The Heart of India

India is an amazing country that is steeped in history and teaming with humanity.  

People gathered on a "ghat" (steps to a holy body of water) on the Ganges River

Landing in Delhi, the visitor is immersed  in sights, sounds and scents.  Whether it is a rickshaw ride careening through the narrow lanes of the Chandni Chowk  bazaar or a quiet reflective visit to the Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated, the traveler is keenly aware that the city is a hybrid  of Hindu, Mughal, and British influence as well as various diverse ethnic groups.  So vast is this country that it has seventeen official languages and eight hundred and forty-five regional dialects.  Most people speak at least three languages:  Hindi, English, and a local dialect.

A man and his son on their way to a Hindu temple in Delhi

Pilgrims at Raj Ghat Monument,the site of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation

Chandi Chowk bazaar in old Delhi.  Note the electric wires.

Qutb  Minar, built in three stages between 1199-1370 AD.
234 feet tall, the architecture is Indo-Islamic.

Detail from building in Qutab complex, where the tower is located.  Muslims used defaced
stones from destroyed Hindu and Jain temples to build the victory tower.



Three cities - Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi - are referred to as the "Golden Triangle" or, alternatively, the "Heart of India."   This area boasts incredible palaces, forts, and temples, not to mention a history dating back centuries before Christ. The vast rural countryside provides its own unique panoramas  and experiences, as well.  All across India, one gets intriguing glimpses into the multi-faceted culture.  What is most significant, though, is the human element.  The men selling goods in the market place, the women getting water at the well and the children playing are truly the "heart of India".

Market in a Rajasthani village

People in the market in the village in Rajasthan

Jaipur, also called "the Pink City" because of the color of the sandstone used in the
buildings, is the setting for both of the "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" films.

Hawa Mahal Palace of the Wind (circa 1799) has 956 windows. Not really a palace
but an elaborately carved façade where the ladies of the court could watch the
passing scene without being observed.

Cobras...yes, they are real!

We stayed at the Naharagarh Hotel on the edge of the Ranthambore Tiger Preserve.
We saw a Royal Bengal Tiger on a morning game drive, but he was too fast to photograph.

My room at the Naharagarh Hotel

At Ranthambore Park.  Tractors and especially buses are often highly decorated.
Langur monkeys were plentiful in the game preserve.

We passed through this village on the overland route to Bharatpur.

Women gather at an extended family's well in Ranthambhore

This village woman is collecting dung for use in building fires

Gypsy caravan passes by a school.  Notice the students in blue
uniforms gathered to watch.

In the town of Abhaneri, these "baoris" or intricately-carved
step wells are designed to collect and hold rainwater.

An Indian family, also on "holiday" in Abhaneri.  We exchanged photo ops. 
Unfortunately, all they got was a khaki-clad, rumpled American tourist.

A professional aerial photo of the Taj Mahal in the city of Agra.

My actual photo of the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built in 1629 by Shah Jahan in honor of
his second and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who  died giving birth to their 14th child

The Taj Mahal is built of white marble and incorporates 28 different
types of precious and semi-precious stones to decorate it.

A decorated elephant near the Taj Mahal, there for the tourist trade

Taken in a small rural factory that makes incense from cow dung.  I was
struck by the beauty and dignity of the women who worked there.

Once the center of a thriving area, this temple (ca. 1050) built by the Chandela Dynasty,
now sits in an area that is mostly abandoned and desolate.  The main tower rises 102 feet

Detail of the carving found on the temple.  Post-Victorian British found the carvings on
many of the temples scandalously erotic.  The area is now a UNESCO Heritage site.

A farmer in a rural area near Khajuraho.  Note the child in the field behind him.

Cows are sacred,  and are allowed to wander at will in cities and
towns as well as rural areas.

Local village near Khajuraho.  Crowds EVERYWHERE!

In Varanasi, the holiest of the holy cities.  These men are
Hindu ascetics or Sadhu (holy men)

"Benares (Varanasi) is older than history."   Mark Twain said this
of the city that has a written history of over 4,000 years.

The colors, the sound of the bells and gongs used in religious ceremonies, and
the noise of thousands of people creates a sensory overload in Varanasi.

Pilgrims perform rites of purification at daybreak in the Ganges River.

Queen Mary of England once said "When I die, India will be found engraved
on my heart."  Certainly, India left an indelible memory on me.

 

An Indian proverb says "Learning is a treasure no thief can touch."  All of our journeys involve discovery and learning, and India was no exception...a wonderful opportunity to see fascinating places, to meet interesting people, to learn, and to gather great Road Stories.

The author, dressed in a sari for a farewell dinner in India

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pushkar Camel Festival

Throngs of humanity move in waves of color - saffron, cobalt, magenta.  Dust and sand rise in puffs around sandal-clad feet.  A cacophony of noise saturates the air - voices calling, animals braying.  The pungent scent of exotic spices mingles with the cloying  odor of dung and wafts over the crowd.  Even in the quiet hours before dawn and in the evening dusk, the air seems to pulsate with the fullness of life.

A combination of dust and smoke from cooking fires creates a haze that hangs over the fields



A group of men gather to visit and perhaps talk business



With nearly 50,000 camels at the festival, men and animals share space

For two weeks during the Hindu month of Kartik (the 8th lunar month of the year, typically late October into November) the Pushkar "Mela" or "Camel Festival" has taken place since the fourth century BC in the desert some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Jaipur, India.

Traders arrive with over 50,000 camels to sell, trade or barter.  Along with the camels, cattle, donkeys and the beautiful, rare Marwari horses are offered to the highest bidder.  The camels are cleaned and adorned.  Some are brightly painted in elaborate designs.  Others sport bangles around their ankles that jingle cheerfully as their owners parade or race them, with the victors commanding top prices. 

Herders bringing their camels to the festival

 

A decorated camel pulls a cart through the town

Camels are adorned with cloths and beads as well as being
shorn in intricate patterns or gaily painted



A Marwari colt. Notice how the ears grow in toward one another,
and almost touch

A cart loaded with goods



The village of Pushkar, a hamlet of 15,000, surges to a makeshift city of 400,000.  The festivities sprawl over acres of  desert where traders, families, pilgrims and tourists all set up their encampments. Impromptu food stalls and booths selling ethnic goods appear on the landscape.  Musicians, dancers, even fire-eaters enliven the campgrounds.  Much is offered for sale, but no eggs, meat or alcohol is allowed.

The normal population of 15,000 swells to the hundreds of thousands during the festival

 

This stall is selling the beads and cloths used to adorn the camels



While this one is selling cloth for human use



Spices for sale in this shop



Children are the same around the world...they love to have their pictures taken.
I was careful to ask permission before I took any close-up photos of people

Dancers performing...it is a festival, after all

Dancers...and fire-eaters...what a spectacle

This group of dancers was waiting to perform for some government officials who were
coming to the festival, but the government officials were two hours late at this point

Pushkar is, all at the same time, a place of business, a festival and finally (and most importantly) a religious gathering.  Pushkar is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimages) that devout Hindus aspire to make in a lifetime.  The only temple in India dedicated to Brahma, the god of creation, is located here, near the shores of sacred Pushkar Lake.  The village has over 400 temples and 52 "ghats".  a series of steps leading down to a holy river or other body of water. The most auspicious time to bath in the sacred waters is the last night of the festival, which ends on the Kartik Purnima - the night of the full moon of the eighth month of the lunar year.   The commercialism gives way to the spiritual, and the Pushkar festival culminates in a religious crescendo.

 

I stayed in the first tent (closest to camera) in this row. It had a bed, dresser, shower
and flush toilet...that drained into an open ditch behind the row of tents.

 

A young boy tends camels. He already has gotten one to lay down, and with
his hand, he is motioning the other down to the ground



This picture might give you some perspective on just how many people crowd
into Pushkar for the festival.  Camps and people as far as you can see.

 

Another close-up of men and camels in very close quarters



A woman and her tiny baby.

 

3 generations of Gypsies (the young woman has a baby in that sling on her right
shoulder.) The Gypsies were the only people who asked for money to take their photo.

I had a chance to fly over the festival in this hot air balloon.  2009, the
year I was there, was the first year the balloons were at the festival.



View of the festival grounds from the balloon.  It was in this area that the
camel racing and trading as well as the dancing took place.

"Pushkar" in Sanskrit means "blue lotus flower".   Hindus believe that lotus petals were dropped by Brahma, the creator-god, and fell to earth.  The place where the lotus petals fell became the sacred lakes of Pushkar - a place where I found interesting people, incredible sights and fascinating Road Stories.