Jaipur, India 2015

Jaipur, the pink city of the maharajas, rugs, astrology, monkeys, snake charmers, puppet shows, grand palaces, cows, bazaars!  You might say all Indian icons.
 

Sarnath, India 2015

The holy site of Sarnath is the location where Buddha first preached his teachings of how to live life. There is a modern day shrine and temple with a stunning set of prayer wheels and a gorgeous  statue of the Buddha in contemplation.  The nearby museum contains terrific statuary found in the site including the original statue of Buddha replicated in the shrine.  This is the site where the four lion statue was found, which was oirginally placed on the Ashoka pillar, now one of the national symbols of India.  The archeological site as a great stupa along with numerous other smaller stupas and other temple structures.  This is a pilgrimage site for buddhist around the world and there were numerous groups dressed in colorful robes.
 

Mumbai, India 2015

Mumbai is clearly a dynamic city with the hustle and bustle of a modern city, high rises, and poor areas.  The abundance displayed in the market was incredible and of course the Victoria train station was a picture of energy.  The open laundry with all of the manual laundering going on was impressive as was the lunch box routine.   We had to see some of the movies set in Mumbai or about the activities of Mumbai after coming home.

Balloon Ride Over Jaipur, India 2015

The country side around Jaipur as seen from the air provides a striking contrast with that at ground level.  The land was relatively flat and arid with small farms and some mustard fields in harvest.  We also had a great view of a brick factory where camels were used to hall the bricks and raw material. We passed over an extensive reservoir were we noticed a fish kill with dead fish lining the lake banks.  We weren't able to get an explanation of what happened. There was a lot of excitement from the people on the ground as we passed over although I suspect the presence of the balloon was not that unusual.

Varanasi, India 2015

Varanasi is a chaotic mix of humanity and spirituality centered on the ghats along the Ganges river. The celebration of life occurs along side of the marking of death; the Hindu Brahman ceremonies of life celebration with their spectacular torch ceremonies accompanied with chanting/singing from the hindu writings; the cremation ceremonies, the washing of the body and the cremation fire; cleansing the body (spirit) in the Ganges.  We experienced spectacular sunsets and sunrises, and a great full moon view.  The ride and walk to the Ganges banks has to be experienced to appreciate the total life energy.
 

Chand Baoli, India 2015

The Chand Baoli (Baoli meaning step well) was built in the 9th century.  It was used to store water in the wet season for use when the rains stopped.  The steps were used to haul water to the surface wherever the water level happened to be at the time.  The visual impact of the wells is very striking with the geometrical patterns creating an arresting view.  There are still Hindu statuary on the walls of the well and numerous niches for prayer and worship, and apparently cooling off as the temperature at the bottom of the well is considerably lower than at the top.  The area around the well contained a lot of statuary that is now displayed on the top surface level.  According to Wikipedia, Chand Baori was used in filming The Fall, The Dark Knight Rises, and the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
 

Village visit, India 2015

When visiting the village there were farm animals, running loose and others tethered.  Interesting looking people in the village and most of the women wore traditional clothes.  During the time in the village we visited a village home where the mother made tea for us on her outside wood fire. The family consisted of mom and dad, and three kids, two of whom were teenagers. The father was off at work.  All the kids go to school. They lived in a two room house with two beds and apparently the sleeping strategy was on a first come first served basis. The mother is instrumental in the women's co-op that produces printed fabrics, quilts and a great variety of ready clothes. She was one of the founding members of the co-op. She made masala tea with the appropriate milk and sugar and it was really good.