India Awaits: Shravanabelagola Adventure

I was reminded earlier this week of how much this country has changed me and what I would make time to do. I was up at 5am to leave by 5.30 to go and visit a Jain temple about 2.5 hours away. There were two of us keen to go on a day trip, and we have ended up being the only two in our group of friends that is interested in visiting the different types of temples within India.

The Shravanabelagola temple is a Jain temple - the religion that believes in 3 main principles:

1. Non-violence

2. Non-absoluteism

3. Non-possessiveness

The temple is at the top of a very very steep hill which is reached by walking barefoot up 614 steps. You must not wear shoes and for two ladies with injured feet, it was quite the commitment !! Those marble stairs may have me limping for a few more days. It was very very hot - so we were grateful to have started out early.

The statue at the top is of the Lord Gomateswara and it stands 17.5 metres high and is carved from a single piece of stone. He stands with his hands down by his side in a meditation-like stance. This stance is suppose to be a stance of renunciation. The pilgrims travel here to be a part of the daily ceremony which revolves around the feet of the statue. There is holy water, and offerings used at the feet of the statue, along with cash offerings.

Getting there early was also good to ensure we didn't miss the ceremony and have the opportunity to chat to some of the holy men and learn about the process and the religion. They are a very peaceful group and happy to have us visit and take photos.

On our way home we stopped on the side of the road at a brick-making 'farm'. Not sure if I can call it a factory, as it was a handful of people working in the mud to make about 5000 bricks a day. The clay bricks are used everywhere and based on the lake of control in the process, I can understand why so many Indian buildings don't stay standing for very long. These people put in long, hard days and deserve the 5 rupees a brick they get. But I'm sure the 'boss' takes most of that !!

The young boy working there didn't even stop working when we offered a packet of Chocolate Oreos to him. He didn't say no to them, just pocketed them for later. The simple way of life that these people live always makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have had the opportunities I have had. I know you have to grasp these chances and take the risk, but most of these people are never even given the chance to change.

On our way back in to Bangalore we visited the Iskcon Temple (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world. It has high security and is hugely popular, as they are now building a HUGE new temple known as Krishna Lila Park out of town and has rides, 4D experiences, water slides etc....... I am such a cynic when it comes to this sort of thing, as there is so much money involved in these temples with gold and marble everywhere, and the pilgrims visiting all seem to have little to no money to spare. However, they happily provide cash offerings on every visit. Lucky I am just a visitor.......

We finished our day out with some local block print purchases and them home to collect the kids from the bus. I'm getting as many small adventures in before we leave.