Krishna's birthplace
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2006
1
29
57
Trip End
Feb 13, 2007
Vrindavan, India
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
The charmingly messy streets were shared by rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, bikes, motor-bikes, pedestrians, cows, bulls, oxens, buffalos, camel carts, sniffing pigs, and wandering dogs. It was like having a safari by walking on the street. In temples, the "wildlife" species futher extend to monkeys and bats. The air smells of dust, mixed with sugar and milk from the hefty sweet shops.
We visited four or five temples on Dec 4th. Among them the headquarter of ISKON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple was the most interesting. The followers belive in the practice of chanting the name of Krishna and Rama. The temple was in beautiful pure white marble. At the information center, there were big posters preaching the holiness of cows. There were shampoo, soap, lotion and ayurvedic medicines for sale in which cow urine and cow dung was used as the active ingredient. Donations were also collected to feed cows and provide medical care (to the cows). It costs a few thousand rupees a month per animal. This would probably have made more sense in California. But we are in India. There are hundreds of people outside of the door who are still striving for food and shelter. It just seems a bit of luxury to talk about animal rights...
We then entered the temple and found a large group of both Indian and foreigners sitting on the floor, singing and clapping hands. At some point, a man stood up and started dancing as if in ecstasy. He was soon joined by two other men. The drum beats quickened, singing voice increased, and the whole crowd went high. It was quite an enchanting atmosphere. We talked to a lady devotee at the information center. Her sincerity was out of question. Tears rolled in her eyes when she mentioned the name of Krishna.
The next morning we took an autorickshaw to Mathura. The vehicle was no larger than our old RAV4 jeep, but was successfully crammed with 16 people. A large, brand-new castle-like temple was built around the very stone bed where Krishna was believed to be born 3000 years ago.
I have always struggled with my feeling about the beggars. My heart turns soft when I see them, but there are so many that it is just impossible, and also unwise to satisfy each of them. I gradually developed some standards: I would give to the handicapped, but definitely not to children. When followed by beggars outside of the temples, we discovered that a sincere "Namaste" with folded palms and a bow was well received and respected by most beggars. They would retreat quietly. And once we gave some prayer beads to an old begging lady. She was very happy, as well as concerned whether we were left with none ourselves. This is India...
