Chennai to Bangalore

Hey...

We've started the process of visiting the various significant temples around the place, but it has been reinforced how extremely different this tour is from any one they've done in the past. For instance, we got the rare honour to meet both Shankaracharya gurus at the Kanchi Math, a Jagadguru at the Hanuman temple yesterday who entertained us with lovely stories and then we met Guru Mata Keshavadas today, who is a very sweet and stately 70-year-old. (See http://www.templeofcosmicreligion.org/ - though the photos at that site must be from 15 or more years ago.) My mind is in a bit of a whirl with all the travelling here and there, but it is so cool. And educational too.

The temples are amazing, and we've seen three temple images now where each temple image has been carved out of a huge single block of granite. One in the Hanuman temple yesterday just outside Bangalore (30 feet tall), one in a Vishnu temple (amazingly huge black bull) and today one of Vishnu (again 30 feet tall) in human form at the Sant Keshavadas temple outside Bangalore, where we did special pujas and climbed up stairs to pour milk over the statue. This is only day 3 and it feels like we've done so much already... The group leader really knows all the people around here, and knows how to open doors. And we still have the 8 famous Ganesha temples to go.

Chennai (Madras) was a pretty awful place but, everything is a lot better in Bangalore where we arrived today which is so green and wonderful and beautiful in comparison. It's a lot cooler too which is nice. No need for sunblock here as yet - the sun is so mild, even in the midday heat. However we need to take our shoes off before going into each sacred area - even outside - and walking across the flagstones today at the spectacular Vishwa Shanti Ashram was pretty painful for our delicate western feet! Get a load of the views of this amazing place. And the gardens are really something too. Quite a wonderful place all in all. (Ok - apart from the toilets of course which are very... er... rudimentary.)

http://www.vishwashantiashram.org/Ashram_Views.htm

(Spot Arjuna and Krishna in the chariot - scene from the Bhagavad Gita.)

I've had a bit of time to get to know the group and over the last couple of days, and the people are thankfully really cool. Had some really interesting conversations I thought I would never have with these kinds of people, and I have been surprised that people aren't too serious.

Highlights so far....

Best things about the trip? Wonderful Indian food - and in particular, amazing lunch at the Sant Keshavadas temple where people were amused by how the the lady dishing the food out kept picking on me to keep feeding. (I must look a bit skinny.)

Nicest moment in last 24 hours or so? At the Ramakrishna Centre in Bangalore, a couple of kids asked me in the temple meditation area "From where are you coming?" (English is such a 2nd language here) and we chatted and in the end they gave me a nice tour of the gardens. They were so awesome and had such serious little faces, but big hearts. That's one centre which has a terrific vibe. But strangely, Ramakrishna was a huge devotee of Kali and there is no sign of Kali here whatsoever. Odd!

Biggest worry? Buying too many Ganesh statues. At this rate, I will have one for each day of the holiday! No worries, luckily someone said that posting things back home is dead cheap. (So they say...)