Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
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The first thing that comes into the mind when talking about Tawang is the the monastery. And that is where we headed next morning.
The monastery, blue skies and the snow caps
Tawang Monastery is said to be the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in India and second largest in the entire world. It did not look very big in size though. When we went there, the morning prayers were finished and it was quiet inside. We were the only people inside, though we found a few people and monks wandering around the monastery.
Buddha statue at the monastery
We walked in and spent a few moments in its beautiful interiors. Every inch of the monastery is decorated in bright colors. Several lines of mats are laid out in parallel as seating for prayers, between a tall statue of Buddha and the main entrance. We lit incense sticks and sat inside quietly for a while. I love the prayerful feeling emanated from the interiors of a place of worship, and the quietness of the monastery made it all the more charming.
The Monk’s Assets
We struck conversation with a monk student when we came out. He told us a few things about the monastery, and when we requested if we can walk around with him and see his room, he was very obliging. He was happy to help us around, treated us like worthy guests and served us coffee and snacks when we were in his room. The approach to his room was through a narrow wooden staircase that led to his small but warm wooden dwelling, shared by two monks. It was a neatly arranged place with many books, tools of prayer and pictures of worship. A tape-recorder and a some Hindi movie tapes were a few things that seemed out of place!
Smiles..
More Smiles..
and more smiles..
even more smiles..
One thing that often strikes me with the Tibetans is how friendly and open they are. I see them smiling and happy all the time. They open up very easily and without any qualms, and seem to be comfortable with anyone at any time. It is the same story I have seen with the Tibetan Buddhists in all places. I don’t know if it is something in their blood or if it is their practices that keep them so alive. Even children are friendly, open and smiling all the time. The monk we met was also extremely humble and seemed to follow the phrase ‘athithi devobhava’ in every instance, even with us strangers. We saw so many smiling faces all around Tawang in the day, it would take many months to see so much smiles anywhere else!
A month ago I was at Janapada Jaatre in Bangalore, a cultural fair held fortnightly to showcase folk arts from various parts of Karnataka. It was a great event and every minute of the entire two-hour show was an awesome entertainment. Here are some images from the show.
Artists assemble on the stage with traditional attire before their performance begins.
Goravara Kunita is a form of dance where performers dress up and dance wildly with small drums called “thamate” in hand. It can be scary for children. In the yester years, the dance was meant to ward off evil, and was practiced in the some parts Southern Karnataka.
Yakshagana is the state’s official art form, and is popular in coastal Karnataka and parts of Malnad region. Yakshagana is a type of Opera, where performers dance to the songs depicting stories from Mahabharatha. Interestingly, it mixes dance and drama. After dancing with the drums for a verse, performers break into a conversation to elaborate the theme of the verse. As you can see from the picture, lot of work goes into the dress and makeup of the artists.
A traditional dance to the tunes of a folk song – “Moodal Kunigal Kere..”
Another character from a Yakshagana. He is a comedian, as is evident from the image. Jokers, or Haasyagaara as they are called, are part of nearly every episode of Yakshagana. The episode they were playing on the day I was there was “Sreekrishna Paarijaatha”, the story of stealing the divine flower from Indra’s gardens.
Bhootada Kola was the star-event of the day, performed at the end. Kola is another custom to ward off evil, performed in the southern coastal regions of Dakshina Kannada.
Janapada Jaatre Information
Janapada Jaatre is a festival held at 6pm every 2nd and 4th weekend(both Saturday and Sunday), at Lalbag Botanical Gardens, Bangalore. The location of the festival is as interesting as the festival itself – it happens in an open air arena, where audience sit on a hillock, making it a Cinema hall like arrangement under the stars. This is an event organized as part of celebration of 50th year of forming Karnataka – Suvarna Karnataka Varsha. The event started in November 2006 and is expected to go on till November 2007.
Also see: More images of Janapada Jaatre on my India Image Gallery
Bandipur -> Wayanad -> Kozhikode -> Guruvayur -> Cochin -> Periyar
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+Next: Cherai Beach
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We continued driving south towards Kochi(or Cochin) the next morning. When we reached Guruvayur on the way, we decided to stop for a look at the large brigade of tuskers that the Guruvayur temple owned.
The temple is just a few minutes off from the National Highway. Once we entered the town, there were signs pointing to the temple at some turns, and some places we had to ask for directions. The temple parking lot also doubled up as garbage pile. We parked in slush, mud and garbage and paid Rs.20 for that precious parking area. As soon as we entered the temple complex, we realized that we may not find elephants anywhere here. The temple is small, has plenty of shops in the lane in front of it and has no space to host the giant pachyderms.
We stood in front of the temple entrance and inquired. A friendly and helpful traffic police officer who was manning the temple answered to us in a slow and precise manner.
“The elephants are in Anekotta. You go straight on this road.. you will get the highway.. After the highway you go two more kilometers.. you will find Anekotta. Elephants will be there.”
While my friends were making sure they got the directions right, I looked through the temple doors. It is a typical temple in Kerala, with a post in the front hosting an array of wick lamps, behind which is the door to the sanctum. The pillars of the temple are made of wood, and if I recall correctly, the walls have large windows made with plenty of wood. Wood used in the old temples of Kerala have remained intact for centuries, and I have often wondered how.
As we were speaking to the officer, a man wearing trousers and shirts and a lady in salwar-kameez were getting into the temple. A temple-worker alerted the officer, and the officer casually turned back and addressed them slowly:
“Pants.. don’t go. Salwar… don’t go. Only sari and lungi”
Having said that, he continued helping us with directions. Once we were sure where to go, we made no attempt to get into the temple and headed back to the car. The place with the elephants – Anekotta or Punnathur Kotta as it is called, was a 15 minute drive.
I have a fondness for elephants. Often when asked “What is your favourite animal?”, I have always named the elephants. They are giant beasts, but they seem to be soft, friendly and approachable. Baby elephants are especially affable and adorable. I have enjoyed a few nice moments with them, like meeting young Jogi in Rajaji National Park or a small family of tuskers in the wilderness of Bandipur. I have tested their patience in Corbett and found them very forgiving and accommodative. To me, they always seem to be calm and easygoing though they are known to turn dangerous at times. These giants are also known to be caring and protective for the members of their group in the wild.
Recommended Reading
The book Elephas Maximus by Stephen Alter is a great book to know more about elephants. It gives a common man’s perspective to elephants than a scientist’s outlook. He goes through India’s wildlife sanctuaries, reads through books that talk about the history of association of man and elephants in India, talks about conflicts in the nature, history and myths surrounding the elephants and many more interesting topics.
The book, spanning 303 pages in published by Penguin India
They have 30 or so elephants owned by the temple administration in Guruvayur. The elephants are decorated and taken on a procession during the festivals celebrated at the temple. Each one of them is a majestic male with long tusks, a variety becoming rare in our wilderness. When we entered into the premise, we were saddened by the state of these temple elephants. They are kept isolated and chained to trees such that they can’t move even slightly. There are two chains for each elephant – both tightly bound, with one chained to a front leg and another to rear, and their movement is completely restricted. It was difficult to understand why they had to be constrained so harshly. We could see and realize the disapproval and unhappiness of them when they tried hard move front or back without success, or when they shook their body very hard as if trying to move out – a behaviour I have never seen elsewhere. They seem to be well fed and cared for their health, but no one seemed to bother that they are also living being who would want to be free and do as they wish. They should have roamed the jungles of India free and lived a life of a dominant male in the group, but here they were, not able to move an inch away from where they were standing. I am not sure how the tradition of capturing elephants for the temple has evolved, but I can surely say that no lord would want his servants to suffer this way. Stephen Alter writes in his book Elephas Maximus on the Guruvayur’s elephants:
“…the Anna Kotta at Guruvayur is a depressing place. Instead of being able to swim in a river or wander into the forest to feed, the temple elephants are confined to their enclosure and each of them is chained except when being bathed. Resting against many of the tuskers’ necks were long spears that are used to control the elephants if they cause trouble. The concentration of male elephants also adds to the feeling of incarceration…
We did not stay for long in Guruvayur and continued on our way to Cochin. Somewhere on the way just before we were about to reach Kochi, we saw a deviation to Cherai beach and turned that way.
About Guruvayur
Guruvayur is located on the National Highway 17 in the stretch between Kochi and Kozhikode, approximately 100km from each of these towns. It is 30km away from Thrissur. Guruvayur has a railway station, and the nearest airport is in Kochi.
Guruvayur temple’s deity is Krishna in the name of Guruvayurappan. The main attraction for a tourist are the festivities in the temple which involves parading the temple elephants. See the temple website for more details. Non Hindus are not allowed to enter the temple.
Guruvayur is a decent sized town and finding some basic to mid-range hotel accommodation in the town should not be difficult on a normal day.
To be continued..