Bathing Optional

India : Ruins and Tropics, Feb. 2007

Continents

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Not far south of Agra, the city of Gwalior and its massive fort on a hill.
Props from Mad Max have made it to Gwalior, India. These crazy looking vehicles are group taxis called tempos.
Stop! Love India!
Gwalior Fort wall.
Cliffside temple on the way up to the Fort Palace.
Gwaliors fort palace is one of the prettiest weve seen!
Love those colorful designs.
Duckies.
The winding path down from the fort passes ancient Jain sculptures carved right into the cliffs.
Ashe by one of the huge thinakar statues.
Seated thinakar.
Another giant, seated thinakar.
Muslim invaders made sure to remove the faces off of all idols. This one has had reconstructive surgery done.
Wow! Thats one tall statue!
Headless thinakars.
Ouch!
Great carvings in stone.
Like the Sphinx.
Pair.
Giant standing image.
Orccha, an emerging backpacker destination. It was definitely the quiet town it is made out to be but not as spectacular as we expected. Here, monkeys look out to the river island palace in Orccha.
The village palace is now a hotel.
Girl in the market talks to Ashe.
Sadhu.
Orccha boy.
Colorful powders in Orcchas market.
Countryside views from Orcchas island palace.
Distant temple beyond the palace walls.
Views across the palace and to temples beyond.
Orcchas largest temple, the Rama Temple.
Some amazing murals remain virtually intact and very colorful inside Orccha Palaces dusty and abandoned interior.
Orccha Palace.
A long bus trip.
Boy from the bus.
Another wild sadhu.
Our bus from Jhansi to Khajuraho was packed fuller than full so while the bus was stopped along the way we decided to climb to the roof for a much more comfortable ride!
While the inside of the bus below remained packed, we enjoyed the fresh air and views with only one other guy on the roof of the bus.
Another bus with upper class passengers passes us on the road.
Ashe loving our upper class seats on top of the bus with all the cargo.
Along the way, wonderful countryside and villages, and homes with cow patty roof shingles!
Khajuraho, still in the middle of nowhere, is a renowned temple city more than 1000 years old!
A local boy welcomes us to Khajuraho.
The oldest temple in Khajuraho is this granite masterpiece to Brahma, one of only two Brahma, the Creator, temples in India.
The typical design of Khajurahos temples.
Temple sanctuary.
Temple spire, the sikhara.
Khajuraho is particularly well known for its erotic temple images. This is the first of many...
Temple figure.
Sunrise over one of the temple sikharas in Khajuraho.
Morning at Khajurahos largest 1000-year old temple.
The most historic and well preserved of Khajurahos temples are protected in a well-maintained park.
All Khajurahos temples are covered in outstanding statues, reliefs, and engravings.
Forget the fact that the temples are a millenium old, that they are masterpieces of Indian architecture and that their statuary is amazing. Most people come for the S-E-X. Khajurahos temples are most well known for their Kama Sutra-ish sex scenes. Why? Many think that the Hindus of that era considered sex and meditation equal and complimentary paths towards enlightenment.
The temple carvings are said to be a how-to guide for visitors.
One of the main temples in the temple complex.
Orgy.
Temple visitors.
Another of the historic temples.
Smaller temple.
Kandi the bull, Shiva the Destroyers companion.
If you cant handle it, skip the next 4 photos.
If she could talk, she would be saying, Oh, my!
Whoops.
Blushing.
Walls and walls of statues.
Flowers.
Elephants.
Typical Khajuraho temple design, five parts.
Giant boar.
Tiny carvings cover the entire body of the boar. Fantastic!
Sanchi is the site of 2300 year old Buddhist stupas built by the Emperor Ashoka who, following a particularly brutal battle, converted immediately to Buddhism and made it his state religion. Following this, Buddhism enjoyed its most endorsed period of Indian history.
Built on a hill over green plains, the stupas of Sanchi are wonderfully located.
The main stupa and one of the four gates.
Following the inner path around the main stupa.
Each of the main stupas gates are covered in fantastic carvings. Here, monkeys and followers offer gifts to the Buddha, represented by the Bodhi tree.
A hanging celestial figure, one of the symbols of Sanchi.
Monks surrounding Buddha.
The gate carvings tell the story of Buddha. This scene shows Buddhas mother dreaming of a white elephant at the moment of the Buddhas conception.
This scene shows the Buddhas escape from his princely home.
Serenity.
The main stupa on Ashes sunglasses.
Another great Buddha meditation amongst the ruins of one of the monasteries at Sanchi.
Beautiful.
One of many paintings inside the Sri Lankan temple at Sanchi.
The Sri Lankan temple Buddha.
Passing through a temple in Indore on our way to Mandu. Inside the temple, the worlds largest Ganeesh image!
A small town on the way to Mandu. Even the small, not even on the map kind of towns, are hectic and loud in India.
Some peace amongst the madness of the street.
Turban guys.
Mandu, once a great fort and palace, today a collection of remote, hard to get to ruins and a great getaway from the busy cities of Madhya Pradesh state.
Built on a huge plateau that rises sheer from the plains below, the ruins of Mandu are scattered over a large area.
Village kids along the road as we biked around the Mandu site.
Great to see an old, healthy tree like this one in India!
Old mosque or palace kiosk.
This tomb in Mandu is said to have inspired the building of the Taj Mahal.
Jain temple image at Mandus Jain temple complex.
Creative water foutain.
Enjoying the palace despite the first rains weve seen for months!
If theres a phallus, it must be a Shiva temple.
The old palace at Mandu.
Morning faces.
That hair keeps on growing!
Inside one of the palace buildings.
Another great fountain design.
The symbol OM painted onto the hill of the river island let us know that we had arrived in Omkareshwar, a town named for the shape of its river island.
In Omkareshwar, everyone wants to get to the OM-shaped island and dozens of boats make sure that everyone does.
Ashe taking a dip in the holy waters of the river at Omkareshwar.
Boatman.
Boy on the river.
River action at Omkareshwar.
Boy in the river.
Many strict devotees get an almost full shave before entering the temple, leaving only a small tuft of hair on the back of their head.
Temple offering trays.
A holy man didnt let us get away without some powder nad rice on our foreheads.
The few lanes leading to Omkareshwars main temples are lined with shops selling devotional items.
Shadows in the holy powders.
Ashe with her third eye.
Offerings in front of Nandi, Shivas bull.
Right after helping herself to the edible offerings, this monkey decided to ride the sacred bull too! Double sacrilege!
Inside the sacred Shiva temple, one of only 12 in India with a natural phallic stone (very auspicious!), we entered just in time to see a wonderful ritual as people made offerings to the sacred phallus (symbol of life).
This holy man does not look like hes leading a life of simplicity and asceticism.
Girl in the street.
Not too far from Mumbai is one of Indias premier Buddhist sites: the rock-cut temples of Ajanta.
Each of the thirty caves has a giant Buddha image at the altar.
Illuminated Buddha.
The Ajanta caves are also known for their well-preserved cave paintings.
Faces.
Bodhisatvas.
Caves, sub-caves and lots of other nooks and crannies all carved into the cliff make up the shrines at Ajanta.
Mini-Buddhas.
Fantastic paintings.
Peace.
Wonderful carvings.
One of the more impressive cave interiors!
Another illuminated Buddha.
Reclining Buddha.
Surrounded.
Surise over Aurangabad, our basetown while visiting the caves at Ajanta and Ellora.
Aurangabad too has its own caves which are a bit overshadowed by its more illustrious neighbors.
Entrance to one of the caves at Aurangabad.
First light of the day climbing the Buddhas legs.
Cave temple columns.
Worshipping images at Buddhas feet.
Aurangabads Bibi-ka Maqbara is called the Poor Mans Taj Mahal as it is a smaller, less grand model of the original.
The Poor Mans Taj Mahal.
The caves at Ellora have Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu shrines of much larger scale than those at Ajanta.
Inside one of the giant Ellora cave temples.
Some temple buildings were carved right out of the rock.
Ashe with one of the giant temple images.
Inside another cave.
Temple sculptures.
Provoking the gods.
Giant temple guardians.
Brahma.
So many arms!
The largest of the temples at Ellora is the giant Kailasa Temple. Twice as big as Athens Parthenon, it is recognized as the worlds largest monolithic monument -- the entire temple was carved from ONE piece of stone!
Ashe taking in the size of the Kailasa Temple.
Kailasa Temple tower.
Giant temple elephant and group of school kids. We definitely were not alone at Elloras temples.
Passing under the elephants that are carved along the entire length of the main temple building.
Temple elephants.
Fluorescent saddhu!
The giant Kailasa Temple as seen from above.
Smooth Nandi the bull at another of the Hindu temples at Ellora.
A rare temple image: that of Shiva emerging from his shaft of heavenly light as Brahma and Vishnu observe in awe, recognizing the birth of the mightiest of gods.
Naturally, our favorite cave temples at Ellora were the Buddhist caves.
Ashe at the entrance to one of the Buddhist caves.
Paying respect to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Family at the cave temple.
What a face.
Lady at the temple.
Not far from Ellora is the old fort at Daulatabad.
The bright orange Tower of Victory at Daulatabad Fort.
School girls at the Fort.
Countryside views from the Fort complex.
Weve enjoyed Indias sunsets but noticed that the sun often sets or disappears into a horizon of smog that is significantly above the actual horizon of land.
As like many travelers over the last century, we arrived in Mumbai, the greatest of Indian cities, at Victoria Terminus, the citys landmark Victorian Rail Station.
Early morning walkers outside Victoria Station.
Rail Station clock.
Across the street, another reminder of British colonialism.
Much of central Mumbai contains grand old buildings built by the British.
Surrounded by all those grand buildings we could have been in London, but this sign reminded us that we were still in India where urine is passed on every street corner.
Shiny taxi for hire. Where are our cheap 3-wheel moto-taxis??!
St.Thomas Cathedral, Mumbais oldest British building.
The Flora Fountain used to play Long Live the Queen. Not anymore.
The tower at Mumbai University.
Early morning cricket match at the Oval Maidan.
Domes of the grand Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.
India Gate, built at Mumbais harbour for the arrival of the King to India for the first time, it is now a symbol of the city.
The waterfront Taj Mahal Hotel.
Walking along Marine Drive, we caught our first glimpse of high-rise condos in India in the high class Malabar Hill district of the city.
Marine Drive.
Chowpatty Beach, a Mumbai favorite at sundown.
British fountain in central Mumbai.
Not all of Mumbai has remained the way the British intended. Amongst the colonial buildings is the busy, grungy and very Indian market district.
We write about it but dont show it enough. Ad hoc garbage dumps are a common sight around Indian and point to a problem that must be solved soon.
Streams and ponds all over India resemble sewers more than natural waters.
Goa, a Portuguese enclave until 1967, is still a Christian enclave surrounded by overwhelming Hinduism.
Most, however, know Goa not for its Portuguese heritage and churches but as a party place and hippy hangout for the past three or four decades.
We started in Old Goa, the oldest of Portuguese settlements in Goa and the Church of St.Francis Xavier.
This year?
Locked in his air-tight, silver coffin inside the church, Asias greatest Christian missionary, St.Francis Xavier actually looks more like 90 years old, not 500.
The altar at St.Francis Xavier Church.
Another of the many churches still standing in Old Goa.
Church altar.
This old church tower fell, but another church stands not too far away.
Inside the Church of St.Francis of Assisi.
The church in southern Goas capital, Madgao.
Sunrise, the ocean, and palm trees. Paradise? Not quite but Palolem Beach IS considered Goas best beach.
Sunrise over beach huts.
Beach shacks.
Palolem Beach.
Huts on stilts and under palms. Nice!
As with many beaches in Goa, things have gotten a bit out of hand and the beachfront looks something like this in many places.
One of the many boats hoping to take us out from Palolem Beach.
OUR beach hut on stilts for our night at Palolem.
The cross that gives our resort its name, Cressida Resort.
Traditional fishing boat.
Palolem Beach.
A blessed boat.
Beach chapel.
Garland in the waves.
Goan ladies.
Goan ladies, unhappy to have all those backpackers around.
The Konkan Rail, Indias newest and only Indian-built rail connects Mumbai and Goa and goes a bit further south too.
Om Beach, one of several beaches accessed by footpath from the newly discoverd Gokarna, a holy beach town not far south of Goa but without all the excess tourism that Goa suffers from.
The reason Om Beach is called Om Beach: its shaped like the Om character!
Early morning on Om Beach.
Sacred cow tries to steal someones breakfast along Om Beach.
Nice beach.
Namaste, the Indian greeting.
Pain?
Saddhu on pilgrimage.
Beautiful view over Gokarna Beach as we hiked from Om Beach back to Gokarna town.
Offerings over a temple gate.
Lady at the Ganesh Temple in Gokarna.
Another temple lady.
Colorful ladies.
Men enter the main temple at Gokarna shirtless so a lot of men like this man were hanging around the temple complex.
Temple activity.
One of many worshippers crowding around the entrance to Gokarnas main Shiva temple.
Another well-dressed man ready to enter the temple.
The triple lines denote a member of the cult of Shiva.
Street action.
Blessed and on his way.
Legs.
Gandhi lives!
Recently blessed.
Fast asleep.
That HUGE chariot is rolled down the streets of Gokarna during their annual festival honoring the local gods.
A finely carved Ganeesh and many other images decorate the huge chariot.
Prayer beads for sale.
As do many places in India, Gokarna also has its own bathing ghat filled with sacred, purifying waters.
Women bathing in the sacred ghat.
Another bather.
Gokarna girl.
Gokarna is more than a holy town. Its also a beach town with a 2 km long beach complete with mini temples and sacred cows.
Hampi has long been a travel favorite in southern India. The landscape of Hampi is one of boulders and palms.
Amongst all those boulders, the legacy of Hinduisms greatest empire and capital sit, crumbling.
Boats on the river at Hampi.
Lady by the river.
Ancient gate.
Praying figures carved into the footpath.
Ancient reliefs looking brand new at a crumbling temple in Hampi.
Dancers.
Mythical temple beast.
Temple gate.
Why just a column, when your column can be a beast and rider?
At the greatest of Hampis ancient temples, a stone chariot that once rolled through the ancient capitals streets now sits frozen.
Drummers.
Amazing columns fill Hampis main temple.
Prayer.
Dancer.
Sleeper.
A unique roofline.
Hampis ruins have a wonderful lost and deserted feeling to them.
Temple face.
Ancient roads like this one allude to the grandeur of the lost city of Hampi.
Ruined temple and new temple on a distant hill.
Temple ladies.
Not as good as I thought it would be...
Local lady.
Local man.
More ruins at Hampi.
A monkey choking a cobra. What does that symbolize?
Another great temple at Hampi.
Part of Hampis palace complex.
While most of Hampis palace lays in ruins, pieces of it stand almost untouched by centuries.
One of the most renowned buildings, the Elephant Stables.
The coconut man.
What a faucet!
Temple figures.
Elephants, camels and horses -- oh my !
Trampled by an elephant, what a way to go.
Dancers.
Ashe taking a break on the steps to the underground temple.
Sunset in Hampi.
The largest of Hampis temples sits right in the center of the modern village.
Giant temple gate.
How lucky we were to run into this beautiful girl by the temple.
Inside the temple, more towers and gates.
Another beautiful girl inside the temple.
Ashe being blessed by the temple elephant, Lakshmi (only after tossing a coin into the elephants trunk, though).
Another adorable little girl at the temple.
After visiting the temple, we went down to the river where the blessing elephant was about to have her bath.
The elephant wasnt the only one bathing in the river waters.
Lakshmi was loving the long scrub she was getting.
Girl by the river.
Another girl doing her OWN washing at the river.
Ashe showing off her henna designs. A local girl had painted the designs the night before in her familys living room.
More henna on her feet!
A southern Indian tradition, chalk images in front of homes painted daily to bring good luck to the home.
Ashe enjoying the comfort of a Sleeper berth in our long train from Hospet to Hyderabad. Unfortunately, theft is an issue and our bags usually take up 1/3 of our sleeper bed.
Gandhi in meditation in front of one of Hyderabads civic buildings.
A long walk through busy Hyderabad brought us to the city reservoir with its statue of Buddha, one of the worlds largest. We could barely make the image out from a distance.
Near Hyderabad is the massive and impressive Golconda Fort.
Due to train problems, we had time only to walk around the base of Golconda Fort but it still looked great from far below.
Gandhi marches above the crowds in Hyderabad.
Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state, was one of few stops we made along Indias east coast. Bhubaneshwar is known for its huge temple which draws thousands of pilgrims.
Two boys sit outside one of Bhubaneshwars temples.
A holy man prepares garlands of flowers.
Wedding car?
Another man relaxes outside another of the many temples surrounding Bhubaneshwars holy lake.
Morning nap by the temple.
What deity is this?
Shes got a great look going on.
Bhubaneshwar is home to Indias largest zoo which is famous for its white tigers. We had to visit!
A very bored leopard.
Those white tigers are nothing more than big cats!
Indians lions are the last of the worlds Asiatic lions. This one looks like hed prefer if his species was extinct altogether.
This tiger was probably the most active animal we saw in the zoo all afternoon!
Giant boa!
Odd croc species.
India is also home to the rare one-horned rhino and, like the many other animals we saw at the zoo, we were glad to see them as we dont have time to visit all the national parks protecting these great animals habitats.
What color!
Hello, biscuit? This orangutan was taking all the biscuits onlookers could throw her way despite the dont feed the animals signs posted all around.
The face of wisdom.
Chimpanzees!
These zoo ethics signs were all over the place but no one seemed to care. Also, these monkeys looked just like the ones inside the monkey cages. Weird.
Near Bhubaneshwar is the site of a great battle in which tens of thousands of soldiers once perished. Following the battle, the great emperor general Ashoka converted instantly to Buddhism and made his kingdom, most of India, a Buddhist state. Today, a Japanese built stupa stands at the site of the battle, Dauli.
Dauli stupa Buddha.
Ashe at the Dauli stupa.
Sunset over the plains from the stupa.
Good luck or bad fortune for the car behind you?
Drivers take great pride in their vehicles in India. Most goods carriers are decorated beautifully like this truck with its peacock feather hood ornament.
The holy, beachside town of Puri is one of the east coasts more relaxing towns.
Ladies on the beach.
Ashe by a great boat on Puris beach.
The focal point of Puris religious activity: the very holy Jagannath Temple, one of Indias most important.
Devotees constantly flood the front gates to the Jagannath Temple.
The Jagannath Temple through Ashes eyes.
The main street in Puri.
The local library with its newest book being more than a half-century old. We had to climb to the roof of this library in order to get a look at the Jagannath Temple from above as non-Hindus are not allowed inside.
Streetscene in Puri.
Ashe through our moto-taxi mirror as we headed for the ancient Sun Temple at Konark.
The Sun Temple at Konark is one of Indias most famous and outstanding historic sites.
The huge temple was designed to resemble a huge chariot, the chariot of the sun god Surya, complete with a handful of giant wheels.
Gate garuda at the Sun Temple.
The entire temple is covered in amazingly delicate and intricate carvings.
Just a couple of the Sun Temples hundreds of sculptures.
Mermaid.
The Sun Temple, like those at Khajuraho, is known also for its erotic images.
A little too explicit.
Temple lady.
Another of the sexual scenes on the temple.
Its not easy to find beautiful, green grass like this in India so this bird was loving the grasses at the Sun Temple grounds.
It may look like it is, but this temple isnt going anywhere.
Watch out!
Like us, Indian couples enjoy the escape from the busy world outside that the historic sites in India offer.
Coconuts?
Kolkata was both exactly what we expected and much different than we expected. We knew that it was once the capital of British India so the architecture was expected but the quiet, orderly streets of its central district were a welcome surprise.
British legacy in Kolkata.
The old British Law Courts building.
Kolkata bus driver.
We laughed when we saw the old British central square in Kolkata. Indians love their city lakes and reservoirs as places for bathing and washing so we could just imagine the flooding of the old British square once the Brits had been successfully kicked out.
Family by the square/reservoir.
One of central Kolkatas old churches.
Behind the church of St.John, the not-so-respected tomb of Kolkatas founder, a Brit.
These are the streets we expected to find in Kolkata and we found them.
Sidewalk deity.
Making the best of life on the streets.
Living on the streets, with a broken arm, and still so happy!
Laundry.
Haircut.
Shower time.
Having just finished the novel City of Joy, we understand all too well the plight of the rickshaw wallah in Kolkata.

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