The Hindu Temple at Thiruvanammalai

by Grace Muth

         Last weekend our global group went on a three-day excursion to Thiruvanammalai.  The trip was an amazing, eye opening experience with a very interesting peek into Hinduism.  At one of the Hindu temples we visited we were blessed, not only by the chief priest, but by an elephant as well.  I would like to describe this amazing experience and what it meant to me.

            Before I begin the story, it is important that you understand a little bit about the Hindu myths.  Hinduism has a total of over thirty-three thousand gods.  There are three main gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector, and Shiva the destroyer.  Brahma will create something, Vishnu will do his best to protect it, but when the something is too old or in too much trouble Shiva will destroy it, so Brahma can reincarnate it.  Another important part of Hinduism is the gods have no actual magic powers, only the goddesses do.  In Thiruvanammalai there is a holy mountain that is the embodiment of Lord Shiva himself.  James will talk more in depth about this mountain, but it was important for me to mention this because the temple we went to was honoring Lord Shiva and his wife Pavarti.  Now that you know enough about the Hindu myths to understand my experience in the temple, I will describe it for you.

         My experience at lord Shiva’s temple is one I will never forget.  We were told to leave our shoes, water bottles, cameras (if we wanted to), and anything else we didn’t need on the bus.  After a short walk across the “parking lot” we entered the temple.  The sight was jaw dropping.  There were 9 towers that were really  high, and were carved with important figures from Hindu culture, such as cows, Ganesha, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Pavarti, elephants and many others. 

There was a huge stone tank that once held water and had cow statues all around it.  As we went further into the temple there were 3 or 4 main buildings all made out of what looked like black marble.  The first building had a very intricate black marble cow that was decorated with many flower garlands; the building was a shelter for the cow.  People were coming up to the cow and whispering their wishes in its ear.  The next building was 4 pillars and a roof, and inside was an elephant.

        This elephant was not a statue, nor was it fenced up.  This elephant was living, breathing and blessing people.  The elephant was even dressed for the occasion; it had white paint on its forehead in intricate and interesting patterns, and a red dot in between its eyes.  People would give the elephant a coin, the elephant would bless them, and then the elephant would give the coin to the person next to them who was collecting the coins.  When an elephant is blessing people, what do you do?  Get blessed of course.  Everyone started passing around two rupee coins so the whole group could get blessed.  When it was my turn I walked up to the elephant, which held out its trunk for the coin, and dropped the money into its nose.  Then the elephant gently bumped me on the head with its trunk and I walked away, grinning the whole time.  The elephant blessing was probably my favorite part of the temple visit, but the rest was still pretty cool.

After getting blessed by the elephant, we went into a church like building and proceeded to wait in line.  The building smelled like incense and after a few minutes we were escorted into a tiny, over heated room.  There the chief priest started chanting and blessing us.  We were pressed together and up against a wood gate.  Behind the wood gate was an archway that led to another small room.  Inside that small room was a statue of Pavarti that was golden and covered in flowers.  The room was designated to worshiping Pavarti, Shiva’s wife.  After being blessed the chief priest gave us kunkumin (like red chalk) to put on our foreheads.  The room was so hot and my forehead was so sweaty that the dot fell off as soon as I raised my eyebrows.  Leaving the tiny room, even the hot Indian sun was a nice cool relief.  Unfortunately the cool bliss did not last long, we still had Shiva’s temple to enter.

         Lord Shiva’s temple was kind of unpleasant at the time, but looking back on the experience it was also super cool.  We waited in yet another line and were crammed into yet another tiny room, this one literally felt like we had entered a sauna (not that I would know.)!  A woman (who was with her friends) managed to squeeze in with us and sat on my toes.  The tiny room was the same as the first one but instead of a statue of Pavarti there was a statue of Shiva.  About four times during the chief priest’s chant he had to stop because the woman’s friends were yelling at her to come back and wait with them, and each time she got up to leave, she realized it would be impossible and sat back down a little farther up on my foot.  There was also a family sitting behind me with a one year old and a four year old who were surprisingly well behaved.  The process was the same as in Pavarti’s temple but we were given ash (white chalk) to smear across our foreheads, I didn’t get any, but oh well.  We left the tiny room and stood directly in the sun, and yet I was so refreshed by the “cool” breeze and the personal space.

         The last thing we did before we left the temple was an ending “ceremony”.  The chief priest took a piece of perfumed cloth and draped it over us like a cloak, while blessing us one final time. 

As he was putting the cloth over my shoulders the elephant, which had blessed us earlier and was now on break, walked by.  It was awesome!   

 Next the priest gave Dad and our guide marigold garlands and mom a handful of jasmine flowers.

 Finally he gave all of us a small bag that had a sheet of paper with all of the biggest gods on it, and two packets of powder, one of kunkumin and one of ash.  Then we took lots of pictures and the chief priest led us out of the amazing temple.

         To conclude I would like to reflect on how this temple made me see religion in a different way.  It was interesting to see people wait in line just to worship a god or goddess and get blessed by a priest.  I was surprised by how unhappy the women in line were when their friend went into the tiny room with us and was blessed by the high priest.  Going to this Hindu temple made me see Christianity differently, it made me feel almost like a religious slacker.  Sure we go to church on Sunday, but do we wait in line and get turned into sardines just to worship the god of destruction, on a random and unimportant Thursday?  No we don’t.  This makes me feel almost guilty, its good that we don’t have to remember that 33,000 gods created the world, and yet, there is no God Mountain, or even a cow that grants your wishes 200% of the time.  I guess what I’m trying to say is Hinduism, compared to Christianity, can be described as extreme, but Christianity can also be seen as lacking.  Though these religions are very different, there is still the same basis; Brahma created the world and everything in it, so did God, God tries very hard to protect the world from evil, and Vishnu does as well, and finally Shiva just has to destroy something, and so does God.  Which makes me wonder, are all of the gods and goddesses from every religion ever working together to make the world work?  Its entirely possible, but I’m no theologist. 

I think going to Lord Shiva’s temple in Thiruvanammalai was one of the most amazing experiences that I will never forget.  It was eye-opening, jaw dropping, and thought provoking.  I was completely floored by the experience and it has changed the way I look at religion forever.  I hope I described it well enough to leave you as amazed as I was.

Life at the ECC

6:00 AM         The alarm goes off. I hit snooze and roll over.

6:09 AM         The alarm goes off again. I turn it off. Where am I? Oh, that’s right, we’re in Bangalore now, at the Ecumenical Christian Center (ECC). Yikes! Yoga starts at 6:30, I better get going. I pull on my clothes, nudge Greg to get up, then shuffle down the outdoor corridor past Maggie’s room to James’ room. I knock on the door. “James? Are you awake? It’s time for yoga.” Then I repeat the process at Grace’s door.

6:25 AM         We walk over to the next building and enter the conference hall, leaving our shoes outside. We grab blankets to use as yoga mats and spread out. Our instructor, Aswini, arrives right at 6:30 and says cheerfully, “OK, let’s get warmed up!” We start by standing, but soon we are running in a circle, flapping our arms and tweeting like birds. Next we line up and walk across the room – on our toes, on our heels, lunging – we look like Monty Python characters from the Ministry of Silly Walks. Eventually we do a little breathing, and maybe a couple of poses. One very fast sun salutation vinyasa and we are ending the hour in corpse pose. This is nothing like the yoga I'm used to.

7:30 AM         We wander back to our dormitory, called the Dialogue House, and take a bucket shower to clean up.  Greg and I are the only ones sharing a room.  All the students and each of our kids has his/her own room AND bathroom – making this the one and only place so far where we haven’t had squabbles over who gets to brush their teeth first.

Maggie in front of the Dialogue House

8:00 AM         We walk across campus to the Refectory for breakfast: rice patties (called idli), curried vegetables, eggs, cornflakes, bananas, yogurt, toast.  Coffee and tea.

The Refectory

9:00 AM         Class time.  Back at the Dialogue House, Greg and the students head into the classroom, while the kids and I go to the lounge. Unless we have an excursion today. Do we have an excursion? No? Ok, then let’s get some math done!

10:30 AM       Tea time! We head back to the refectory for tea and cookies.

11:00 AM       Back to class. Who is writing a blog post about yesterday’s excursion? What about the day before that? Does anyone remember what we did three days ago? We have to get our blog posts written and up while we have internet access.

12:00 PM       Lunch time in the refectory. Rice, spicy veggies and meat, soup, fruit, delicious homemade chapatti.

lunch  #nosilverware

12:30 PM       It’s free time.  The kids get a game going in the big field with the other children who live at ECC (several of the boys have been waiting outside the Dialogue House for James – he’s already popular since he’s willing to play anything with them: cricket, badminton, blob tag, soccer). I head back to the room to do a load of bucket laundry, then find a comfortable spot to read my book.  Oh wait, the tailor is coming today.  We all gather in the lounge to be measured for the colorful clothes we are having made. Then there’s time for a walk around the beautiful grounds – past the giant termite mound and down to the “petting zoo” complete with emus and bunnies.

Emus at the "petting zoo"

Random lamb on our campus walk

Grace wants to bring a bunny home.

James with his buddies.

The termite mound!

Getting measured by the tailors

2:30 PM         Class time again.  I drag James away from his field game (the local children are on school break right now, so they just want to play all day!).  Grace and Maggie are doing leaf art in the courtyard with some of the Oles, and since the Oles have to go to class, too, they are easier to corral. Maggie gets to read independently while Grace and James and I discuss our latest book (this week it is The Outsiders).  Then it is Maggie’s turn, and we read Johnny Tremain out loud to each other while Grace and James use the geography app on my phone.

4:30 PM         Tea time again!  That’s right, more tea and cookies – or maybe even an apple fritter or samosa.

5:00 PM         More free time. Greg is preparing for tomorrow’s class when a student knocks on the door needing to chat for a bit. That’s my job – so we go for a walk and talk through today’s concerns.

Greg at his desk in our room

7:00 PM         Dinner. Delicious Indian food – spicy enough to be interesting, mild enough that we know they’ve altered it for our American palettes.  Maggie is surviving on rice and fruit and the odd piece of chicken or fish.

8:00 PM         Do we have a group meeting tonight? If not, let’s play flashlight tag in the big field with all the kids.  Or now would be a good time to connect with folks back home since they are just starting their day.  Tomorrow we’ve got an excursion to the Buddhist Temple, so let’s get our water bottles filled and pack up the snack bag. The bus leaves right after breakfast.

9:00 PM         I make my rounds to the kids’ rooms, making sure they are settled in for the night. On my way down the corridor I hear music coming from the classroom – the Oles will probably be up for quite a while.  Not me. I’m ready to read myself to sleep…

Daily life at the ECC is a far cry from the challenges of life in New Cairo.  Our food is prepared for us, we’re close to the students, and there is energy and vibrancy all around.  I wouldn’t describe it as easy (I’m still exhausted by 9 PM each night), but there is a lightness in the air that permeates all of our interactions, making everything feel not quite so hard.  Most days in the Egyptian desert felt like a constant battle for survival, while India is simply bursting with life. The overstimulation can be a lot – especially on excursion days – but our little enclave here at the ECC is a welcome retreat, giving us both the time and space for reflection.

Doulatabad Fort

by Grace Muth

On our second day in Aurangabad after visiting the Ellora caves we were all super tired.  It was just our luck that had us going to the Daulatabad Fort after lunch that day. After a restful bus ride over to the fort, we started our tour.  The Daulatabad Fort was built to make conquering it impossible.  First we went through a gate with big brass spikes on it and we were told that the spikes were supposed to be elephant proof, but the enemies would put a camel up against the spikes so that the camel would die but the elephant would be saved.  

A gate

elephant-proof, spiky door

After walking for about 10-20 meters we came to a building that had been a temple, and then was turned into a mosque, then was turned back into a temple.  We went inside and everyone, who wanted to, got a chalked red dot between their eyes on their forehead.  The dot is a part of the Hindi culture; you get the dot after you ring a bell to let the gods know you have arrived, and show devotion to the god that is worshiped in the temple.  The dot is like a third eye that lets you see inside someone’s soul. 

the temple/mosque/temple

James' third eye

After leaving the temple we went through a second gate and arrived in a courtyard.  The courtyard had about 10 cannons and 2 gates.  One gate was big and real, and the other was small and fake.  

fake gate to the right, real gate to the left

We went through the real gate and up some slanted stairs and arrived at the next gate.  The slanted stairs made this gate harder for the elephants to ram into so the enemies had to break it down by hand.  

another elephant proof gate

The gate led to 2 more gates.  There was a small gate, which was real but no one would make noise behind it so the enemies would think it was fake.  There was a big fake gate where people would hide and make noise.  The enemies, in hopes of a fight, would break down the fake gate.  Unfortunately for the enemy all of the people hiding behind the fake gate would escape through a hole in the wall.  Like I said before, this fort was built to make conquering it impossible.  After going through what must have been our 8^th or 9^th gate and climbing up a flight of stairs, we left the building we had been in through another gate and were left on a ledge that was over hanging the moat.  From here we saw the castle that all of the gates were protecting.

the moat

Now the story doesn’t end there.  While we could see the castle there was still a moat, more gates, and a “dark passage” to go through.  The moat was 45 feet wide, about 50 feet deep, and was full of snakes and alligators.  There was a sketchy bridge that we had to cross just to arrive at yet another gate.  Through the gate is a hallway with a set of stairs that led to, wait for it, a gate.  That gate led to a small rock cut courtyard, which had a small opening to the “dark passage”.  

courtyard outside the "dark passage"

The “dark passage” was a twisting turning maze of steps, drop offs, darkness, and bats, lots of bats.  When we got to the end of the passage there was one final gate.  When enemies would come and try to break down this final gate the people in the fort would pump sulfur gasses into the passage and the enemies would have to escape.  There was a small hole in the wall that the enemies went through, as a way out, but after 2 steps there was an oily slide that sent them straight into the moat.  There we each had the choice whether to go up to the castle or to end the tour.  I chose to go to the castle.  About 400 stairs later James, Sydney, Will, and I arrived at the castle.  It was amazing!  There was a man up in the castle that pointed out a doorway that led up to a tower.  At the top of the tower it felt like you were on top of the world.  We had a party where we played “I’m on top of the world” by Imagine Dragons, took tons of pictures and rested for the hike down.

View from the top

I'm on top of the world!!

It is best to end on a high note and when you feel like you are on top of the world, I think that’s pretty close to a high note.  The total amount of stairs was 457, and the experience was 100% amazing.  I hope I described the fort well enough to put a somewhat accurate picture in y