WISDOM: "A person does not become old until his or her regrets take the place of his or her dreams." --Unknown
SOUL TRAVEL: FROM A TIBETAN VILLAGE TO ANCIENT CAVES
Southern India - Part 4
We are travelling north into the mountains and away from the sea. The scenery is still lush with a combination of jungle, plantations, and mountain views. Our destination is a rural region known as Coorg. "Coorg" is the name of a local forest tribe. Many of these tribal people continue to dwell in the forest, much as their ancestors did, having rejected the more "civilized" homes the government has built for them. They are not considered Indians. Coffee plantations are everywhere. At the end of a narrow dirt road, we enter the lovely Orange Country Resort, which is a surprise in the middle of the jungle. It sits on a river and its extensive grounds include its own coffee plantation. Above the reception desk are plaques that say, "RCI Gold Crown Resort" and "Resort of International Distinction." I discover this is a timeshare resort that is mostly frequented by Indians. I settle in, enjoy a swim, and take a tour of the coffee plantation.
The next morning Manoj and I head for the Tibetan Village, a very slow forty kilometers away. Manoj, my very special guide I told you about in June's Museletter, has never been here. Expecting a small, rather poor enclave of Tibetans, we are both overwhelmed by what we see. This is a major training ground for monks and an important religious center. It was established in 1960, at the same time as Dharmsala in the North, by a group of Tibetans fleeing the Chinese invasion. Dharmsala, however, is close to the Tibetan border, while this settlement is buried in a remote area deep within southern India and, therefore, seems somewhat incongruous. Four magnificent temples dominate the center of the village and a fifth is being constructed. The temples are large halls. Inside sit giant figures of Buddha and other religious statues covered in gold leaf, decorative altars with intricate butter sculptures, ornate throne chairs for the Dalai Lama, who comes to visit every two years, floors polished to a mirror finish, and an abundance of silk banners. Dormitories for the monks and pleasant landscaping surround the temples. This community obviously has significant financial support.
A resounding gong announces lunch. The monks, who are outside taking a break, swarm into the large hall of one of the temple buildings. Each settles on a red cushion on the floor and sets out a plate and cup. Several monks emerge, from what must have been a kitchen, carrying pails of rice; others follow with pails of vegetable curry; and still others with pails of water or perhaps it is tea. Scurrying from one row to the next, they race up and down the rows plopping food on plates and filling cups. In one-half hour, they have served at least one thousand monks. It was like watching a human ant colony. No one touches their food until everyone is served. Then, after chanting a prayer, the monks begin to eat and remain quiet.
I ask one of our hosts whether there are any girl monks. "Oh, yes," he said. "As you go out of town you will see a temple and dormitory for girls." Curiosity commanded a visit. The girl's temple is very modest and the size of an ordinary house. Perhaps there are 75-100 girls here. It is hard to tell they are girls as they also shave their heads and wear the loose red robes that are the typical garb of Buddhist monks. Clearly, female monks are still very much a minority and have much less financial support than the males. Historically, I do know whether the number of female monks is increasing, and my Western head is not sure I wish for it to do so. For a child to become a monk is an honor for the family, but these children are often no more than six or seven years old when they are "given" to the monasteries. For many families, it is the only way their child will be fed, clothed and educated. Without a doubt, the system is difficult for Westerners to understand.
I am curious about these young people--how they view their lifestyle and long hours of devotional chanting. Do they see their lives as a choice or a duty? Are they happy and at peace in mind, body and spirit? Do many leave the safety of the monastery as adults? Could they exist outside of that environment? Are they brothers? What are the politics inside? What kind of issue is puberty for all these young men? Perhaps someday I will have the privilege of getting my questions answered and be able to write this story, for I am truly fascinated. Perhaps the whole phenomenon is one of the great spiritual quests that exist in and power our present world.
On the way back to the resort, Manoj and I explore a side road to an elephant camp across the river. Serendipity once again! A gorgeous river landscape unfolds. Manoj exclaims, "So this is where that photograph was taken," as he remembers an impressive photo he had seen in an ad. Several tribal women are washing clothes and taking time out to splash and frolic with their children in the river. One young girl keeps standing up, then throwing herself into the water, whooping with joy and singing all the while. For two hours, we laugh with them and photograph them. They giggle at our picture taking. It is times like these that I am especially thankful I am not with a tour.
I leave Manoj two days later at Nagarole, one of the major wildlife sanctuaries in India. Although I saw a lot of wildlife there, I did not see a tiger, which was a disappointment. Seeing a tiger in the wild is a primary reason for me to return to India. And return, I shall. For now, it is on to Mysore.
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In Mysore I met my new guide, Kumar. (Kumar was a good guide; he just badly needed deodorant.) Mysore is a "splendid city of palatial buildings, beautiful gardens and handsome, tree-lined boulevards" to quote the guidebook. "The Maharajah's Palace of Mysore is the most beautiful palace in India", Kumar tells me. And it is. No photographs are allowed inside, for it has paintings everywhere and flash photography will harm them. The great halls have magnificent pillars and inlaid floors. Some of the ceilings and some of the doors are carved rosewood. Some doors are solid silver with panels of hand-hammered silver bas relief. Many of the ceilings are a series of paintings that have been painted on the ground and then nailed to the ceiling. There are magnificent domes and scalloped arches (Hindu-Islamic architecture}, stained glass from Belgium, and chandeliers from Czechoslovakia! Best of all, I am here on the one day of the week when they light the outside of the palace at night. What a sight that is!
We leave Mysore, stop at other palaces and other temples along the way and a day later arrive at Hampi, a World Heritage Site, often referred to as India's Pompeii because it is so well preserved. This is a massive site (6900 acres) and was once the greatest of all Hindu capitals. It was begun in 1336 and was at its height in the early 16th century when the Vajayanagar kings ruled an empire that extended from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal and south to the tip of India. Here they created a "showpiece of imperial magnificence." There are many large temples with sculptured columns, large statues, "some have been hewn from single blocks of granite up to 7 meters high," bazaars, bath complexes, imperial elephant stables, palaces and a grand stone chariot that once was drawn through the streets by hundreds of men. From one temple, you look out over a hill that was the supposed birthplace of Hanuman, the monkey god. A mighty civilization was present here and the conscious tourist can touch and feel its vanquished glory. Excavation is still going on and there is a continuing effort to restore it as much as possible to something of its former grandeur. If you are in India and anywhere close enough to get here, it is not to be missed.
Now, being somewhat concerned about exhausting your attention span, I must skip ahead to the last stop on my trip. Arriving back in Bombay (Mumbai), I hop another short flight to Aurangabad and meet my guide, Alim, who is a delight. The destination is the Ajanta and Ellora caves, two more spectacular World Heritage sites. At Ajanta there are 32 caves, some unfinished, that were chiselled with primitive tools from the ceiling down out of the basaltic mountainsides over a period of 900 years. Work on them began approximately 200 years B.C. and were undertaken by Buddhists who were seeking a secret sanctuary away from Hindu persecution. The Hindu priests at that time were actively trying to kill the Buddhist monks as Buddhism was attracting many Hindus. Overtaken by the jungle, the Ajanta caves remained hidden for 1000 years until they were discovered early in the 19th century. Beautiful and remarkably preserved murals adorn the walls. Amazingly, many of them show the use of perspective which did not emerge in European art until well past the Renaissance. The caves include pillars, sculptures and ceilings that have stave-like beams carved out of the rock. "The technical feat is staggering."
Work on the nearby Ellora caves began in the 6th century and continued up until the 11th century. The first temples are Buddhist. Later, the Hindus built temples here and later still, the Jains. Most are filled with sculptures. Once there were also paintings but, contrary to the Ajanta caves, these caves were never "lost" and, after they were no longer used for religious purposes, people lived in them. The paintings were lost to fire and smoke. We are standing in cave #10. The temple is a long rectangle. A gigantic stone Buddha fills one end. The ribs of the knave are gorgeous with serpent kings and serpent queens at the end of each rib and, underneath the ribs, a carved frieze runs all the way around the temple. Two Buddhist monks are walking around the Buddha. One is chanting. His beautiful, deep voice is reverberating throughout the temple. The sound resonates inside my head and is calming and mystifying.
We are now entering temple #16. "This is the most stupendous work ever executed in this country," says Amil. And it is the largest cut-out monolithic structure in the world. Seventy-five meters high, six thousand people worked on this particular temple for about 130 years, cutting from the top to the bottom with only an iron chisel and iron hammer. Every surface of the temple is sculptured and the overall shape is supposed to resemble a chariot. Also chiseled out of the rock surrounding the temple are cubicles that served as the accommodations for the monks. To be exposed to an example of such endurance, accomplishment, dedication, and artistry, as all of these caves represent, reinforces the human spirit. India can do that for those who travel to this exciting part of the world.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: The purpose of life is to contribute to life. Why does it have to be any more complicated than that?
NEXT MONTH: ON SAFARI IN ZAMBIA
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WINGS Vol. III, No 6, September, 2004
