Gujarati pilgrimages
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2009
1
23
25
Trip End
Mar 02, 2010
Palitana, Gujarat, India
Friday, February 5, 2010
We arrive in Palitana in the late afternoon, so take the opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the town. Walking the streets in search of dinner and something to buy for an early breakfast the following morning, we stumble upon a strange, poignant sight. A Muslim ritual is taking place in the street; men dressed in black to the waist are hitting themselves on the chest and head with metal objects, such as spiked rings or knives, to the rhythm of drums. The repeated beating reddens their skins and draws blood. An older man is at hand to come and wipe the blood away from their eyes as it trickles from their wounded scalp. Townspeople have gathered around to watch and encourage the men. Someone is offering onlookers small cups of tea. We are invited to go to a better vantage point upon some steps. Not thinking that we would need cameras on our short evening outing, neither Paul nor I have brought our camera, so I'm afraid that I have no pictures to be able to share the experience with my readers. Perhaps you may not have wanted to see them in any case.
The following day, we set out in the early hours of the day on what has brought us here, the pilgrimage to the hill-top Jain temple. The 3,000-step climb brings us to a splendid view of three temple complexes. A walk through the complexes allows us to admire the architecture of the gleaming temples. Recent renovation means that the buildings look artificially clean, but give a very good idea of how they originally intended to look like.
We leave the charming town of Palitana for the busier, noisier Junagadh. Early the following morning, we join hundreds of Hindu and Jain worshippers in our second Gujarati pilgrimage, this time up the first 5,000 steps of Girnar Hill (very few people make it to the smaller temples a further 5,000 steps on). The temple complex is less extensive than at Palitana; the appeal here is the testing climb. We could of course have made it easier for ourselves and join the richer people in hiring a couple of porters and a chair to sit on whilst being carried to the top. I think you need to look rich to pull it off though; a couple of dirty backpackers would look out of place.
As we are catching a night train that evening, we only have an afternoon left in Gujarat, which we manage to fill with some interesting experiences and have the opportunity to sample the hospitality of the Gujarati people. They pride themselves in being great hosts to visitors. This is so refreshing after having travelled around India for some time now and being faced with so many unfriendly people. Firstly we go to a mela, which a local recommended to us. This is a religious festival, where many sadhus have gathered. These wandering Hindu monks invite us to join them for a chat, share their cannabis (no thanks), and eat a biscuit. A friendly local asks us if we would like to visit an ashram, which he then proceeds to take us to. We were expecting for him to ask for a tip, but he simply walks off after introducing us to some Americans who are staying at the ashram. He simply wanted to show us another aspect of his culture. When we rejoin the festivities of the mela, a young Gujarati girl befriends me and practises her English with me. She introduces us to her family, who would like to invite us to their home. We are unfortunately running out of time before our train, but the family insists on at least buying us a drink of sugar cane juice. How lovely to be surrounded by such welcoming people. How easy it is to be charmed by Gujarat.
