… prevenit!

Toată desfăşurarea de “forţe” pare a se fi consumat doar pentru a înghiţi, noi, un hap.

Poftă!..

 Sanchi is a small and charming central Indian town. It is so small, that wherever you decide to stay, the Buddhist stupas are walking distance. They are on a low hill and can be seen from the National Highway running through Sanchi, from the trains that pass through Sanchi, even from the pool in our hotel!

The Great Stupa at Sanchi

The most enduring image of Sanchi has to be of the Great Stupa and its toranas (gateways). Begun by emperor Ashoka in the 2^nd century BC, it was added to by succeeding dynasties. Till the 13^th century, Sanchi was a spiritual centre where Buddhists would come from far and wide. Monasteries, temples and stupas were built here, patronised by the prosperous merchants from nearby Vidisha. Now a lot of them are in ruins, but they are well preserved. The site is a World Heritage Site and is protected by the ASI.

Temple 18 - that's what its called. Quite an uninspiring name for those towering pillars which look uncannily Greek.

Stupas have a terrace where devotees circumabulate. This is the medhi or terrace of stupa 3 (again, that's what its called)

So what were we doing in Sanchi? We were there for a work trip for a book that we were doing with Madhya Pradesh Tourism – Buddhist Circuit in Central India. Apart from Sanchi, we also had to visit some Buddhist sites around it, which are not part of the regular tourist circuit – Sonari, Satdhara, Andher and Murelkhurd. Getting to these sites is an adventure in itself. Except Satdhara, the others are not connected by motorable road and are well-guarded by jungle, hills are streams.  

 The people of Sanchi are courteous and always willing to help. Even though Parvati and I walked to and from the stupas at odd hours, we never felt uneasy. If you’re the lazy type there are always autos at the base of the hill willing to ferry visitors up and down for a small sum. But for those who have the time and inclination, there are the ancient stone steps leading up the hill. The walk is a good way to meet people: other travellers and locals.

Sanchi Town at dusk from the Stone Steps

Pilgrim-travellers, Monk-guide. This is a group from Sri Lanka with their guide. Lots of pilgrims from Sri Lanka visit Sanchi annually, and most stay at the Mahabodhi Society-run Guest House

Sonari was where we went next. The car would only go as far as Sonari village from where the stupas were a three kilometre walk – over two hills and across one stream. Our guide, Surender Singh Baduria navigated through the shrubbery.

In Sonari Village. A woman and her house.

Phew. The uphill task

Our guide took this picture of the stream on the way. Notice the two river nymphs perched on the rocks.

There were times when the landscape looked completely untouched by any human presence, not even small huts in the distance. Would it have looked just the same 2000 years back when the Buddha’s followers trod over the same hills to reach the stupas? Or would there have been cart tracks, and footprints and frequent human settlements?

  There are two main stupas at sonari and a monastery. The site is on a clearing, which is surrounded by unending forests on every side. The caretaker of the site, Bhagwan Singh, came to greet us with his dog. The only resident on the site, he has lived here for a year now and says he will never leave.

Mr Surender Singh, Bhagwan Singh and Parvati who's taking notes

 Of the four, only Sonari and Satdhara were accessible, so Satdhara was our next destination. Parvati and I were tossed about in the car during the drive (which can only be done in a four-wheel drive). There are some 8 stupas here set in some really breathtaking natural beauty. The stupas overlook a river which flows in the valley below.

Mr Surender Singh showed us some ancient paintings on a rock-face on the mountainside which takes a somewhat steep climb downwards. Parvati wouldn’t come, so I risked my life alone (and barefoot). Here is the proof:

See? The rockface is twice as tall as Surenderji. The photographs of the rock paintings are in the book

The Grand Stupa of Satdhara

Our book is almost out on the stands. The Buddhist Circuit in Central India will appeal not only to Buddhist pilgrims, but to anyone interested in Buddhism, Madhra Pradesh, our built heritage, Sanchi, the excursions from Sanchi (like Gyaraspur and Udaigiri)….

 Here’s the cover, so that you know what to look for when you reach the bookstore:

There’s a lovely, tranquil quality in Sanchi that’s entirely befitting of a place that contains some of the most striking Buddhist monuments the in the country. There’s little else here, a couple of hotels for tourists, and the usual collection of houses that are brick and wood, and which sit among patches either of aridity or lush green. The road leading up the hill atop which the stupas stand gives a good overview of the town, which barely edges above the status of a village. The hill’s the predominant feature – arrive here, and you can’t help be drawn to it.

The stupas, unusually for India, haven’t fallen into disrepair from either neglect or lack of money. Men continually work on the upkeep of the buildings, and the land they’re located on, but it’s hard, unglamorous work, carried out by near-naked figures smeared in clay or mud. Others nominally guard the buildings they’re assigned to, but their biggest problem must be boredom, watching the visitors come and go, with nothing much more in the way of distraction. More than a few spend their time dozing, cocking an eye at the sound of approaching footsteps.

Some of the buildings here are nothing more now than shells, the retrieval of their previous state beyond redemption. There are grass-lined outlines of rooms, and walls that rise only a little above the ground. The stupas, however, are magnificent, immaculately preserved, their walls and pillars engraved with the sort of detail and intricacy that in the west only gives rise to kitsch. Stay in India for any length of time and monument fatigue becomes commonplace, but even then some buildings manage to impress, and these are among them.

Last week, spent four days driving around Madhya Pradesh

You can see our route map on Google Maps here (Traveling in Madhya Pradesh)

Day 1: Sanchi (about 45 km) from Bhopal then to Bhimbetka (which is also 45 km from Bhopal but on the other side). This was a pleasure trip

Day 2: Went west wards covering seven villages. We were just north of the Narmada but it did not strike our minds to go have a look. Unfortunately, since I was on roaming, the network I was using did not support GPRS. So I could not use Google Maps on my phone.

Day 3: Went north east wards crossing the Tropic of Cancer. Bhopal to Bhopal we drove 500+ km in a single day.

Day 4: Went east wards, towards Raisen

It was tiring. My left leg was swollen because of an old injury gone septic. The roads were bad. But it was an experience. Much to see, much to experience, much to discover.

… devreme, am înţeles …deşi confuz, totuşi mă recunosc, deşi nu mai văd oglinda…

Îmi propusesem să rezolv repede cu “marţi”, nu se arăta nici o piedică, de-acum totul părea limpede, dar iacă, nu mai isprăvesc. Caut “marţi”, “mardi”, “tuesday”, “vtornik”, “martedi”, “dienstag”, …toată “marţea” răscând a o risipi.

Am aflat, cu ăst prilej, că dominanta cromatică pentru “marţi” e galben:

mirosul e de cafea,

muzica e “la rece“,

umblă ca pisica,

…filmul îl ştie, măcar după titlu, cam tăt natu’,

aşa că fac şi eu legătura:

India Trip 2009

“Across India by Train” – Quer durch Indien mit dem Zug

Volle Ansicht des Trips

Diesmal gings nach Indien. Da ich selbst aus Sri Lanka stamme, war mir der Großteil irgendwie vertraut. Bis auf die Sprache natürlich.
Die Reise beginnt in Mumbai, der größsten Stadt in Indien, jedoch nicht die Hauptstadt. Da wir zur Monsun Zeit reisten, haben wir mit viel Regen gerechnet. Jedoch….

Von Mumbai gings am selben Tag noch nach Goa. Da der Zug allerdings erst um 23Uhr fährt, und wir schon um 6uhr angekommen sind, mussten wir die Zeit irgendwie totschlagen. Wie, naja das war mir dann teilweise auch ein Rätsel. Aber wir haben es überstanden. In Indien ist es großteils üblich das man Overnight fährt. Hier fängt auch schon unser Abenteuer an…

Die 1. Zugfahrt war etwas völlig neues. Chaos, aber dennoch findet alles seinen Weg. Unsere Reservierungen waren zerstreut, und wir haben versucht, dass wir alle zusammen in einem Abteil schlafen konnten. Anfangs sah es gut aus, dann kam eine Familie mit 4 Kindern…dahin. Wie auch immer, die Nacht haben wir dann irgendwie überstanden.

In Pernem, einer kleinen Stadt im nördlichen Teil von Goa, angekommen, gings mit dem Bus weiter nach Arambol. Die Busfahrten sind, im vergleich zu die in Sri Lanka, recht angenehm. Sofern man sich ein Sitzplatz ergattern kann.

Arambol ist, zur Offseason, ein kleines verschlafenes Dörfchen im nördlichen Goa. Zur Monsunzeit schaut es dort jedoch sehr wild aus. Aber zur Saison wird alles heraus geputzt und es schaut dann auch um einiges schöner aus. Da wir uns zur Offseason dort befanden, bekamen wir 2 Zimmer zu einem Schnäppchenpreis.(50% weniger !!!)

Der unaufhörliche Regen hat uns dann aus Arambol vertrieben, darüber hinaus auch die nicht aufhörende Feuchtigkeit. Unsere Wäsche war immer feucht, ganz trocken wurde sie nicht, nicht mal bei 100% rpm des Ventilators *gg*. Monsun eben!

Von Arambol gings mit dem Bus nach Panjim (Panaji). Von Panaji waren wir alle überaus beeindruckt. Zwar ist es auch eine hektische Stadt wie Mumbai  und andere größeren Städte,  jedoch überzeugte uns die Sauberkeit bzw. die Reinheit der Gassen und der Straßen. Da die Stadt vormals portugiesisch war, hat es diesen Flair bis dato nicht verloren. Die Häuser leuchten in verschiedenen Farben und mit typischen alt portugiesischen Elementen. Darüber hinaus ist die Stadt auch viel westlicher als uns bis dahin bekannt war. In Panaji waren wir nur eine Nacht, dann ging wieder nach Mumbai…

Geplant war ja eine Woche in Goa, aber die zu starken Regenfälle haben uns umgestimmt und wir mussten unsere Pläne ändern.

Zurück in Mumbai, gings auch schon wieder weiter im Zug nach Bhopal. Auch diesmal mussten wir wieder bis Abend warten.  Bis dahin heißts wieder die Zeit irgendwie totschlagen. Wir haben uns beschlossen etwas shoppen zu gehn. Zumin haben wir ein Einkaufszentrum aufgesucht, leider war die Auswahl an allem etwas spärlich. Als wir dann wieder Richtung Bahnhof (CST) fahren wollten, haben wir etwas überaus Interessantes erlebt. Die Taxler fahren nicht gern, schien uns, denn sie wollten uns einfach nicht zum Bahnhof fahren, stattdessen wollten sie ihre Route verfolgen. Das ging’s so ca. bei 10 Taxis, keiner wollte, bis uns der Kragen geplatzt ist und wir einen mit Mundgewalt dazu gebracht haben uns endlich zum Bahnhof zu fahren.

Bhopal ist eine typische Verbindungsstadt. Mit dem Bus gings dann auch schon gleich nach Sanchi. Den Regen haben wir soweit es geht hinter uns gelassen!
Aber jetzt steigt uns die Hitze zu Kopf und wir schwitzen aus allen Nähten. Zeitweise ist die Hitze unerträglich. Viel Wasser. Mich hats da leider schon erwischt, die Dehydratation meines Körpers und dazu dann noch die lästigen Klimaanlagen, hatten mir dann den Rest gegeben, und ich fühlte mich 2 Tage elends. In Sanchi gings mir dann so schlecht das wir dann einen lokalen Arzt aufgesucht haben. Dieser gab mir dann unter exotischsten Umständen einige Infusionen. Am nächsten Tag,  so wunderlich es auch klingen mag, fühlte ich mich erstaunlich gut. Viel Wasser musste ich trinken und dazu noch paar profilaktische Tabletten zu mir nehmen. Der Aufenthalt in Sanchi hat sich aber als sehr interessant erwiesen. In Sanchi befindet sich eine uralte Tempel Anlage der Asoka Era. Wir waren von der herrvoragenden Instandhaltung der Anlage positiv überrascht, schließlich wird das vom Weltkulturerbe gefördert.

Am selben Tag ging dann weiter nach Jhansi. Der Zug hat auf sich warten lassen. Knappe 4h haben wir auf diesen gewartet. Keine Ankündigung, keine Verspätungsangabe, dennoch wussten die Leute wie aus heiterem Himmel, dass der Zug gleich kommt.

Die Fahrt dauert 4h. 4h in engsten Verhältnissen. Aber dennoch schön, man kommt den Leuten näher, die ja auch sehr Kommunikativ sind/werden,  sobald sie gleichfarbige Ausländer treffen. Auf unsere Antwort, dass wir aus Sri Lanka stammen, kam immer dieselbe Reaktion. “Ah Sri Lanka has the best Bowler, and Wicketkeeper”-”Ah Sangakkara, Jayawardene”.  Wir schmutzelten jedesmal nur.

In Jhansi angekommen, haben wir dann unser blaues Wunder erlebt. Da wir Seater gefahren sind, war die eindringende Masse an Menschen in den Zug so hoch, dass wir Probleme hatten auszusteigen. Ich blieb mit meiner Umhängetasche hängen bis mich irgendjemand befreit hat. Die Leute haben eine panische Angst, dass der Zug ohne sie Weg fahren würde. Auf einem Quadratmeter zwängen sich somit bis zu 10Leute in eine nicht mal 1m breite Öffnung die sich Tür nennt.

Von Jhansi gings dann mit einem Riksha (Motorisierter 3Räder, gibst auch in Italien) weiter nach Orchha. Orchha ist berühmt für seine Festungen. Allein in Orchha befinden sich 3 Festungen, die zusammen ein 3-eck bilden. Aus Zeitmangel, konnten wir uns nur eine Festung anschauen, und von diesen waren wir schwer beeindruckt. Den Raja Mahal. Das Interessante an diesem Bauwerk ist, es ist von mehreren Kulturen geprägt (nicht nur von einer einzigen). Und schon damals hatten sie Einrichtungen um gewisse Teile der Festung zu kühlen. Durch komplizierte unterirdische Luftkänale wurde die Luft durch 2 Türmen, von außerhalb, in die Festung transportiert, unterwegs wurde die Luft dann abgekühlt. Uttar Pradresh dem Bezirk in dem sich Orchha  befindet, ist generell bekannt für seine zahlreichen Festungen. Aber auch in Rajastan befinden sich viele Festungen. Was unser nächster Stopp ist.

Von Orchha, eigentlich von aus Jhansi, gings nach Agra, und hier nähern wir uns unserem Highlight. Agra befindet sich im gleichen Bezirk wie Orchha, auch in Uttar Pradresh. Und hier steht der Taj Mahal. Aber zunächst haben wir den Chini Ka Rauza, einem bedeutenden Monument in Agra, eigentlich auch ein Mausoleum eines Prime Ministers, besucht.  Als 2. ging’s zum liebevoll benannten Baby Taj,  offiziell heißt es Itmad-ud-Daulah.  Der Taj Mahal stellt alles in den Schatten was ich bzw. wir bisher gesehen haben. Es gibt nichts Vergleichbares. Es ist ein ganz anderes Gefühl wenn man es direkt vor sich hat, es berühren kann. Ist, wie auch die anderen Weltwunder, ein architektonisches Meisterwerk menschlichen Handwerks. Die Verzierungen sind nicht bemalt, sondern sind nur weitere Steine innerhalb des Mauerwerks aus Marmor. Das ganze Monument ist zugleich unbeschreiblich schön, aber auch traurig zu gleich. (Geschichte bei Interesse selber nachlesen). Es ist eine Frage des Zeitpunktes wann man zum Taj Mahal geht. Je früher desto ruhiger. Gegen Mittag, wo die Sonne im Zenit steht, erstrahlt der Marmor jedoch am hellsten, aber auch die Menschen stehen dann Schlange. Lieber fragt man sich dann, soll man da in der Hitze stehn? Eher lohnt es sich in der Früh in aller Ruhe den Taj zu besuchen. Dann wo man auch geeignete Bilder machen kann.

In Agra blieben wir 2 Tage, genug Zeit um auch die Agra Festung anzuschauen. Das ist die Festung wo der Imperator  Shah gewohnt hat. Auch hier, weit und breit Mamor mit unbeschreiblich schönen Gravuren und Verzierungen.

Irgendwie verfolgt uns der Regen, sowohl in Orcha als auch in Agra hat uns der Regen am letzten Tag heimgesucht. Zuvor war überall Sonne. Wie auch immer…auf ging’s nach Jodhpur.

Langsam aber auch nähern wir uns dem Ende unseres Trips quer durch Indien. Unser letzter Stopp in Indien war Jodhpur. Jodhpur, der Name klingt nach Joda. Tatsächlich jedoch, hat auch ein Herr Namens Rao (auch Roa) Jodha die Stadt gegründet und befindet sich im Bezirk Rajasthan. Die Stadt hat mich auch schwer beeindruckt, aber die Hitze hat mich auch zu schaffen gemacht. Die Stadt ist dermaßen eng verbaut, dass sich das ganze Leben zwischen ca. 3m schmalen Gassen abspielt. Auf den Hauptstraßen ist verhältnismäßig weniger los. Auch in Jodhpur gibt es paar Festungen. Direkt vor unserem Guesthouse war eines, Meherangarh Festung. Dieser gilt als uneinnehmbar, zur damaligen Zeit. Irgendwie auch logisch, die Festung wurde auf einem 123m hohen Felsen erbaut. Von unseren Guesthouse aus, haben auch wir eine Kameltour in die Wüste gemacht. Ein wirklich abenteuerlicher Ritt auf Kamelen. Heiß, sehr heiß, so dass ich, mal wieder ich, einen Sonnebrand am linken Oberschenkel bekam. Dunkle Haut seit dank, war nicht so schlimm, obwohl die Sonne direkt drauf geschient hat.

Die Wüste um Jodhpur herum ist nicht unbewohnt, es leben einige Leute dort. Viele leben von ihren Kamelen, in dem sie diese eben zu Kamelritten anheuern lassen.

Unser Pech hat uns auch bis in die Wüste verfolgt. Kurz nach dem wir in einem Dörfchen halt gemacht hatten, etwas zu essen, kam ein Wind auf und das verhieß nichts gutes. Es hat etwas geregnet. Um ca 17Uhr ging der Ritt weiter, die Sonne war nun endgültig weg. Es wurde angenehmer, zu angenehm. Kurze Zeit drauf prasselte es wie aus Eimern. Die Einheimischen waren uns wohl irgendwie dankbar. Denn sie haben bereits auf einen Regen gewartet. Scherz beiseite. Wir alle waren mal wieder klitsch nass. Gegen 20Uhr ging’s dann zum Auto zurück. Es war stockdunkel und zeitweise haben wir uns gefragt, wie sich die Kamelführer wohl zu recht finden. Gegen 23uhr sind wir dann wieder im Hotel angekommen.

Am letzten Tag in Jodhpur hab ich mich mit Tharuka auf die Festung begeben, keine leichte Sache. Der Tag war unerträglich heiß, und wir haben den falschen Zugang zu Festung genommen. Aber noch mal runter und die Tickets zu holen wollten wir nicht. Also blieben wir nur draußen und haben  uns die Stadt von der Mauer aus angeschaut.

Um ca 18Uhr gings nach Mumbai zurück. Uns steht eine 17h Zugfahrt bevor….

Die letzten Tage in Mumbai haben mit damit verbracht, unseren Liebsten paar Sachen zu kaufen…
Und hier endet unsere Reise quer durch Indien mit dem Zug.

Good bye India, until next time!

Sânchî 

Sânchî

Sânchî est un petit village de l’Inde, situé à 46 km au nord-est de Bhopal, dans la partie centrale de l’état du Madhya Pradesh.

L’empereur Ashoka construisit 8 stûpas sur ce site au cours de son règne au IIIe siècle

av. J.-C..

D’autres stûpas ainsi que d’autres bâtiments religieux bouddhistes, tels que des monastères, complétèrent le site jusqu’au XIIe siècle.

Cependant, suite à la contre-réforme hindouiste, les monuments de Sânchî furent oubliés et se détériorèrent par manque d’entretien.

Le site est redécouvert en 1818 par un officier britannique, le général Taylor.

Des archéologues amateurs et des chasseurs de trésor vont ravager la zone par leur pillage, et ce jusqu’en 1881 où des mesures de restauration sont entreprises.

Entre 1912 et 1919, les structures sont remises dans l’état où on les connaît aujourd’hui sous la supervision de Sir John Marshall.

De nos jours, il reste cinquante monuments sur la colline de Sânchî, y compris 3 stûpas et plusieurs temples.

Le Grand Stûpa est entouré de quatre portails sculptés appelés toranas.

Le site des Monuments bouddhiques de Sânchî est inscrit au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO depuis 1989.

Ashoka

Le grand-père d’Ashoka , de la caste guerrière des Kshatriya , Candragupta régna sur un vaste empire qui s’étendait jusqu’à l’Afghanistan.

Il établit une administration sur l’exemple des Perses et la capitale, aux proportions énormes, Pataliputra, était construite sur le modèle architectural de Persépolis.

Mais le fondateur de la dynastie des Maurya se lassa des intrigues de la cour et abdiqua en faveur de son fils Bindusara.

Candragupta suivit alors les enseignements d’un maître Jaïn et se retira avec lui dans un endroit isolé afin de finir ses jours dans le jeûne et la méditation.

Son fils, le père d’Ashoka, ne resta sur le trône que peu de temps.

Lui aussi choisit la vie d’ascète et renonça à la royauté.

Ashoka naît vers 273 avant J.C

Lorsqu’Ashoka accède au pouvoir souverain, les Maurya règnent sur une grande partie de l’Inde, ayant unifié par la force les innombrables principautés, républiques et tribus

C’est l’apogée de la puissante dynastie.

Infiltrations, espionnages et déportations sont les instruments politiques du jeune despote.

Sa soif de conquête est grande.

Il provoque des hostilités afin d’ouvrir un accès vers le sud du royaume.

Cette guerre du Kalinga fait plus de 100,000 morts.

Des sages jaïns et bouddhistes le supplient alors de mettre fin au conflit et de faire la paix.

Ils lui expliquent la profonde signification de l’AHIMSA, mot sanskrit signifiant non-violence, refus de tuer, de nuire ou de détruire.

La vie est chère à tous les êtres, tous craignent la souffrance et redoutent leur destruction.

Le respect, la compassion et la tolérance demeurent l’essence de la sagesse.

Après ses conquêtes sanglantes , Ashoka se dégoûte de la cruauté de la guerre et va y renoncer.

Il a alors adopté les doctrines paisibles du Bouddhisme et a déclaré que dorénavant ses conquêtes devraient être des conquêtes religieuses

On attribue à Ashoka l’érection de 84.000 stupa, monticules circulaires de briques ou de pierres renfermant des reliques du Bouddha ou de Bodhisattvas célèbres

Ashoka crée l’écriture dite brahmi.

Après l’écriture pictographique de l’ère de l’Indus qui dura jusqu’environ 1,500 avant J.C., la plus ancienne écriture indienne déchiffrable remonte à Ashoka.

Dès qu’il la créa , elle devint l’écriture de toute l’Inde.

La majorité des écritures indiennes modernes sont de ce fait dérivés du brahmi.

Mais peu après la mort d’Ashoka l’empire de Mauryan s’est désagrégé.

Un site au dessus de l’autre

Le site de Sânchî se situe quasiment au centre de l’Inde

Quasiment exactement là d’où ressortirait l’aiguille plantée dans l’ile de Pâques et passant par le centre de la terre

Etonnamment , c’est le plus grand site bouddhique de l’Inde , après les sites de Kapilavastu , lieu de naissance de Bouddha , aux environs de Bénarès

C’est aussi ce site qui est le point de départ de la quasi-totalité de la propagation du bouddhisme

Il semble donc bien , que ce centre virtuel géographique de l’Inde , ait dut avoir une connotation religieuse primitive importante , réappropriée par la nouvelle religion , comme chez nous , l’église catholique qui s’est hâtée de construire ses cathédrales sur les sites religieux païens importants

L’astroport d’arrivée

Les Atlantes sont arrivés par vagues et se sont installés en Inde

Ils ont aménagés une ligne de menhir le long de la côte ouest

Ils ont fait basculer la terre grâce à leurs interventions dans l’ile de Pâques et sur la côte ouest du nord de l’Amérique du sud

Ces interventions faites , il faut aménager un astroport pour permettre l’arrivée de tous les atlantes en route , et ils sont encore très nombreux à arriver …..

Il est donc fort probable que l’intervention sur l’ile de Pâques , ait aussi des raisons techniques pour le bon fonctionnement de l’astroport de Sânchî

L’Atlantide

Il va de soi que le site de l’Inde ne peut convenir pour héberger tous les atlantes

D’autant plus qu’au niveau de la sécurité , les asiates voisins , ça n’est pas l’idéal

Aussi , les atlantes décidèrent d’installer leur capitale , et leurs infrastructures sur l’ile continent d’Atlantide

Tous les autres sites qui seront donc habités par des atlantes deviendront de fait des colonies atlantes

Et le site de l’Inde devient donc le site d’arrivée et de redistribution logistique des arrivants

This pic was taken at Sanchi famous for its Stupas, near Bhopal which is capital of MP. This pic was taken in day light and was edited by me using Apple Aperture and Preview color editing tool

Casi se está acabando “Rayuela” cuando en el Capítulo 149 resuenan estos versos de Octavio Paz. Justo antes, en el Capítulo 66, se ha hablado de la stupa de Sanchi, de su decoración obsesiva y embaucadora: la puerta a un templo budista de antigüedad difícilmente datable…

Mis pasos en esta calle

resuenan

en otra calle

donde

oigo mis pasos

pasar en esta calle

donde

sólo es real la niebla.

Stupa de Sanchi

deviantArt

În formă şi conţinut seamănă cu blocurile, nu toate, cu starea de fapt, nu dintotdeauna, cu dorinţele noastre, nu doar dintre cele ascunse. Ştiut este că porţile de intrare a lumii ‘cesteia către suflet sânt cele simţuri, zise trupeşti, numărate până la cinci şi declarate suficiente, în iconomia relaţiei pe orizontală… Nu pentru “Duminica Orbului” (Vaskresenie aslepa, pentru fani…), cea cu forţate trimiteri politice, ci pentru curiozitate, îmi trec pe maculator câteva avioane:

#1. Convenim (eu cu mine…) că toţi oamenii au simţul Văzului trupesc; ce văz eu, că până şi ăsta e împărţit… Să (mă) ‘esplic: Într-un fel “văd” de ale mele, altcumva “văd” ale celorlalţi; interese, dureri, haine, pasiuni, lipsuri, soţ/soţie, daruri, împliniri, locuinţă, neajunsuri, forme, copii, drum în viaţă, talent, impozite, coafură, casă, responsabilitate, …totul, chiar şi moartea, arată diferit de diferit , şi nu pentru că au valori diferite în sine, ci pentru că aşa vrem noi să le vedem. Un alt exemplu: de la “…nu i-ar muri mulţi înainte!… numa’ Ceaşcă-i de vină!… etc.”, la: “era mai bine!… etc.”, sau, “mi-am mâncat viaţa cu el/ea!… etc.”, după: “nu (mai) pot trăi fără… etc.”

#2. …va urma?

The photo story of a trip through the backwaters of the Indian state of Madyha Pradesh this Christmas and New Year can be found here.

The Chronicle of Assam started way back in the past when Alexander invaded Punjab, the Greeks had came across to the Indian tradition of using inner barks of trees and well-beaten cotton cloth as writing material. The Greeks were aware of the Sanchipat (Manuscript) tradition of Assam. The sanchipats were made from the inner barks of sanchi (aloe) tree. It was believed that the sanchipats were made in a complex and time consuming way at that time, i am talking about 7th Century AD.

Aloe tree can still be found in many parts of Assam. The famous oil AGARU, is the extracted oil from this sanchi trees and exported to West Asia. The famous historian Sir Edward Gait wrote about the skill of preparing manuscripts from the sanchi tree in A History of Assam.

Some of very interesting facts about Assamese Manuscripts came to light when Mr. Samiran Baruah, a painter and curator of Assam State Museum Guwahati did an in-depth study of thirty four manuscripts comprising of more than 3000 paintings.  From the study it was found that the Assamese Manuscripts were a pre-mughal phenomenon. According to Mr. Baruah in the other parts of india the skill of manuscript writing took serious effect only from the 18th century under the Mughal influence. But Assamese calligraphy was famous among the local people way back than the Mughal period.

Following are some great institutions where you can study the Assamese Manuscripts ,

• The Assam State Museum
• The Kamrupa Anusadhana Samiti
• The Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies Assam

These 3 institution has a very good collection of Assamese Manuscripts and The British Library in London also has some collection of Assamese Manuscripts. Lots of Assamese Manuscripts are still in the private hands and in the staras of Assam. As those were not preserved in a proper way and because of its exposer to the vegeries of the weather the manuscripts are on the brink of getting lost. Unless these are collected, documented and preserve, a treasure of Assamese Culture will be lost with time.

Ragging and its consequences are in the news again after the death of a 19 yr old medical student recently. Debates and discussions are going on the issue of prevention of ragging and enforcement of laws. My post, however, is not on that topic. My post is on the fond memories of ragging I have from my B.E. days and the effect it had on us.

On the first night in hostel, we had the huge task of memorizing all our hostel seniors’ names and hometowns and our introduction in Hindi. Thank god I had pretty good memorizing power and I was in Electrical Engineering branch which was easily translated into “Vidyut Abhiyantriki”. We pitied the girls of CSE or Electronics.I also chose Philately as my hobby to avoid any further questions and it was one of the cleverest decisions of my life [ You can check out samples of my stamp collection here] Only one 4th yr senior was smart enough to think of a question to ask me regarding Philately. She asked me what was the image on Rs 1 stamp and I answered correctly. She let me go

Our ragging consisted of singing, dancing, jokes, lots of scoldings and ridiculing. Seniors also gave us the tips about college, seniors, studies and teachers. They laid out rules for hostel including bathroom and we had to follow them. The first years were supposed to eat the last. We had to pick up the hostel phone within 3 rings. We were not allowed to wear nightie or night suits in hostel in first year. Only salwar suits. We had a uniform too for college; to identify the first year students. But our seniors never made us write files or assignments or draw sheets for them.

Yeah I wore that big specs once. Check out the oily hair and pigtails - symbols of ragging.

We had to address 2nd years as Ma’am Miss XYZ Ma’am, 3rd years as Respected Ma’am Miss XYZ Ma’am and final years as Honorable Ma’am Miss XYZ Ma’am. It was very funny when someone had to deliver a message from one senior to another. You can imagine the prologue before coming to the point! Our day would start with us wishing all our seniors a good morning. Then we used to leave for college accompanied by two seniors, walking in a single line with our eyes on the “third button” and wishing anyone who passed us by. During recess, we hostelers didn’t venture out. Then in evening we were accompanied back by our seniors. After freshening up, we all went for the evening wish. Then after dinner we went for ragging every night for 2-3 hours.

Once, the fact that I happened to know about sun signs was revealed. 3 seniors called us and asked me to identify who is the Scorpio among them. I requested to look at their faces once. While I was glancing at them, I noticed one had a dimple while suppressing her smile. I knew she must be on cusp of Libra and Scorpio and I said her name as being the Scorpio. She was  pleased and impressed with me

Our college even held “GR” i.e. general ragging officially!! It was a day for cross ragging but we hostelers didn’t have much problem. In fact the hardest thing was to control laughter as the senior sirs used to make their juniors do all sorts of funny things. In return for ragging, we were given concessions like no “local” senior could rag us, we carried normal college bags instead of “Gandhi Jhola” and no male senior had the permission to make us do a “ninety” wish. Our hostel seniors took us  to movies and market and if any senior is there on the bus to college, we needn’t pay any money.  And of course  there was the awesome Freshers’ Party!!

All dressed for Freshers

We continued the traditions when we became seniors and we had the most wonderful time with our juniors. Some of us and the juniors even went on a one day trip to Sanchi and had so much fun. But after that ragging dwindled and chaos ruled in hostel by the time we left after graduation. For example I was once pushed by a first year girl to get to the “dal” first during dinner time. There were complaints from neighbors and trouble with college administration too.

Juniors and Us - on way to Sanchi

The Sanchi Stupa with miniature us

We were 18 first year girls in hostel. Some from conservative families, some on payment seats (from metros and rich families) and some on free seats (average middle class families like me and my school friend). Ragging made us unite, to look out for each other and to have discipline. The habit of addressing people as Sir or Ma’am got wired into me after ragging only. It also helped me in understanding and following the junior- senior relation at work place too. It helped me learn to control temper and to not backtalk even if the senior is wrong. Whether we like it or not, whether it is good or back, Indian systems function in hierarchies and this is the 1st lesson in life we got through ragging!!! Ragging helped us in learning humility, politeness, and to be comfortable with one’s personality and body.

I hold the personal opinion that there should be harmless ragging in the right manner, within limits of decency and human rights.  Harmless ragging means no physical infliction of pain should be involved and no demeaning act should be asked to perform. Such ragging is actually lots of fun and gives us good memories of college & hostel life.

Social Bookmarks:

Photos copyrighted to me.

Posts:-

Ragging can’t be ignored by Kanagu

Sanchi Stupas may seem to be like a normal monument from long distance but its specialities, prestige and preciousness reveals only when someone goes to Sanchi. Therefore, a large number of peoples like Buddhists, tourist, archaeologist and researcher from worldwide travels to sanchi. The Great Stupa at Sanchi was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the third century B.C. In B.C. 483 when Lord Buddha left his body dead, his followers conflicted among themselves to get it. At the end one Buddhist saint distributed the body fossils in equal parts. In later phase this monument become the base of spreading Buddhism worldwide and the learning of Lord Buddha get spread throughout. Stupa in Sanchi is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indian holiday’s destination.

Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. Like in every religion, monument of Sanchi was developed as per tradition of Buddhism. In the beginning at the central part of Fossils of Buddha are kept and later on covered with mud and stone in hemispherical structure. In Sanchi we get a lot of ultimate sculpture of heritage in for of Stupa, Toranas and Pillars. The gates to the stupas – the “toranas” are the real highlight of Sanchi. Absolutely brilliantly carved stone depicts episodes of Buddas life and it is said that the toranas are possibly the best and finest Buddhist art in India.

The Stupa number 1 was developed by Emperor Ashok in his royal ruling session to maintain the fossils of Lord Buddha. Rest two Stupas are of having Buddha’s follower’s fossils. These hemispherical monuments are covered around by fencing mage of stone which earlier used to be of wood. At the top of Stupa there you can find square fencing called as hermica with three level chattra. In the fencing of stone there is a very beautiful depiction of Gautam Buddha life. These toran also reveals different stages of lord Buddha life. It is said that 50 tonnes weighing pillar of Ashoka have been brought and situated here. This pillar of Ashoka is another most popular reason for tourist to see as places to see in India.

Sanchi is small town in district of Raisen, Madhya Pradesh and could be reached very easily from sanchi. Sanchi comes in the railway path from Bhopal to New Delhi. The distance between sanchi and Bhopal is of 50 km only. Normally superfast train and express train do not stoppage at Sanchi. Best time to visit Sanchi is from October to March. There are facilities of hotel and restaurants easily available near around. So keep enjoying Indian holidays at XL.

Added to my fotopic site is a ‘photo essay’ of some hours in the life of Sanchi station in Madhya Pradesh in India.

I saw everything, the rise, the fall and the death.

This tree is in the sanctum of Sanchi, world heritage site famous for Stupas, buddhist structures.

Ad ottobre torna “La Gru – Portale di Poesia e Realtà” www.lagru.org

Chiunque voglia proporre propri testi, interventi o riflessioni di carattere storico, filosofico o letterario è invitato a mettersi in contatto con la Redazione.

* L’annuario 2007/2008 (La Gru n.5, 307 pagine)

con interventi di:

Boscarol, Cardellini, De Angelis, D’Elia, Di Salvatore, Fabiani, Ferri, Iemma, Lago, Mancinelli, Marano, Marotta, Monti, Monville, Nota, Ortenzi, Pascali, Pulsoni, Sanchi, Sanchini, Stramucci, Tarquini, Zattoni

è acquistabile a soli 15 euro presso
http://www.lulu.com/content/2686101

Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)

Talvez o mais fino e mais completo monumento Budista na India seja a Grande Torre de Sanchi com os seus quatro magnificientes portões (toranas). A imensa torre de tijolos em si data do século 3 AC, mas seus potões, balaustres e parapeitos entalhados foram executados provavelmente dois séculos mais tarde, durante a dinastia Satavahana. Sanchi foi escavada nos primórdios do século 19, e a restauração do local por arqueólogos britânicos e franceses foi iniciada em 1912.

Hoje, os visitantes, bem como os tradicionais devotos do Budismo, podem circundar a torre no sentido horário e contemplar suas portentosas formas esculturais que preenchem os pilares dos portões e seus magníficos arcos. Narrativas em Jataka, elefantes e leões reais, deidades Indo-Budistas e estranhos espíritos de natureza feminina preenchem cada parte dos quatro portões (toranas). Um pequeno museu arquelógico abriga esculturas escavadas; sendo que outras importantes peças de Sanchi se encontram nos museus em Delhi, Londres e Los Angeles.

Torre de Sanchi

Fonte da Imagem: Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre.

It was the middle of last week and getting close to the last day of my vegan experiment: ‘Vegan for one month only’. The cupboards were running low on vegan fare in anticipation of the truck loads of meat I’d already begun lining up for the coming week. This should explain the following email exchange I had with the nice people at Sanchi:

Dear Sanchi,

Please can you let me know if your Organic Ramen noodles are vegan? It would be great if you could email back quickly, I’m starving and it seems to be the only thing in the house that I can eat.

Many thanks

Rob
——

Yes, we have these and many other products from the Sanchi range listed with the Vegan Society in Vegan Shopper.

Mary

Customer Services Manager

Sanchi

——
Thanks Mary

I took the chance in end and they were very tasty with some extra vegetables and Japanese mushrooms, thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Rob

Mary really did get back to me in super quick time, probably whilst I was making them. I just couldn’t wait in the end. I had the seaweed variety, they were especially good with a little added chili, tree ear mushroom and shredded cabbage. I think the tasty factor had a lot to do with the absence of artificial crap in the soup base, it’s all 100% natural. I’m going to make sure I’ve got some kicking around the kitchen for when I need to grab a wholesome instant food fix.

Canonical has released the stable version of Bazaar – A Distributed Software Version control system for distributed teams of innovative and open source, modern sommunity based software development.
Bazaar 1.0 has been written in Python software language – a software language that is much in demand and commands a lot of respect in the Open Software community – which sadly is lacking in India – presently – even though Indian software majors have garnered immense amounts of profits but for strategic reasons are not very happy to promote the spread of free and open source software among Indian schools, colleges, and universities due to fear of disturbing their monopolies and business models.
Among the features of BAZAAR are :
1. Software developers who are familiar with ECLIPSE Software development platform, can begin to be very productive as they can learn and use BAZAAR easily and in short learning curve.
2. It is based on stable Python API and is compatible with Python versions 2.4 and above. It already has a set of about 20 Plugins, available for immediate use by communities of software developers.
3. No need for coordination with central code base as Commits can be made independently.
4. Features and fixes can be developed in independent branches and merged into main development trunk at any time. This feature is ideal for teaching distributed software development to students in remote locations of India.
5. Software development can be done in creative models, whether as creative and intelligent individual developers, who contribute more code than others, or as cooperating software teams.
6. Dual level of support is available for the GNU GPL licensed Bazaar as users can buy commercial support, or if their software developers and teams are really world class, they can use freely available and generous shared community support.
More information : http://www.ubuntu.com/news/bazaar-v1-release