Incredible !ndia : Temples and Mario Kart

This morning we got an early start, waking up at 6 AM to grab breakfast and get on a bus at 7 AM for our giant day trip of visiting two cities called Kancheeparum and Mamalaparum.

The two-hour westward drive from Chennai to Kancheeparum consisted of taking a nap in the back of the bus and swatting small mosquitoes. We arrived in Kancheeparum around 9:30. It is a more rural town, with some dirt roads and lots of cows and goats. It is known as “the land of a thousand temples.” It's pretty much true. Everywhere you look there was another Hindu temple.

We went into two temples. The first was was outside, not covered, and we took off our shoes and walked around. Though it was mostly stone-colored, everything used to be painted but over the hundreds of years that it had been there the color wore off. Chiseled into the rocks were inscriptions in Sanskrit as well as sculptures of the various Hindu gods. Each carving had a story behind it. For instance, one of them showed a god whose leg was bent way up by his head, smiling, and dancing. The story goes that he was challenged by a dancer and showed off his skill. In the middle of the temple was a room we were not allowed to go into, but we saw the idol inside.

The second temple, which was a Shiva temple, was much bigger. It was covered and wasn't directly exposed to the sun so it was a little darker and a little more dank. On the way to it, we saw a painting representing how that particular temple was made: the story goes that Parvati, Shiva's wife, covered his eyes, and darkness fell over the world. In order to make up for the darkness she caused, Shiva sent her down to earth to plant a mango tree and build a temple. We saw that mango tree, which is supposedly 3500 years old.

Once again, within the middle of the temple was a room only Hindus could enter, so we went around it. We saw a small cage with 9 idols, each representing a planet in the solar system. There were also lines of an idol that represents Shiva and Parvati, and very abstractly represents the male/female genitalia.

I am fascinated by the Hindu religion. The imagery is stunning and powerful and the legends and history are strong and rich. I hope to educate myself more on Hindu during this trip and when I get back to the US. The trip to the temples helped to take away a lot of the mystery of Hinduism, but opened up many more doors for understanding.

After the temples we went to a silk shop and then got on the bus and drove to the next city, Mamalaparum. The first thing we did was stop for lunch and I tried a lot of new Indian food and it was all very good. I was told they dumbed down the spices for us, for which I was thankful, but I could have taken a little bit more of a punch.

They brought us to what we thought was a playground because it was swarming with children. We greeted them all Namaste and they loved it. We took lots of pictures. One kid went around asking “what is name? What is name?”and didn't even give us a chance to answer. The kids were all climbing over this stuff so we did too and when we left an Indian woman seemed mad at us and told us that they are very old monuments and we need to set a better example. I felt horrible, because the impression I wanted to leave was not one of disgracing holy monuments.

Then they took us to a natural body of water, clean (they said), where we could swim if we wanted. Of course we wanted to wade, it was so hot and we were all sweaty. Some people splashed their faces and some went in a little more. There was a cliff that was pretty high, probably around 30 feet, straight up on one side and a staircase on the other side to walk up and jump. Isaiah and I jumped off of the cliff and into the water! It was one of the most exhilarating things we have ever done. I'm totally kidding, mom and Joan. None of that happened. this entire paragraph is fiction.

Before leaving, we visited the shore temple, a temple that is literally on the shore of a beach, separated only by some trees and rocks. The part where we could walk was outside, and the room in the middle was closed (not that we would be able to go in anyway).

The annoying guys on the street trying to sell you stuff here seem much more desperate than any other street vendors I have seen. It seems as if they really NEED this stuff to survive, not just trying to make a quick buck. I ended up buying an Om necklace for 30 rupees (like 60 cents) and a really cool elephant sculpture for $2. We bought from this particular vendor because we saw the people actually making these things by hand, right in front of us.

The bus drove us back to the ship, where we had a quick dinner, and then I went out for a friend's birthday.

There were 8 of us for Julia's birthday, and we were going to the Park Hotel for a nice dinner. Our transportation of choice were the auto-rickshaws. They are the cheapest form on transportation available, and for good reason. They are a three-wheeled automobile, it can fit three people in the back, one in the front next the driver, whose steering wheel is more like a motorcycle's handlebars.

The driving in India is crazy. It is more of a give-and-take system where when you can scoot by someone, you just go. People drive against traffic all the time. The best way I can describe it is ordered chaos. It seems like everyone is doing their own thing but there is a sense of organization about it. It is Mario Kart.

So there were four of us in each rickshaw. They try to charge you way too much; we were told that it shouldn't be more than 50 rupees for the ENTIRE car, but we say 50 rupees per person. They try to rip us off but we eventually get it our way. 200 rupees for a trip is a great deal.

So we got two rickshaws. A quarter of the way through our drive, we make a daring left turn and pull over. One of their buddy rickshaws needed some help because he was out of gas. So, the other rickshaw full of our friends drove behind the broken one and the driver put his foot out and pushed the other one. That's right, PUSHED him down the streets. We were driving behind this one too, so we are sort of in a triangle formation and creeping into the lane of oncoming traffic. Then we split up because they took him to a gas station.

So we turn down a sidestreet to wait for the other rickshaw, and the driver asks our friend next to him, Spencer, if he wanted to drive. At first he was terrified, but he gave it a try. The driver gave him some pointed and he drove a little bit.

They don't really stop at stop signs and as soon as a traffic light turns green everybody starts honking. The honking! Everyone honks, and I feel like when I get back to the US I won't hear honking which is dangerous.

We made it to the restaurant safely, and had a great dinner. They gave us a free cake for Julia's birthday. This restaurant and the hotel was known for their chocolate devil's food cake, and it was REALLY REALLY good. I also had a garlic type of bread called garlic naan which was also really good.

Our rickshaw drive back was not nearly as heart-racing as our ride there, but it felt even more like a video game. On the way to the port, there was a giant line of trucks trying to get into the gate, with enough room to their left for a rickshaw, so our driver decided to drive in this little strip of road. It was like an X-Wing in the Death Star. But it turns out we couldn't get in that gate so we went AGAINST TRAFFIC to backtrack to a place we could turn around.

They dropped us off a ways from the port and we had to walk quite a ways. We passed a few beggars and it is very difficult to ignore them, but that is the only thing to do. Some child beggars work for people, and we are told that if we want to help there poor there are a number or reputable charities to which we can donate.

We made it back safe and sound, another great day in India.