Temple Tuesday

We breakfasted on the roof (porridge cooked over a charcoal burner tastes disgusting, I can tell you) and I discovered that I do like Masala chai. That's useful, because it's the only chai served in Rajasthan. 

Set off by minibus for three temples. The first, my favourite, was called ?. It is dedicated to a mother and daughter in law. Set by a lake, far from anywhere, it was a visual treat. It's an archaeological site, not a functioning temple, and there were few people about except us. It was built in the 10th century, according to my notes. We spent a long while there, enjoying the tranquil setting and the pleasant heat of the sun, no longer as blistering as it was in Maharashtra. At the stall,  I wanted to buy a beautiful brass Buddha's head, but it was too heavy and exoensive. Maybe I'll find one elsewhere. The carvings in my photo come from this first temple.

Next stop was a temple site called Eklingi in a town. This was a very curated experience. Reminded me of visiting Buckingham Palace. In, out, shake it all about; no photos. Follow the correct route round or you'll get shouted at. Buy a garland of flowers for twenty rupees. I reclaimed my flip flops from outside the temple and went and sat with Sridhar, drinking chai from a roadside stall. 

Back on the 'bus, we sailed along a highway. At some point, we saw two camels on the road. Did I mention that there were also mountains, and rice paddies ? Not in the same place, clearly. Rice fields are emerald green. I adore the colour. 

The driver found us a restaurant, and we had a lunch stop. Yay! I'm back on the dhosas. Masala dhosa today. Tomato salad. People say don't eat salad, but this was freshly sliced,  just what my internal doctor ordered.  The restaurant had a green lawn (fake?) And day beds for lying on. Next to it was an almighty slum. The highway roared past, uncaring. 

Having feasted, we set off for a Hindu theme park with a giant statue of a God, which even has it's own viewing platform. The sculpture is pink. I don't like it myself, but apparenly there are many such places a acrosss India now. It's part of a plan to establish Hinduism as THE religion. Worship through leisure activities and viewing gigantic monuments that dominate the landscape.

We had to leave the minibus here and take three auto rickshaws for the group to the final temple of the day at Nathadwara. The streets are lined with souvenir shops and our limping tour member was offered a wheelchair many times. We were also offered many ways of queue jumping with a guide, but we decided to do the Indian thing, which involved viewing the Lord Krishna in one of his incarnations, pligrim-fashion. We queued for ages, in gender-segregatef queues, and every now and again we'd surge forward in a mad stampede, or go through a security post and have something removed from us by a guard. I only had my bottle of water removed. After a very long time, we were allowed to process past a small statue of Shiva in a yellow garment, then there were other viewings and a chance to kiss a rail or kiss the floor, or prostrate oneself on the floor. When we were viewing the holiest items, a priest would swipe us on the shoulders with a cloth. The closest I can describe it to is viewing the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka, but this felt more holy and less palatial. The crowd surging forward aspect felt more like being at a music festival except that there were many aged and infirm Indian people amongst us. We had to help some of them up steps. 

Eventually we returned to the minibus and compared experiences. Someone wanted a toilet stop, so we had tea at a roadside restaurant where the chai was served in small clay pots. We returned about 7pm, having taken yet another auto up the hill to our hotel in Old Udaipur. 

Got cleaned up quickly, and then Tessa and Annie, who are also from Stroud, went out through the old town to the lakeside. The streets are very narrow and fiiled with autos and motorbikes. I keep thinking I should be wearing safety boots. The lake is more like a river here, very wide and lined with palaces and grand buildings reflected in the water, and a vast ghat where men and couples hang out in the evening to listen to music, and chill out. We found a lovely rooftop restaurant called Clouds and ate there. Peanut masala for me, and cold coffee with ice-cream. Annie bought us all a gin and tonic. We giggled all the way home. We might see if the whole group wants to eat there tomorrow. It's so peaceful by the lake, compared to the city streets. My dinner cost 300 rupees. That is three pounds UK. 

Back at the hotel, I did a load of laundry in a bucket and hung it up to dry. Showered and went to bed. This laundry part seemed to take forever! I am out of practice. Shot a video of the temple and the call to Darshan (worship). Eventually fell asleep around 1am. 
Tomorrow is a free day. Hurrah!

I have now caught up with all my India blips. This has taken me a month of forevers, but i am happy to be complete again. Feel free to look back if you'd care to.