» The Golden Triangle in the East
The Planning: Even before I returned to India, my sister had threatened me that she would boycott any vacation within the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Mumbai city is the capital of Maharashtra State and most of my maternal relatives stay in Gujarat State. To my sister, going to any of these two places would be the same as moving from the living room to the kitchen.
When I returned to Mumbai, the festive season was on its peak. Hotels and flights to the popular destinations in India (Goa,Kerala, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Rajasthan) were heavily booked or just to expensive to afford. I turned my attention to the most neglected and under-appreciated part of India, the North-Eastern states. Now everyone knows about Kolkata, "the City of Joy" and the states in the far east of India have been constantly in news because of insurgent activities. In all this chaos, the quiet state of Orissa breathes an air of apparent procrastination, lethargy and sluggishness. But listen carefully and it seems to ask you "What are you running after? What's the hurry?". For centuries this state has been the throbbing heart of Indian culture and civilization. This is evident from the scores of temples, ruins and events in ancient history that are several hundred years old but stand today to tell the tale of time. My obvious choice was the Golden Triangle of the East -- Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark. Devdutt is originally from Orissa and I have heard him recall his fond memories of the temples and the beach there along with the myths and devotion that prevails in the sacred temple of Jagganathpuri. The annual charriot processession of Lord Jaggannath is reknowned world-wide.
Now getting to Bhubaneswar was the tricky part. The train from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar would take you anywhere from 36 to 42 hours. I had 7 days for the trip and train travel seemed to consume most of that time. The only two flights that seemed to go there on the dates that I desired were mighty expensive. Here came to rescue the progress in the aviation indistry and a suggestion from a work colleague who was a frequent traveller to Bhubaneswar. She recommended that I catch the Air Deccan flight to Kolkata and than take an overnight train from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. My eyes gleamed at her at that suggestion. I had been to Kolkata for 3 months in 2002 on a work assignment and though I don't remember them as some of the better days in my life, I have bits and pieces of fond memories of the place.
So there I was booking the flight tickets to Kolkata and back at one third the price that would have been. I gifted their very first flight travel to my Mom and Sis. You should have seen their excitement, it was priceless.
Kolkata: My family were at an advantage at having the benefit of my prior experience with Kolkata. The city can be a source of quite a few disturbing and depressing episodes.. right from the cab driver at the airport or the railway station to the infrastructure and attitude of the masses. You find yourself helpless at times but the city grows upon you.
Kolkata houses some of the most serene monuments and places in India that I have been to. Victoria Memorial remained the third best piece of architecture that I had witnessed after the Taj Mahal and the Dilwara Dera Temples at Mt. Abu in Gujarat. The palace and the lawns are a welcome break from the buzz of the city. The other two places that I would recommend visiting are the Dakshineshwar temple and the Bellur Math. Anyone interested in the life and thinking of Swami Vivekanand should defnitely visit this place after the Vivekanand Rock at the southern most tip of India at Kanyakumari.
Three more things that remain a must-do for everyone are the Saree shops at RMCA Basak, Garia Haat. I had spent several hours amongst heaps of beautiful fabric to select around a dozen sarees for my Mom. It was a sight to behold when I escorte my Mom to the shops again. You cannot leave Kolkata without relishing the Kati Rolls, the sweets at K.C. Das and the Tangra chinese food.
The Eastern Golden Triangle:
Bhubaneshwar is a city of temples.. several hundred of them. The most popular one being the Lingeshwar Temple. Details of the architecture are a spectacle to behold. However we began our site-seeing with a more interesting visit to the zoo. The Nandan Kannan zoo houses some really magnificient animals and birds and is attached to a sanctuary which is home to many others. The most handsome and magnificient sight was that of the Golden Bengal Tiger.
Then came the city of Puri which is graced by the presence of three dieties. Lord Jaggannath (Krsna/Krishna), his sister Subhadra and his brother Balaram. These three idols are made from the wood of oak trees and only those specific trees that appear in the vision of the priest. The idols look like totem poles, infact quite imperfect. But it is that very imperfection that is endearing. Devdutt used to tell me about how the masses in Orissa refer to God as if he were one among them. Jagga (short nick name for Lord Jaggannath) is sick today, he feels like eating a full meal today.. so on and so forth. The only thing that one needs to guard oneself against is the priests of the temple. Never wear anything expensive on you, nothing that you would feel really bad about loosing and don't fall for those petty rituals or rules that they convey to you to extort money from you. But yes there is no need to get cynical or critical about the temple. Infact, it can be quite an experience if you watch all this with the intention to study the dymanics of this place.
One thing you should never every miss is the Beach at Puri. I have said before that Indian beaches are very beautiful as compared to the ones in the US and the Puri beach is easily the best Indian beach I have seen. The sand is soft like cotton and the water pristine and pure. Besides, the beach is unadulterated. Not too many tourists and the locals take it for granted too.
Konark sun temple changed my perception of Grandeur. The Taj, Victoria memorial and other architectures look so humble against this one. The temple was an offering to the Sun God. The temple was to be made in the form of the charriot of the Sun God and in a way that the first ever ray of light to hit the Indian shores was to fall on the idol of the lord. The 24 Charriot wheels, 7 horses and four idols on each side of the temple. The graphic depiction of knowledge to be gained by a person in the various phases of his/her life. Starting form recognition of forms around you to the joys of the worldly realm and then your ascent to the spiritual plane of thought. Architects have frequently tried to bring attention to the radical and state of the art construction of the temple. The temple has iron beams and rods that pass through huge slabs of stones, that were held together in locks held in place by two powerful magnets at the top and the base of the temple. In between these two magnets lay suspended an idol of the Sun God in mid air. Though most of the temple now remains as ruins, the remains give you a peek into the genious of a civilization far behind in time but far ahead in thinking.
There is more that happened on the trip but I would rather not try your patience with my writing and end here..
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