Letters from India

25. Kanchipuram - May 1985

Kanchipuram

May 17, 1985

Kanchipuram

Well, the night in Tirupati went pretty well. I stayed up till midnight writing that letter (on an outside bench by the bus depot), then at 3 AM had to arise to catch the early morning bus to Chittor - ha, ha cuz after I got there (bus depot) they said it wouldn’t come till 5:30 AM. And the night before, two official bus people said it would come at 4:30 AM (the official signs listed the time as 3:45 AM). India!

See, I was in Tirumala and had asked & been told by several people that I could get a bus direct from Tirumala to Chittor, where they’d be frequent buses to my next destination, Kanchipuram (Kanchipuram is considered one of the seven holiest cities to the Hindus of India.) So,  I thought it was good because then I wouldn’t have to take a link bus to Tirupati, then get a bus from there to Kanchipuram.

So, left on Chittor bus 6 AM, got there at 8:30 AM. Chittor is a tiny town in Andhra but has a beehive of a bus depot. In Chittor, was told bus was going to Kanchipuram at 10:15. Waited but found, no banana. In fact, there were no buses from Chittor to Kanchipuram at all! What to do! Someone said if I took a bus to Vellore, I could get to Kanchipuram from there. At that point, I didn’t care and as far as I was concerned, might as well jump a bus to anywhere! 10:45 AM, Vellore bus left, with me on it. Arrived at noon in Vellore.

Anyway, amazingly, a bus to Kanchipuram was leaving at 1 PM. Arrived like 2:30 PM and found the Rs 13 a night Raja’s Lodge, right nearby to bus depot.

See, the Indian Tourist guide book I had borrowed from a friend while in Andhra Sabha, told not only of where to visit (which is where I got all these ideas), but cheap places to stay.

Anyway, got room – electricity was out and no water! Common in India. Soo, took a 2-hour rest/nap, bathed in sweat (hadn’t taken shower since leaving for Tirupati because hadn’t got room in Tirumala) then they had water at 5 PM, so after bath headed off to see temples.

Kanchipuram is a small town but has many, many temples, all spotted by their towering Gopurams. Beautiful, beautiful town. Went to four of the large temples nearby my hotel. Really heavy Darshans. The best was the Siva-Parvathi temple (Ekambareshwara). It had solid lines of lingams all around the inside of the temple - heavy, heavy stuff. The lingams were solid black, all of them.

The temple is build around a huge mango tree (said to be 3,500 years old) where Parvathi (born on earth as a human because of a curse) did penance to win Siva’s hand in marriage. (Granted, of course.) :-) I had read the story before so it was neat to see the actual spot where it happened.

Finally back to the hotel, just a bit after I arrived the electricity came back on. And had water too! Luxury. Plus the bathrooms here are clean. One warning for traveling in India, like to Tirupati: beware of the bathrooms. In most there’s no water and the wastes just pile up in the toilets (squat-type of course). If the toilets don’t look nice, the Indians just go in the middle of the floor, they don’t even go in the toilet stalls! It’s an icky thing when you enter into the wet bathrooms knowing that you’re wading through urine and with clumbs of waste around, but what to do? That’s traveling in India.

Tomorrow evening I go to Mahaballipuram and I’ll see sights on Sunday, perfect time to see the beach temple cave carvings.

Update on my sunburned back: yes its true, the thing is peeling terribly. Hurts much. Red & sad-looking. Whole big area on neck & upper back & shoulders, all peeling. I sure have peeling-of-skin karma lately! But what to do. Burning karma time.

Guess that’s all for now. All of you take care and for heaven (& Sai’s) sake, attempt to be perfect angels to each other & to the entire world around you! And remember, God is in all your hearts as Eileen is also - you don’t need her physical presence! Especially if Sai doesn’t want you to have her physical presence.

Love,

Eileen