Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
In the morning I hired a taxi (800 Rupees/ $17.00) for a day trip to Puri. It is said to be one of the four holiest places in India.
India 2002 - Part Two: Bhubaneswar, Puri & Konark
Dougburnett2003-11-24 11:56:59
Displayed times (last time: )
Rating: 5.00 out of 5.00. 1 members have rated this article
a few in the can of the lady beggar next to him. She held up her hand to stop me, yelling something. I was astounded: a beggar had never rejected me.
At this point an English speaking Indian came to my rescue. It turned out the guy had sold me coins that no one wanted, ones that were no longer in circulation. He, the offending vendor, just starred into space pretending I wasn't there, while I was hearing the news. Because so little money was involved ($0.20) I simply threw the coins away later, but at this temple no one except the changer got anything from me. They had all seen the transaction and didn't want the money I had bought - that was a strange turn around.
Next, I walked around the tank past shops selling food and dry goods, past little mud brick houses and past fields green with crops. I visited several other temples along the way. Eventually I reached the other end of the tank. It was a nice little walk with plenty to see and photograph.
At the end of the tank I found a billboard with a map of the temples on it. I looked it over and found the next temple I wanted to visit. Then I waved a rickshaw driver over to the map. I pointed to the temple but he didn't seem to understand. With the help of a passerby I managed to explain where I wanted to go and we were off.
At my next stop there were several temples grouped closely together. There were also several tourist stands in the area that I looked at. The first temple I visited was the Mukteswar Mardir. There was the typical line of beggars and holy men at the entrance. This time when I changed money I was careful that I got one Rupee coins. I gave one to each of the beggars - actually I dropped them in the cans that sit in front of each beggar. There was a little uncooked rice in the bottom of each can. I saw this in every can I looked into. Now I wonder was what the significance of that rice?
...
See photographs from:
India Gallery
