India

"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare"

The Hare Krishna chant was an ubiquitous sound on our 4-day jaunt to the Vaishnava HQ in Mayapur, India to visit Dale's cousin Cori, and her husband Rafael.

The trip started with our arrival in Calcutta -- pushy indians knocking us out of the way while in various queues (and in the isles of the airplane rushing towards the door while still jetting down the runway). Our taxi driver was such a maniac, careening through the streets on the wrong side of the road, literally hitting pedestrians, etc., that someone actually reached into our taxi when we were stopped, and smacked the driver across the face! The standard images of the streets of Calcutta were accurate -- cows everywhere (even on the highway), people bathing in the streets, pigs and chickens and dogs and garbage everywhere.

We did manage to have a great Inidian meal, however, at Jo Jos, before going to the main Hare Krishna temple to buy our bus tickets to Mayapur. There, we were escorted immediately to the main shrine, and there we stood, shoeless, as about 20 devotees with shaved heads and pink robes prayed and sang and danced with frantic energy. We stood there clueless, as our host prostated himself in front of the shrine and looked at us as if to say, "well?" We had no idea what to do, just being visitors (though no-one knew that), and just tried to look innocent until someone led us away to buy our tickets and get our ISKON "temporary membership cards".

The bus ride down was pleasant, the whole way listening to various Hare Krishna chants and songs blasted over the loud speaker. Again, most people assumed we were on a pilgrimage for a visit to someone other than my cousin, and we tried to mouth the words so as to seem less conspicuous.

Cori and Rafael greeted us immediately on arrival, in the very pleasant temple complex of Mayapur. There we spent 3 peaceful days touring the grounds and neighboring villages, eating with a local farmer, and learning about the Vaishnava religion.

The first night we were fortunate to witness an elephant parade, which was an incredible procession of hundreds of people and one elephant, with music and many sights, smells and sounds that were very new to us.

Meals were usually served on a banana leaf on the floor (Dale's inflexibility caused him some problems here), and were various vegetable curries and rice dishes, always eaten with one's hands.

One day we took a trip to nearby Navadvip (sp?), where another pararde just happened to be occurring in the middle of the afternoon. That night, above what is basically a shelter for cow protection, we witnessed a huge Vaishnava wedding. The focus, of course, was the teenage bride, who looked absolutely petrified the entire time (either this was the first time she had met the husband, was scared of the post-ceremony festivities to come, or what, we don't know). During the long ceremony most of the guests just ate, walked around, and chatted among themselves.

We had a great time and were sad to leave Mayapur -- especially to head back to Calcutta. However, we did spot a Dominoes Pizza delivery man there...

India Pics! (click picture for full-sized version)

Evening activities inside the temple / Getting aquainted with the beloved elephant