We've been lucky with the weather, no rain or even a hint of rain, though the days have been warm. If we see shade, we'll gravitate to it ... none of us wants to stand around in the sun. Today the group will begin our exploration of the South of India in the towns of Somnathpur and Srirangapatnam. I'll do the best I can with these, but it's hard to pronounce these names, much less spell them ... at least for this Road Scholar!
I didn't know that South India is one of the world's largest producers of rice and brown rice, accounting for 20% of all world rice production. Look how the rice paddies (above, with Egrets dotted here and there) are an almost spring-green in color and appear in good shape. Rice is grown in wet, usually low-lying areas of the world, including this one ... it's India's pre-eminent crop, and is the staple food of the people of the eastern and southern parts of the country.
The drive wasn't long from our hotel to the amazing temple we'll visit. Scenes from the bus window catch my attention as we speed along, and if I'm lucky, my camera will capture what I see. Feel free to enlarge any/each photo. Use your back arrow to return to this post.
Most of the hotels provide slippers (usually white, not the day-glo blue, above). We knew we couldn't wear shoes in the temple, so Anurag suggested we take our slippers. Easier on the feet than plain socks or bare feet. Ah, but who's feet are we looking at?
This is what we've come to see today. These temples of antiquity are the kind of stuff you want to get your eyes two inches away to examine. How did they do this? How could they do this? Did they have the tools to carve such meticulous creatures? How was this mass of intricate carvings placed on the raised platform and why? I cannot begin to tell you about this fantastic temple, but below I added the English sign board placed there. It didn't help me much, but maybe you'll have better luck.
No spitting, no smoking, no graffiti, and no litter. Thank goodness.
I took a lot of photos, each depicting a god or goddess or a Hindu frieze, but I'm not sure what each is. I wish I knew! I've spent considerable time looking up the temple, but if you want more info, please Google it.
The ceiling is domical and intricately decorated. Above is the "endless knot" -- these are all carved, each different, each with nature motifs and Hindu theology symbolism embedded. Among them is a palm leaves theme, different stages of lotus opening, the endless knot symbolizing karma and samsara (above), one with 'dancers, musicians, soldiers with standing Vishnu and Shiva in various forms', and others. The detail work is incredible.
The friezes are lovely, lovely artwork.
Wikipedia says: The temple is carved from soapstone, a green-grey chloritic schist material that is soft in quarry but hardens when exposed to air. This is not locally available and must have been imported from another part of South India. It enabled the artists to shape and carve out intricate details for the artwork. OK, that explains part of my question.
The platform around the temple serves as the circumambulation passage.
Multi-flowered walkway to the temple.
The Stambha (column) is before the gate of the temple.
That temple left the entire group in awe, as you might suspect. We returned to the bus and continued on to the island fortress of Srirangapatnam. The world is different here than in America, as you can see by these "street" scenes. Clothes washing and plowing must be done everywhere, the best way you can.
Some of these buses are works of art themselves! This one is:
"Anybody Can Dance," with lots of decorations.
Srirangapatnam was the island fortress of Tipu Sultan, the legendary "Tiger of Mysore," who put up a valiant fight against British domination. We visited Daria Daulat Palace (Summer Palace) that's set in the midst of beautiful gardens (called Daria Daulat Bagh). Those are very large dove cotes on either side of the entrance.
This particular Water Gate has no kinship with America's infamous Watergate, but this one has a long history, and that's another one you could look up.
Back at the hotel, we enjoyed lunch and then had the afternoon free. At dusk, we rallied. Next door to our hotel is a mall, of sorts, and (as you can plainly see in this glorious sunset) the Golden Arches. Bernice, Ibby, Jimmy and I decided to see what was going on at the mall.
As we walked outdoors, across the street we heard music from a loudspeaker (as in really loud). It sounded like some kind of rally going on. We dared to cross to the median and, by golly, it was a rally, right in the middle of the eastbound lane of the highway! We're pretty sure it involved soccer, but they were getting it going! We didn't understand a word, but we understood the meaning. Dancers with drums, no less, wow!
Ah, Jimmy, you found a friend in India.
Like the one you found in Thailand a couple of years ago!
Lastly, in the mall, we saw three young people, two fellas and one girl, sitting with their feet in water tanks, actually fish tanks. I'd never heard of it before, but the fish were cleaning their feet. I asked the girl (who spoke English) what it felt like. Her response? "It tickles."
Tomorrow we drive ....
