We are all settling in here at Bodhgaya. This place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and central Buddhist pilgrimage place. It is quite beautiful and wonderful and, because it is in India, it is also colourful, chaotic and crazy.
The five mile rickshaw ride we had from the packed Gaya station yesterday to our hotel was frenetic, massively congested and full of the shouting of competing rickshaw and taxi drivers. The air resounded with a deafening cacophony of horn blasts, revving engines, shouting, price-haggling and the barking of many stray dogs.
It's a unique Third World scene.
Having said all that, nothing, nothing can compare for Indian madness with the Flower Market in Kolkata (Calcutta). It is somewhere that everyone should experience once in a lifetime! Kolkata is the maddest and most congested city of all. I know, I've worked there (Mother Teresa's Hospice at Kalighat).
This morning we settled into our retreat programme. We are gathered near the monumental Mahabodhi Temple (the central pilgrimage place) for meditation and chanting.
The original temple was probably built in the 6th Century Gupta period. Archeologists don't really know. They do know that Ashoka founded it around 2000 years ago, and it went through many stages of re-design and development, during the various dynasties of Indian history. By the time Alexander Cunningham encountered it in the mid-to-late 1800s, it was in a state of total disrepair. The amazing Major-General lovingly restored it. So we Buddhists owe him a lot. What we have now, is the results of his work.
We also owe Anagarika Dharmapala a lot, too. He managed wrest it back for Buddhism. 100 years ago, It was being taken over as a Hindu site, and he effectively prevented that.
The temple is open for around 14 hours, every day of the year. At any one time, there will be hundreds of pilgrims present, and very often thousands - especially when the Dalai Lama is here.
9pm: The puja (devotional ceremony) at the Bodhi tree this evening was excellent. What with our circumambulation within the inner temple, it was one of life's peak experiences. I felt as happy and contented as I can be in this life - doing that.
On a more mundane note, a real surprise is the amount of tractors around the Bodhgaya region. They comevright into the town from the country. Usually pulling large trailers of tourist goods/fruit and massive sacks of rice for all the restaurants. The roads are so bad here (effectively dirt roads) that it obviously warrants a tractor to bring big loads in.
Almost all tractors here are Sonalika. An Indian tractor manufacturer, based in the Punjab and the third largest tractor company in India.
I really would like to drive one!
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