to be astonished by India. Nowhere on Earth does humanity present itself in such a dizzying, creative burst of cultures and religions, races and tongues. Enriched by successive waves of migration and marauders from distant lands, every one of them left an indelible imprint which was absorbed into the Indian way of life. Every aspect of the country presents itself on a massive, exaggerated scale, worthy in comparison only to the superlative mountains that overshadow it. It is this variety which provides a breathtaking ensemble for experiences that is uniquely Indian. Perhaps the only thing more difficult than to be indifferent to India would be to describe or understand India completely. There are perhaps very few nations in the world with the enormous variety that India has to offer. Modern day India represents the largest democracy in the world with a seamless picture of unity in diversity unparalleled anywhere else."
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