Finding our Finals. . .

We brought home over 18,400 shots from our five week trip to Northern India! The edit was formidable, and still in progress. So far, Lawrence has found 42 wonderful images that fit into 4-5 themes, and we will post them here very soon.

I'll show you one as a teaser:

This photo was taken in Pushkar, India, during a nighttime procession. The turbaned men are pulling an altar on wheels. Between the posts are several Brahman priests. Note the hand-carried chandelier light on the left. They move along with the procession, are all wired together and run off a noisy gas generator.

We owe many of our models and new friends in India some photos, which we might also post here.
Betty has not yet looked at her photos at all, besides on the road.

Reflecting on the Ganges

Wanted to show you more of what goes on at the Ganges River at Varanasai. This is a sacred site, and a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage for some.

We arrived before dawn, and people were streaming in through the narrow, littered, congested streets of the old city. Perhaps, as anywhere, the ones who arrive at the break of day are the most devoted.

Flowers and flower petals are thrown in, probably in the same manner that the priest did with us (photos in previous blog post), tearing the flowers apart and saying something before we threw in each handful.

The endless vendors, often young children, offer little candle boats, made of pressed leaves and containing flowers, petals, and a tiny candle. My candle was a daub of wax or fat with a piece of string stuck in it, about the size of a dime.



Rituals include a full bath, often including repeated dunking, facing the sunrise on the opposite bank. Pouring of water from a container back into the river is another.

The women do all this dressed in saris. The men strip down to shorts. Only the smallest of children are completely naked.



The banks are full of many "holy men" and other characters. Like this guy:

The River Ganges, Varanasi

We watched the sun rise on the Ganges two mornings in a row. The sheer volume of pilgrims and their utter devotion is impossible to describe. Here are photos that will give you an glimpse of what it is like down by the river, every day.

People arrive from all over the world to cleanse their physical and spiritual selves in this sacred river. This is also the place where bodies are cremated in big pyres beside the water. The fire is put out by pouring water onto the pyre, then the ashes are dumped into the Ganges.

I've included a particularly amusing cow photo, taken on the walk back through town from the riverbank. It's not a "good" photo but I wanted you to see it, because it's more extreme than our normal cow sightings. We walked by the same shop this evening and--yes--the same bull was in the same shop. . .



Namaste from Varanasi!















Lawrence with the priest, receiving blessings for himself, for me, and for our five children














Betty setting her prayer candle afloat on the Ganges River

Education in India

We were honored to have the opportunity to visit several educational institutions during our stay in Udaipur. Included in these photos are a teachers' training college, a very modern english elementary school, and a girls school.

So nice to see so many lovely young women getting their education!

Gangour Festival in Udaipur

We tore ourselves away from Udaipur yesterday, after extending our stay there twice, from 2 nights to 10! We stayed longer so we could be there for the first two nights of the Gangour Festival.



Groups of women, dressed in their finest saris, walk through the streets of town to the shore of the lake. In each group, women carry beautiful decorated statues of gods and goddesses on top of their heads. Each group sets down their statues on the ghat (steps leading down to the water), and a ritual is performed. It includes singing, touching the feet of the statues, dipping roses in little pots of water and circling the flowers beneath the statues' noses. Then the statues are put back up on women's heads and carried away again.

An Evening in Udaipur

Click here for Udaipur photos

Lawrence and I set off to find Udaipur's local spice and vegetable market in the late afternoon. From the Jagdish temple, which is a major landmark in the old city, we headed to the right, down tiny winding streets. We found a section of fabric shops, then metal workers--including jewelry stores and tiny jewelry manufacturing shops, shops selling metal cooking supplies and small shops making brass containers.

We watched a man pound a pattern around the opening of a brass pot: each good bang of his hammer made one shiny spot. His foot held the pot in place and he turned it with one hand while pounding with the other. Another shop a couple of doors down shaped the containers in a hot fire built in a very small workroom.

Down one tiny alley, a three wheeled auto-rickshaw--motor-driven, not pedaled--made its way to a larger street. The passage was so narrow that we had to step up off the street into a shop to make way. The vehicle cleared the parked motorcycles and bicycles by half an inch.

I have yet to see an actual collision, but near-misses seem to occur several times minute during our exciting rides through town. That's only my perspective though, which cannot be the same as all these many people making their way through town. Looking at the scrapes on the sides of some of these vehicles, I can see that it doesn't always work.

We took a steep flight of stairs to a Vishnu temple to look inside. Men were busily decorating with branches of greenery. The temple priest invited us back for a special ceremony (for the spring season, as we understand it) that same evening at 7:00 p.m.

We decided to return for the ceremony, but had to check in with Jack, Barbara and Malagar at the appointed time. We walked quickly back to the hotel, I changed out of t-shirt and jeans and into the sari that Sita and her daughters gave to me in Todgarh, and we hurried back to the temple.

I don't think I got my sari on quite right--I'd only worn it once for the wedding in the village of Todgarh only the day before, and it had taken three experts to get me dressed! But it was good for blending in, and there were several approving comments from women in the temple as well as the temple priest. I'm glad I did it, though I felt terribly conspicuous.

Lawrence was invited to come right up to the altar to take photos, alongside the official photographer/videographer. There were several musicians and everyone sang. The usual Hindu rites were performed: fire and incense circled the altar in the priest's hands, flowers thrown, water sprinkled.

This ceremony also included some Holi "playing" -- colored powders thrown liberally by hand onto the cloth backdrop behind the main shrine, and onto the greenery-decorated swinging shrine outside of it. Lawrence was also given some hot pink powder, on his forehead, and one cheek, falling onto his white shirt. He looked wonderfully celebratory! Most people just got dots on their foreheads, including me.

The last part we stayed for was dancing. Two. . .guys?? Dressed in flashy saris, twirling around with skirts swirling. Every so often the priest would hold up some money for them. . .We need to do some research on this!

We said our goodbyes and jumped into an auto-rickshaw and were whisked into another world--dinner with Jack and Barbara on the opposite side of the lake at an elegant waterfront restaurant, complete with an incredible view of the palace, illuminated in the night.

The City Palace Complex has several buildings within its huge old walls: one of the maharajas' original palaces, the oldest part constructed in the 1650s; a luxury hotel where one can spend obscene amounts of money to spend the night in style; the current private residence of the descendants of the last royal ruler of Udaipur (it looked very swank from our side of the fence); tourist shops; offices for the royal family's charitable foundation; and an elementary school for local children.

Two musicians provided traditional music at the restaurant. Between sets, Lawrence spoke with the younger man, who introduced the other musician as his grandfather, and told us where the music college he attends is located. We visited that music school the next day, and returned for a photo shoot the following Monday.. . .This is a good example of how we work our way around a town.

It took us at least four days to make it to the spice market. We would start out for it but always get sidetracked. We were going to go back again this evening, but missed it somehow. I hope we'll find it again. Wait til you see the photos!

We know our way around this section of the old city pretty well by now, having been here almost a week. Outside the old city walls is a different world. A young man we talked with last night grew up here, and said to us, "This is heaven!"

Lawrence and I agree. We have felt comfortable, safe and welcome in every place we have been in India. Everyone is friendly, kind, and interested in interacting with foreigners. We are routinely asked what country we are from, and have a 100% approval rating! Many favorable comments for President Obama, too.

For all the seeming chaos in the cities, the people--as well as the cows, dogs, camels, goats, and elephants--are all incredibly mellow. The subject of traffic deserves a post of its own. I would love to make a little video to go with it. Like an unending roller coaster ride there at any time for you to come out and play.

Almost everyone is willing to have their photo taken, though less so in the Muslim parts of town. Most are happy simply to see their photo on the back of the camera. You can imagine how much Lawrence loves this--he is definitely in heaven.

Spring Festival in Pushkar

The town of Pushkar is a holy city surrounding a lake and filled with over 400 temples. Some of those temples are just little nooks with small mounded effigies covered in aluminum foil (or painted orange, or gilded in silver or gold). Pushkar is also filled with european hippies, who often sport dreadlocks and have their children in tow. It's an odd combination.

We happened to be there for the first day of a 15 day Spring festival. It was a little parade through the narrow streets of town which went on from before sunset til around midnight. It was the slowest parade you could imagine, moving maybe 20 feet at a time and then stopping for about half an hour. That made it easier for photographers, and gave me time to draw and sip chai at a sidewalk shop.

Up in front, people made complex paintings on the street by putting down powdered colors--like ground up colored chalk--mostly by hand, but sometimes with little tools that rolled on the ground. After the procession passed, the paintings were trampled and all that was left was a blurry pile of color.

There were two Very Loud marching bands, complete with rolling loudspeakers for the amplified harmoniums, which sound like they belong in an old-time circus. One band was at the front and one near the middle.

A flower garlanded jeep was in the middle, in which the head priest (we assume) was riding, taking calls on his cell phone while people paid him respect by touching his feet.

A beautiful young woman sat on a large lotus blossom shaped seat, pulled on a wheels if I remember right. She had an instrument on her lap and took a specific pose. I think she was depicting a goddess. There were also a couple of horses with young children riding, two at a time.

A couple of large shrines being pulled or carried, with microphones and chanting. Look at the beautiful garlands decorating them. Men had trays of various things to hand out to the crowd: ceremonial water, sugar crystal lumps, almonds and other nuts, powdered ginger (we think) which often got put on your forehead but Jack ended up with a lot of it in his hair. It was a good color for him!

A side note: It doesn't seem that people actually wear flower garlands except sometimes men at hindu temples. I had one on at a sikh temple, which Lawrence had been given to wear earlier that morning (all the guys had one on there), and a guard noticed it and made me take it off and put it in my bag.

One thing I know about traveling: one spends a lot of time being mystified by events unfolding around you!

An important component of the procession are the hand-carried chandeliers on both sides, all wired together and powered by rolling generators. These pretty lights are set in cement filled buckets, so they can stand on their own, but are carried through the very narrow streets on people's shoulders. The light carriers are people of all different ages, and they squeezed up the street and under low shop awnings and through the crowds for 4-5 hours, never setting their lights down.

When you move in and out of the parade, you have to duck the chandelier wires--as well as navigate the crowd, cows, cow poop, deep gutters, motorcycles who still push their way through, and try not to lose sight of your people, all at the same time. On top of all that, the bands were both playing different songs at the same time, at top volume.

I loved seeing rows of women in saris standing at the side, waiting for the procession to pass by. It varies from place to place, but in Pushkar, maybe 3/4 of the women wore saris. The other 1/4 were mostly tourists, and a few stylish young Indian women or teen girls. Saris are beautiful, lean towards red/pink/orange, and look so elegant. Women wear them while riding sidesaddle on motorcycles and scooters, working in the fields or construction sites. Sari fabric can often be seen hanging from rooftops, billowing in the breeze, after being laundered.

We sent out our laundry in Pushkar, and it came back all smelling of roses.

I was sorry to leave Pushkar, but our next stop held new and exciting adventures! (The next stop always does.)



















































It was this crowded, the whole time


















The background in this photo is one of the street paintings, with a candle in the center

Jaipur

On Sunday, Barbara and I rode an elephant named Monee up the steep walkway to Amber Fort, a beautiful old fort palace near Jaipur. The guys walked up with the rest of the mere mortals; Barbara and I arrived in style!

This is not Monee, but a more colorful co-worker. Their days are just trudging up and down the steep road to the palace. Their favorite foods are sugar cane and chapatis. I had neither with me, sadly.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Fort


The Amber Fort is a beautiful old building--begun in 1592??-- with the most gorgeous light inside many of its rooms. It is in remarkable condition.


















We visited a village the night before. Our driver Malagar asked a friend to take us home with him. Americans had never been to that village before, so we were quite the amusement.

At our first stop, some of their work is sewing spangles on the edge of sari material, and doing the rough cut for semi precious stones. One man brought out a handful of stones, mostly amethyst, and had me choose one. Malagar suggested that I choose a 2nd one, so I did. They were gifts for visiting the village! Across the street, another young man gave me a cut Zircon, and we had our photo taken together both holding the little plastic bag it was in.







I was also encouraged to try out the hand-powered machine that chops up something that looks like alfalfa, and was photographed turning the wheel with one of the teenage boys. I think it was animal food. That household has five water buffaloes to feed, so a lot of chopping goes on.

At the 2nd stop, 17 male first cousins and 13 female cousins (whoever hadn't married and moved away yet) live in houses nearby each other, sort of all on the same block. They have an uncounted number of children and teens, dozens it seemed, and several of the immediate families always cook and eat together. Not sure how it all works, but I like it. In that extended household, the majority of them hold government jobs. The man who brought us is one of the 17 men. He commutes to the big city (Jaipur), about 30 minutes away (maybe less) and runs a small guest house in the city.

Right when we were leaving--Malagar was turning the car around as we were saying goodbye--one of the cousins, an accountant, whose porch was used for our visit and who spoke the most English, invited us in to see his house. The building felt like it was on a narrow alley, with another building facing it, and two or three attached homes in each building. Their fields planted with wheat were on one side of the houses, and their water buffaloes were on the far end of the fields. One common local architectural style has many levels with an open courtyard. Catches the breeze and keeps the house cool. Their home is three stories tall, and includes two cooking areas and an attached enclosed barn for the animals, which also has an open courtyard.

When we got to the top, it was all empty deck except for a small kitchen. And it was enormous! About 8 times the size of the upstairs deck at our house. In the summer when the temperatures can be 45C during the day, they all sleep up on the roof.

It was dark by then, and a lovely cooling breeze was blowing. And all the stars were there! It was a wonderful sight. The bottom of the sword on Orion was so clear--hadn't seen it in years--and the Milky Way was right overhead. The Milky Way! It is still there. I told them there are only about 8 stars in the sky at my house. . .

There were two power outages while we were there, an every day occurrence. There is a thing that people say here when the power goes out, and I am translating it very loosely: We never have power outages, it only happened just now that you are here. I get it, but it would take many words to try to explain it if you don't, and to explain why it's funny.

Last night we walked through the town of Pushkar, which is filled with mostly French foreigners sporting dreadlocks. It's a very hippie town which adds yet another layer to the experience. There are over 400 temples in Pushkar. Many of them are just little nooks, and Pushkar is considered a Holy City, a very special place, by the Hindus.

There was a local event last night, a traditional dance and music performance on the grounds of a large temple. We waited quite a while for them to begin, and sat through lengthy speeches and introductions. The people-watching was superb! We are here one more night then we hit the road again.

There's a lag time between taking photos and having them ready to post. . .in the meantime here is a photo of the 4 of us, in a 500 year old Jain temple in Bikaner. The picture was taken for us by the temple priest, who has it down to a science! More photos coming soon.

Let's try a slideshow

Saturday, March 6

Here are various photos from Amritsar and the Rajasthan area. Captions to follow.
Happy 9-month birthday to granddaughter Abigail!

Regards from Mandawa,
b + L




There are many small rituals that happen in a Hindu service. The women demonstrated what Betty should be doing, and laughed when she didn't get it right.









Our driver, Malagar Singh, calls these cute little donkeys Ferraris: small and fast. I want one!

There are many Sihks in the Punjab. Look at these awesome turbans! We got "stuck" at sunrise waiting in line to walk through the inner room at the Golden Temple behind these men.

Yes, it really is covered in real gold. It's washed in milk and water every night, top to bottom.







































I missed meeting this man, but Lawrence says he's a really sweet guy. . .











Camels are fun to watch, and are completely unrattled by the chaotic traffic all around them, as are the many cows (pics to come), dogs, donkeys, goats, pigs -- all present in the crazy mix in the heart of the old cities we've visited.















This is the owner of a wonderful hotel we stayed at in Bikaner. This is the front room of their fanciest suite. We preferred our penthouse rooms, just beneath the rooftop restaurant.