Hello my friends,
I am currently in Sri Lanka after leaving India nearly a month ago now. The last month I spent taking a small tour of some of the more frequently visited locations as I made my way to Madras for the flight out.
For anybody thinking of visiting India, there is much to see and do. Plenty of history and architecture from a whole plethora of different empires and periods, some outstanding natural beauty and wildlife, a rich religious culture and of course the contemporary Indian lifestyle to experience.
On the whole India is an experience I am grateful to have had and has been accompanied by some very insightful moments.
So here I share the last leg of my journey in India...
Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh. This is a small town where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile have lived since the Chinese invasion (1947).
There are lots of monks living here who walk daily from their settlements down to a huge temple (at the lower end of town) where they meet each day for studying, philosophy and prayer.
Up the mountain a bit further is a monastery called Tushita where they teach meditation, yoga and the key principles of Tibetan Buddhism. These monkeys live close by and are always around the grounds somewhere, I thought they were quite entertaining but the Vipassana students may have seen it a different way.
You know Vipassana - Do not fart next to me in meditation, because I will... kill... you. As Guru Jigme said "it's Vipassana, things come up".
Agra, Utter Predesh. They call this place the baby Taj Mahal because it is said that it was built as a precursor to the marble giant, either way it's still an impressive structure.
The detail on this building is fantastic, largely marble brought up from Rajasthan, it is also encrusted with semi precious gems and has many of the original floral paintings inside.
The tomb contains 7 of these coffins inside for various people of note. The Taj Mahal had similar only larger and more elaborate but photo's were forbidden.
South gate entrance to the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal. Well, no trip to India is ever complete without taking a tour of this monumentous tomb. One of the 8 wonders it still stands as one of the greatest archaeological feats in history.
Around the entrance facade and also on the inside of the building are verses of the Qur'an. Inside are two large coffins and some exquisite marble carvings of flowers and almost archaic symbols. The north face of the structure over looks the Yanuma river where a cool wind blows as you leave the Mausoleum.
This I thought was interesting. There was proposals to create an exact copy of the Taj Mahal but in black marble on the opposite side of the Yanuma River. These are the initial foundations of what was to be that structure.
Amer Fort, Udaipur.
This is the forts cloistered place of worship.
Torben ! Hello mate. To follow, pictures of some handicrafts and such that we found In a giant warehouse. The place was like a labrinth, you walked through one door way only for it to open out into another massive room. Yeah so that's Torben on the left and that's super mario on the right.
Plenty of trinkets they had.
Camel bone wardrobe.
Another depiction of Lord Krishna for our host.
Lord Ganesh.
Lord Gautama Budha
Wall Hanging.
Jaipur. I liked Jaipur, there was lots of things to see and the weather was good. I had already made other plans but if I could, I would have stayed for a bit longer.
The Water Palace Hotel, place for the romantics.
In town, where the donkies have to work.
And the goats get to play.
This is a collection of mausumeums for the royal families of Rajasthan.
One of the major tombs.
Found this statue inside.
Hindu temple near the town center.
The intricacy of the carvings were amazing.
Temple steeple.
Local Sadhu, I sat with this man and talked about the nature of selfless giving and the positive effects on the local community he has seen from charity.
Azad at the fine arts school. He paints this highly detailed artwork straight on to sheets of silk paper.
More examples.
Very impressive I thought.
And the elephant aswell.
Because you were wondering.
I did also goto Mumbai, Goa and Madras but I don't have any decent pictures to share of those places. Mumbai is a city, Goa was pouring with rain and Madras was a night in the airport, lol. Anyway that concludes my Journey of india, I will write about Sri Lanka next.
Enjoy life!! Monk
P.S, You can see all the pictures from my Home in the far away blogs and probably more in better quality by looking for world_knower's pic's on Flickr.
I am currently in Sri Lanka after leaving India nearly a month ago now. The last month I spent taking a small tour of some of the more frequently visited locations as I made my way to Madras for the flight out.
For anybody thinking of visiting India, there is much to see and do. Plenty of history and architecture from a whole plethora of different empires and periods, some outstanding natural beauty and wildlife, a rich religious culture and of course the contemporary Indian lifestyle to experience.
On the whole India is an experience I am grateful to have had and has been accompanied by some very insightful moments.
So here I share the last leg of my journey in India...
Mcleodganj, Himachal Pradesh. This is a small town where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile have lived since the Chinese invasion (1947).
There are lots of monks living here who walk daily from their settlements down to a huge temple (at the lower end of town) where they meet each day for studying, philosophy and prayer.
Some pictures of the locals...
Up the mountain a bit further is a monastery called Tushita where they teach meditation, yoga and the key principles of Tibetan Buddhism. These monkeys live close by and are always around the grounds somewhere, I thought they were quite entertaining but the Vipassana students may have seen it a different way.
You know Vipassana - Do not fart next to me in meditation, because I will... kill... you. As Guru Jigme said "it's Vipassana, things come up".
Agra, Utter Predesh. They call this place the baby Taj Mahal because it is said that it was built as a precursor to the marble giant, either way it's still an impressive structure.
The detail on this building is fantastic, largely marble brought up from Rajasthan, it is also encrusted with semi precious gems and has many of the original floral paintings inside.
The tomb contains 7 of these coffins inside for various people of note. The Taj Mahal had similar only larger and more elaborate but photo's were forbidden.
South gate entrance to the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal. Well, no trip to India is ever complete without taking a tour of this monumentous tomb. One of the 8 wonders it still stands as one of the greatest archaeological feats in history.
Around the entrance facade and also on the inside of the building are verses of the Qur'an. Inside are two large coffins and some exquisite marble carvings of flowers and almost archaic symbols. The north face of the structure over looks the Yanuma river where a cool wind blows as you leave the Mausoleum.
This I thought was interesting. There was proposals to create an exact copy of the Taj Mahal but in black marble on the opposite side of the Yanuma River. These are the initial foundations of what was to be that structure.
Amer Fort, Udaipur.
There are lots of forts just like this one all over Rajasthan.
This is the forts cloistered place of worship.
Torben ! Hello mate. To follow, pictures of some handicrafts and such that we found In a giant warehouse. The place was like a labrinth, you walked through one door way only for it to open out into another massive room. Yeah so that's Torben on the left and that's super mario on the right.
Plenty of trinkets they had.
This is a painted drum.
Camel bone wardrobe.
Wooden carvings of the Hindu deities.
Another depiction of Lord Krishna for our host.
Lord Ganesh.
Lord Gautama Budha
Wall Hanging.
Jaipur. I liked Jaipur, there was lots of things to see and the weather was good. I had already made other plans but if I could, I would have stayed for a bit longer.
The Water Palace Hotel, place for the romantics.
In town, where the donkies have to work.
And the goats get to play.
This is a collection of mausumeums for the royal families of Rajasthan.
One of the major tombs.
Found this statue inside.
Hindu temple near the town center.
The intricacy of the carvings were amazing.
Temple steeple.
Local Sadhu, I sat with this man and talked about the nature of selfless giving and the positive effects on the local community he has seen from charity.
Azad at the fine arts school. He paints this highly detailed artwork straight on to sheets of silk paper.
More examples.
Very impressive I thought.
And the elephant aswell.
Because you were wondering.
I did also goto Mumbai, Goa and Madras but I don't have any decent pictures to share of those places. Mumbai is a city, Goa was pouring with rain and Madras was a night in the airport, lol. Anyway that concludes my Journey of india, I will write about Sri Lanka next.
Enjoy life!! Monk
P.S, You can see all the pictures from my Home in the far away blogs and probably more in better quality by looking for world_knower's pic's on Flickr.
