Monday 28 February 2011

Gokarna, Karnataka, Southern india.


One day to go before the massive Shivaratri festival!!! 100,00 people are expected, we have watched all the preparations this past week. It's been amazing!

It IS 7.30 and the sun has come over this beautiful little seaside town one of the holiest places in India, the heart of Shiva,as a shopkeeper called Anita described it to us .

We are staying in a very large room overlooking the main temple...Monkeys have just been scampering over the rooves in front of me, one just jumped a very easy 20 feet and scared some crows....now the drums have started!!!!! AND that incredibly loud oboe horn Indian thing...the main temple entrance is 40 FT below us...Will has just climbed out of bed to hear what all the commotion is, the kids are getting pretty used to it by now....They are all praying in the temple below, we are shaded by the rooves and palm fronds so we can see them but they can't see us!!......L and E haven't stirred (teenagers!) Will has come to join me on the balcony and R has gone off to run on the town beach and get breakfast (fab warm, brown bread and Indian style pain au chocolat!! See, I told you it was Amazing!)

All kinds of worshippers pass by below us in all kinds of dress...Brahmin in dhotis(sheets) and little else, sometimes they prostrate themselves on the floor of the temple and kiss the ground or posh women in saris who touch and then walk round the lingam staue(phallic symbol) sadhus holy men in white paint with orange turbans..tall, skinny, rich, poor.all shapes and sizes..AND COLOURS

We are in an amazing place in an extraordinary apartment which we got by pure chance, 3 of us sleep on the floor but it is pretty comfy and only £3.50 per night..it is in spite of the occasional bell or chant or oboey thing  an incredibly calm place away from the throng....I can hear the women in the house next door chat as they prepare for the day.....they are often sitting in a pile of washing up, those metal cups and plates surrounding them.

Definitely my favourite place on the whole trip..and that's saying something it has something for us all...the beach is only a 15 min rickshaw ride away.

We either have to walk through the temple to get out in  to the town or walk through the shop..through bags of grain and supplies..like something out of Dickens' time, dark and musty and fabulously atmospheric, lit like a film set.

If we walk through the temple We take our shoes offf and pass  by the incredible elaborate preparations they are making for this massive festival, huge oak doors with beautiful colourful paintings of Ganesha, Hanuman, Krishna etcr...some of these painting are to go on the 60 foot high chariots that they are going to race thought the town!! Theyareexpecting over a hundred thousand pligrims to turn yup over the 5 days form all over India!!
W are expecting the cornish calvary to turn up...Jo Crow and her three boys from cornwall are on their way by train and arrive tomorrow to enjoy the festival with us...R has met her a couple of times with Lou I have never met them before..but her boys are 12, 10 and 8 and even more amazingly in this packed expectant town there is small room free, right below us!!! It should be fun.

Our days consist of chilling/hoem schooling in appartemtn with  E and W till 2 then heading off to beach in the afternoon....

W and E are loving it, Edie's favourite country so far ....how could you not be capitvated?....  India is even beggining to work its charms on Louis...last night we had another amazing meal, the food all over India has been superb. Then Louis and i went to a shop to watch a very exciting world cup cricket game india vs England

R has just returned with provisions so better go.....breakfast is due..W is colouring in his hanuman(monkey god) colouring book

As the pilgrims file silently by below, crows and mynah birds squawk all around us


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