Palitana
For the past three days I've been traveling in Gujarat by myself. It's actually been really nice to be on my own. I can do exactly what I want, whenever I want. If an idea pops into my head, I don't need to ask anyone if they feel the same way or if I get bored, I can just up and leave whenever. And since I don't have to wait for someone else to get ready or to take a shower, I'm way more efficient and get so much more done.
The first place I stopped was Palitana. I had to wake up at 6:00AM to climb the hill before the sun rose and it got too hot. The Lonely Planet said the climb would take an hour and a half. I did it in an hour and fifteen minutes. I am such a rock star. At the top of the hill is like this city of jain temples and the view is beautiful. Really, they're all gorgeous and absolutely amazing. There are tons of them, so you can just spend all your time exploring in and out of all the different temples and peaceful spaces. I went through the entrance where there weren't so many people, and it was so nice to be away from the crowds and just be on my own.
One of the priests stopped me and started speaking to me in Hindi. All I understood was "theen sau pachas" which means 350, and by the tone of his voice I was supposed to be impressed, so I was like, "theen sau pachas!!??" without knowing what I was being impressed by. He motioned me to the corner of one of the courtyards and unlocked a small door. Inside was this small circular room and there were (I'm guessing at the number) 350 little idols. It was really cool and he gave me an incense stick and I was able to do puja to all 350 of them. At the main temples there were more people, but because there were so many different little temples to go exploring in, it was really easy to find a space for myself. It was a really fun morning.
The first place I stopped was Palitana. I had to wake up at 6:00AM to climb the hill before the sun rose and it got too hot. The Lonely Planet said the climb would take an hour and a half. I did it in an hour and fifteen minutes. I am such a rock star. At the top of the hill is like this city of jain temples and the view is beautiful. Really, they're all gorgeous and absolutely amazing. There are tons of them, so you can just spend all your time exploring in and out of all the different temples and peaceful spaces. I went through the entrance where there weren't so many people, and it was so nice to be away from the crowds and just be on my own.
One of the priests stopped me and started speaking to me in Hindi. All I understood was "theen sau pachas" which means 350, and by the tone of his voice I was supposed to be impressed, so I was like, "theen sau pachas!!??" without knowing what I was being impressed by. He motioned me to the corner of one of the courtyards and unlocked a small door. Inside was this small circular room and there were (I'm guessing at the number) 350 little idols. It was really cool and he gave me an incense stick and I was able to do puja to all 350 of them. At the main temples there were more people, but because there were so many different little temples to go exploring in, it was really easy to find a space for myself. It was a really fun morning.
posted by Jenna Furley | 3:19 AM
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