In this chapter I will talk about the different religious festivals that I managed to visit during my stay in India. Just a remark, the Hindu calender refers to the moon and not to the sun, that's why the exact dates of festivals change every year.
October 2011 started with the Durga Puja, which lasts for ten days and is a very important festival in Bengal. The final four days are the most interesting, because during this time it is thought that the mother goddess descends to earth and returns at the tenth day.
Unfortunately, I did not have the time to visit Kolkatta during that period, because I have heard that the city transforms during these last four days totally, and that it is a great event when the statues of the Goddess are given to the river. Anyhow, fortunately there is a big community of Bengali in Bangalore who organized a special venue for the Durga Puja at the Palace grounds. I went there together with some lab mates on the 8th day of the puja.
By chance, we first entered a place of the Birhan Durga Puja, where the shrine was made of a row of five different gods, all in quite light colors. In the center was the Mother Goddess, killing a bad demon. We entered the line of people to pass by the Goddess: first, there was a priest and an assistant who distributed some flower blossoms, and people could leave some money in a small bowl. Then we marched along the god statues and several gifts were laid out to them (some coconut and flowers), at the end of the line were another two priests, one puts a red dot on your forehead, the other gives a small sweet ball (laddu, very tasty). The distribution of sweets or food after the visit of a temple is common in India, people told me that some temples are very famous for their sweets, which are not available elsewhere!
After this start, we went to the next area where the Bengali Durga Puja was. Entering the hall, I understood that my colleagues went for only one thing - the food! There was a nice idol and shrine set up in the main hall, which I managed to see more detailed the following day, but the most space was taken by vendors of different things (clothes, gifts, spices or furniture) and food stalls. The food court was the most busy one, and the dishes looked all very tasteful. Especially we tried the typical Bengali dishes like some fish and prawns. It was interesting to see, how this religious festival turns to a occasion for people to go out and meet people. When we left the ground at 9pm, the influx of people increased enormously and I was told that the place is open until 1.30 am (i.e. the Bangalore law makes an exception for those pujas).
The following day a friend from NCBS suggested me to accompany her to the Navratri (means nine nights) festival which also took place at the palace grounds. This festival has its origins in Gujarat and Rajastan (north-eastern India) and is another puja to honor the mother goddess Shakti. A special feature during this festival is the performance of two traditional dances, the garba, a circular dance, and the dandia-ras, a stick dance. Actually, we went to a kind of dance competitions where many participants wore beautiful colorful dresses and competed in dancing skill and duration: one session for the kids (5-14 years) lasted for about 40 min with increasing music speed in the last 10 min. Besides that, there was a big live band, and everyone could dance in between the competitions (kids, adults, in both dances). It was a great fun to dance some rounds of garba, and to see so many nice dressed people of all generations. We left at 12.30 am, but I was told that the dance would go on until 4 am!
Diwali 2011 was on October 26, and it is THE Indian festival (according to my Indian colleagues). This festival of light is celebrated all over India, it is even the beginning of the new year in Gujarat. The central part of this festival is to burn crackers and firework, which means that you fell like in a war zone starting from two days before and after Diwali which means that you can hear some bomb blasts all the time from somewhere and that you should watch out for sparking crackers when you are walking on the street (especially when it turns night). The day itself, the people gather wiht friends or their families wearing new clothes (normally Sarees or Kurthas), have some food together and burn crackers like crazy (the days before were just a warm up). At my place, the Mandara hostel, the people of NCBS organized a party, where we first played some social games (also common on diwali), had food, nice fireworks and music to dance! the place was nicely decorated with colorful ornaments on the floor and a table for the god Shiva with flowers, candles and fruits. Then we had some Indian food and sweets, and went out for the fireworks (it was a lot). The best was the music after the fireworks, and we danced for a couple of hours to bollywood music. that was a new experience for me, and I liked a lot the mix of indian dance moves and jazz steps. Men and women were eagaly danciong, but not too much together, more in circles. It was pure fun, and I hope to find more such occasions in future. It is a pitty that dancing is normally not allowed in bars and clubs in Bangalore.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Trio Trip to North India
Dear all, thanks to some heavy rain which restrains me at the institute until the shuttle bus can drive me dry and save home, I have some time t write finally an English short report of my one week trip to the north of India in the first week of August.
Joka, a visitor student from Munich, Jasna, a friend of her coming from Stuttgart, and me, we started the trip in Delhi, and continued after two days to Agra, and discovered then the Rajastan cities Jaipur, Bikaner and Jodhpur.
Day 1 and 2 (Delhi): The first day in Delhi, we were welcomed by very hot weather. Nevertheless, we started to discover the city per pedes, and went first to the observatory Janta Mantar. This complex of different buildings to measure declination, azimuth angles or the position of celestial objects was erected in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur.
After that, we decided to take a car to visit some interesting sites of the city without being exposed to the sun all the time. We saw the India Gate (Indian version of a triomphal arc), the Lotus Temple (unfortunately closed on Monday), Al Mutuqb (the oldes site of a mosque in Delhi) and the Red-Fort.
The second day, we visited New Delhi, the modern center with the impressive government buildings and the National Gallery of Modern Art, which allowed me to learn a lot about Indian modern Artists. After that, I left the ladies alone and discovered the city on a larger scale using the brand new metro! Many parts of the city infrastructure were recently renewed due to the Commonwealth games 2010. To have a nice contrast to that, I visited also the old part of Delhi, with its buzzing bazaar around the mosque Jama Masjid.
Day 3 (Agra): After a pleasant 4h train trip, we arrived in Agra and went straight to the Taj Mahal. In contrast to my fears to find a crowded place, there was no waiting line at the ticket counter, ad only a few tourists (mainly Indians) populated the gardens of the Taj Mahal. The building is really beautiful and is worth the travel. In addition to that create the trees and plants in the garden a nice space to wander around and to enjoy this site. After a few hours and a tasty lunch in the old bazaar besides the Taj. Then, we took a cycle-riksha to get to the Red Fort, which is about 2km away. This huge fort contains some beautiful architectural highlights, especially the Harem's complex is very nice with its fountains and marble mosaic. At the end of the day, we had a short shopping in town and went to the train station. We met two very kind french travellers, and had together with them dinner in a nearby restaurant. The night train was sleeper class, i.e. the cheapest ticket, but it was surprisingly comfortable and not at all crowded, so that we could sleep quite well.
Day 4 (Jodhpur): We arrived in Jodhpur in the early morning and refreshed us in the restrooms in the train station. After a tasty breakfast, we headed into the city. Our first stop was the market place, where we entered a shawl shop with a superb salesman, who showed you a big variety of wonderful shawls of various qualities. Finally, we left the shop with 10 shawls! After this morning shopping, we took an auto riksha to get to the huge fort which surmounts the city. It is long time ago that I have seen such a nice and impressive complex, the audio guide was very well done, and as an additional "ingredient" there were musicians and guards in traditional costumes who created a special atmosphere. A few hours later, we were down in the city again and had lunch in an elegant restaurant, wandered through the market and visited another tissue shop (fortunately, they had only large sheets, nothing for us). At the end of this eventful day, we mounted on the train to Bikaner, where we were picked up at 2 am.
Day 5 (Bikaner): Bikaner, a city at the border of the Thar desert, was our starting place for a camel safari. Unfortunately, Joka was not feeling well, so that Jasna and me first went into the old part of the city, where we discovered narrow streets with spice, shawl and other traders. In the afternoon, we (this time with Joka) headed off to the camel safari organized by Vijay. Surprisingly, the desert was green, because it had rained a few days ago. The ride on the camel was really fun, with this up and down on top of this high animal. At home again, Joka and me were not feeling fine, so that we slept early.
Day 6 and 7 (Jaipur): Early in the morning (5am), we were driven to the train station by our lovely host Vijay, and took the train to our last stop of our trip, Jaipur. It was a trip through flat, dry land, sellers of coffee, tea, biscuit and small stuff offered their goods during the trip, and everyone was just hoping that the 6 hours travel time would rapidly go over...Arrived in Jaipur, we had lunch in our hostel, in our spacious room, and then visited the old center, called the pink city. Here we saw the Harem building Hava Mahal, which was nice, but not as impressive after our experience in Jodhpur. We could not visit the other sites like the palace, because it was already 5pm. But that was ok, because we discovered the small alleys and galleries of the bazaar area.
The next day, we visited the Janta Mantar, which was even bigger than the Delhi one, and had more instruments. Then we visited a jeweler shop, and found some nice ear rings, bracelets (ok, the ladies found it). time was running short, but with the auto riksha, we arrived at the hostel at time to catch the cab to the airport. In the airplane, I was thinking that a very nice week with many impressions goes over, but there will be more such trips, that's for sure...
Joka, a visitor student from Munich, Jasna, a friend of her coming from Stuttgart, and me, we started the trip in Delhi, and continued after two days to Agra, and discovered then the Rajastan cities Jaipur, Bikaner and Jodhpur.
Day 1 and 2 (Delhi): The first day in Delhi, we were welcomed by very hot weather. Nevertheless, we started to discover the city per pedes, and went first to the observatory Janta Mantar. This complex of different buildings to measure declination, azimuth angles or the position of celestial objects was erected in 1724 by Maharaja Jai Singh II of Jaipur.
After that, we decided to take a car to visit some interesting sites of the city without being exposed to the sun all the time. We saw the India Gate (Indian version of a triomphal arc), the Lotus Temple (unfortunately closed on Monday), Al Mutuqb (the oldes site of a mosque in Delhi) and the Red-Fort.
The second day, we visited New Delhi, the modern center with the impressive government buildings and the National Gallery of Modern Art, which allowed me to learn a lot about Indian modern Artists. After that, I left the ladies alone and discovered the city on a larger scale using the brand new metro! Many parts of the city infrastructure were recently renewed due to the Commonwealth games 2010. To have a nice contrast to that, I visited also the old part of Delhi, with its buzzing bazaar around the mosque Jama Masjid.
Day 3 (Agra): After a pleasant 4h train trip, we arrived in Agra and went straight to the Taj Mahal. In contrast to my fears to find a crowded place, there was no waiting line at the ticket counter, ad only a few tourists (mainly Indians) populated the gardens of the Taj Mahal. The building is really beautiful and is worth the travel. In addition to that create the trees and plants in the garden a nice space to wander around and to enjoy this site. After a few hours and a tasty lunch in the old bazaar besides the Taj. Then, we took a cycle-riksha to get to the Red Fort, which is about 2km away. This huge fort contains some beautiful architectural highlights, especially the Harem's complex is very nice with its fountains and marble mosaic. At the end of the day, we had a short shopping in town and went to the train station. We met two very kind french travellers, and had together with them dinner in a nearby restaurant. The night train was sleeper class, i.e. the cheapest ticket, but it was surprisingly comfortable and not at all crowded, so that we could sleep quite well.
Day 4 (Jodhpur): We arrived in Jodhpur in the early morning and refreshed us in the restrooms in the train station. After a tasty breakfast, we headed into the city. Our first stop was the market place, where we entered a shawl shop with a superb salesman, who showed you a big variety of wonderful shawls of various qualities. Finally, we left the shop with 10 shawls! After this morning shopping, we took an auto riksha to get to the huge fort which surmounts the city. It is long time ago that I have seen such a nice and impressive complex, the audio guide was very well done, and as an additional "ingredient" there were musicians and guards in traditional costumes who created a special atmosphere. A few hours later, we were down in the city again and had lunch in an elegant restaurant, wandered through the market and visited another tissue shop (fortunately, they had only large sheets, nothing for us). At the end of this eventful day, we mounted on the train to Bikaner, where we were picked up at 2 am.
Day 5 (Bikaner): Bikaner, a city at the border of the Thar desert, was our starting place for a camel safari. Unfortunately, Joka was not feeling well, so that Jasna and me first went into the old part of the city, where we discovered narrow streets with spice, shawl and other traders. In the afternoon, we (this time with Joka) headed off to the camel safari organized by Vijay. Surprisingly, the desert was green, because it had rained a few days ago. The ride on the camel was really fun, with this up and down on top of this high animal. At home again, Joka and me were not feeling fine, so that we slept early.
Day 6 and 7 (Jaipur): Early in the morning (5am), we were driven to the train station by our lovely host Vijay, and took the train to our last stop of our trip, Jaipur. It was a trip through flat, dry land, sellers of coffee, tea, biscuit and small stuff offered their goods during the trip, and everyone was just hoping that the 6 hours travel time would rapidly go over...Arrived in Jaipur, we had lunch in our hostel, in our spacious room, and then visited the old center, called the pink city. Here we saw the Harem building Hava Mahal, which was nice, but not as impressive after our experience in Jodhpur. We could not visit the other sites like the palace, because it was already 5pm. But that was ok, because we discovered the small alleys and galleries of the bazaar area.
The next day, we visited the Janta Mantar, which was even bigger than the Delhi one, and had more instruments. Then we visited a jeweler shop, and found some nice ear rings, bracelets (ok, the ladies found it). time was running short, but with the auto riksha, we arrived at the hostel at time to catch the cab to the airport. In the airplane, I was thinking that a very nice week with many impressions goes over, but there will be more such trips, that's for sure...
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