January 1st, 2007 I woke up to my alarm with an uneasy stomach and rushed to meet Sui for the bus ride to Mt. Abu. My first meal of the year was a spicy samosa wrapped in old newspaper from a street vendor—not the best thing on an upset stomach but the cleanest-looking option at the time. The bus ride took most of the day, two hours longer than we had been told. The woman sitting in the aisle next to me only started throwing up halfway through so we were able to breathe freely most of the morning. Everyone visiting Mt. Abu is required to pay ten rupees at the entrance. The man who took my money tried to pocket fifty rupees of my change. It’s tiring dealing with such petty things every day when you’re on the road.
Rickshaws (motor and cycle) are banned from town which makes walking around a lot easier and probably safer. The town isn’t very big, but most people don’t want to carry their luggage so the locals have improvised with very short blue metal carts. They resemble a riding lawnmower’s cart in size but function like a grocery cart with a bar at one end for pushing. Most have boards across either end for sitting but because of the dimensions, anyone riding in a blue cart looks ridiculous. I saw a family of four sitting on the boards with their feet around their ears while a frail old main pushed them uphill much slower than they could have walked. Sui and I teamed up with a couple from Brazil and wandered around, carrying our own luggage, finally finding the right street leading up to our hotel.
By this time my stomach was showing it’s anger toward the spicy samosa and I spent the rest of the night laying around and watching cable in my room. Some of the fine entertainment that night included Walking Tall staring “The Rock” and Soccer Dog: European Cup staring a dog named Kibbles and multiple jokes about haggis.
Mt. Abu isn’t as well known to foreign tourists but it’s a popular homeymoon spot for Indians. This meant that we were left peacefully alone by all the touts, who focused their attention on all the Indians looking to blow some cash. Sui and I left the next morning for the Dilwara Temples, meant to be the most intricately carved marble temples in India. It took us about 15 minutes to find where the shared jeeps left from and when we finally found a ride I jumped in the back. Sui headed for the front and when I saw the man in front of me surrounded by cigarette smoke I jumped out to get into the front with Sui.
Only, rather than stepping on the small step at the back I missed it completely and landed flat on my face on the asphalt. I felt like I was in slow motion during the fall, thinking “no, not my face!” but I didn’t even have time to put my hands down. I touched my face and pulled my hand back covered in blood. Looking up, I saw that I was quickly surrounded by Indian men staring down in shock. Sui confirmed that my teeth were still there and the blood was coming from my lip.
My knees apparently took some of the fall and were swollen and streaked with blood and quickly bruising. After a minute sitting on the step of the jeep I composed myself and contorted my body into the back for the ride to the temple. In retrospect, I probably should have gone back to the hotel and cleaned the dirt and stones off my face but I just wanted to get to the temples and finish my sightseeing in Mt. Abu as soon as possible.
The Dilwara Temples were built by Jains starting in 1031. From the outside they look plain, like whitewashed concrete, but the interior is floor to ceiling marble. The complex has five temples, but the three most impressive were completely covered in intricate marble carving. The temples generally consist of a large square courtyard with a six foot wide covered walkway around the edges from which small shrines behind doors or rows of seated statues protrude toward the exterior walls. The rest of the courtyard is filled with pillars surrounding a large central shrine which towers over the surrounding structure. The shrine contains a main alter facing the door with a marble or metal sculpture of a deity. Often smaller diety sculptures are found on the other three sides of the shrine, but most people spend their time (and money) on the main figure.
The Jains are a minority in India, but have historically been good businessmen and are often wealthy. Having a wealthy following certainly helps when you want to built temples like these. Every surface of the walls, pillars and ceiling has been carved into detailed floral and geometric designs. While I walked around, staring up at each unique ceiling panel I couldn’t help but think “these would make beautiful tattoos.” Some battle scenes could be seen around the walls and many pillars housed figures of women, hunters or animals posed in-between the tendrils of the pillar’s design.
One of the temples was spotted with mismatched bamboo scaffolding where workers were cleaning and polishing the marble. These newly cleaned surfaces glowed and were a reminder that much of the marble I’ve seen in India could use a good scrub. I was sure my lip’s swelling was going down but an Indian tourist offered me chapstick with a worried expression on her face. I declined, but gave my face an extra dab with a wet tissue to dislodge some of the remaining dirt.
Unfortunately, no photography was allowed anywhere near the temples so I have no evidence of the beautiful surfaces to show. However, a search online, produces some photos. On the way out I bought a typically substandard pack of postcards with a few details as a reminder. After the temples we stopped at our favorite Indian coffee chain, Cafe Coffee Day, for a “Tropical Iceberg’ and a break from India. Sometime I just need to sit in a quiet, clean place that reminds me of the orderliness of home.
Mt. Abu is known as a romantic spot with a lake surrounded by mountains and georgeous sunsets. Neither Sui or I was particularly moved by the garbage strewn lake or hazy, outlook but we both had a good time watching the Indians making the best of their “clean” air and water. On the way uphill to Sunset Point we walked alongside groups of schoolchildren, single men, couples and families buying corn on the cob rubbed with lemon, peanuts and winter hats. At the top a huge crowd of Indians gathered on three concrete platforms, taking photos into the fading sun and gawking at our foreigness.
Once the last edge of the sun shifted out of sight the crowd began to push it’s way down the mountain any way possible. Some people hired silly blue carts, others rented brown and white horses and galloped wildly through the crowd of pedestrians. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, enjoying their holiday and not worried that they might be run over by an out of control push cart. Injuries and Indian tourists aside, I was glad I had made the detour to Mt. Abu. The temples there were some of the most beautiful I have seen in all my travels.
2 responses to “2007: Ouch!, Mt. Abu”
Weird, I was in Mt. Abu at this exact same time. I can’t remember the hotel we stayed at, but it was beautiful. We took a 10 hour train (that took 13) from Jaipur. I was drinking morning coffee outside near our room, playfully throwing pieces of fruit to the monkeys hanging around. Until one of the hotel workers poped out from around a bush and started throwing rocks at them. I guess they’re considered pests? And I was feeding them. Oops.
You didn’t know moneys were considered pests!? I guess none has ever stole anything from you or taken your plastic bottle of coke, chewed through the bottom and chugged it?