The Capital of Buddhism

Inside the compound of the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, Bihar

Here’re some pics of Bodhgaya, the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, and where we nearly froze to death. No, it ain’t really that cold normally, but try doing a 12km auto-rickshaw (India’s equivalent of Thailand’s tuk-tuk) ride at 4am in the middle of a cold spell in winter, dressed in summer clothing. Anyway, somehow we survived despite falling sick right after that, with cold & flu. Maybe Buddha just wanted to show us his tree, his temples from all over the Buddhist world (it’s like the United Nations of the Buddhist world, there’re temples from every Buddhist country and region in the world), his devotees, and a horde of all other things related to Buddhism.


The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, the main Buddhist temple in the world, where you can see Buddhist devotees of all creeds and colours on a pilgrimage, didn’t know that there’re so many ‘white’ Buddhists…


The Bodhi Tree where Buddha meditated below and attained enlightenment – actually this is only a descendant of the original tree, the original was killed ages ago by some jealous wife of a devout Indian Buddhist emperor who felt she had been neglected (…just like women huh, getting jealous over… a tree!?!?! for goodness sake… better not push my luck too far hehehe). Anyway, luckily for the Buddhist world, some smart chap before that brought a sapling of the original tree and planted it in Buddhist Sri Lanka, so the Indians had to just get a sapling back…


The 25m high Great Buddha (ala Japanese Daijokyo – I think), Bodhgaya, Bihar

The Great Trans-India Trek

What would you do if let’s say …you eloped with the girl of your dreams in a foreign country, and that girl actually had a boy who’s deeply in love with her and who would do anything to have her, and who in his mind thought the girl’s already his wife, …and the girl’s family actually supported the boy, and the entire marriage idea with the boy? And what if the girl had no documents whatsoever (meaning ‘Passport’) to get her out of the country?

Answer: You run like MAD, and hope nobody, and absolutely nobody knows your whereabouts just in case your location is leaked back to your would-be pursuers, imaginary or not. Luckily, India is a big country hehehe. And so started our grand trek across India by foot, horse, carriage, train, car, bus, rickshaw and anything imaginable, and available, through hills, plains, forest, desert and seaside.

Anyway, whether we actually had any so-called pursuers or not, or whether we imagined the whole darn suspense, it sure was a hell lot of fun hehehe. So what the heck, here’re some excerpts of our grand escapade, just for the sake of it!

And for those of you who’re wondering where we are now and where we’d be going next – only God knows… we thought we could stay put in Mumbai (Bombay) for at least a little while, looks like that’s not gonna be the case now, since the Project I was on, has just finished …very prematurely, short …but not really that sweet (the shortest project I’ve ever been involved in, an achievement huh?) Same old story, issues between the Client and the Contractor, blah, blah, blah, well, at least I’m still getting paid for hanging around until the Company decides on something hehehe, great life huh? Now if only they give me some place I’ve never been before …Chennai or Bangalore would be fun hahaha.

The Pink City

Hawa Mahal, the Wind Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan

The Pink City, that’s what they call Jaipur, the capital of the state of Rajasthan in India. Story has it that once upon a time, the king of Jaipur (yes, Jaipur used to be an independent kingdom, with its own king, forts, castles, walls, palaces, and all other things royal), invited the King (or was it the Prince) of the UK for a visit to his beloved city, and to impress the royal visitor from the UK, he had the entire city painted, …Pink!, of all colours, the colour of Barbie! Luckily, for us guys, the shade of pink in the city ain’t really like the pink associated with cutesy girls, they’re more like dull red, like the red of red clay bricks if you catch what I mean. Anyway, it ain’t a city of Barbies, it ain’t a city of pink cutesy girls (how I sometimes wished it was, hehehe), and neither is it a city of gays or lesbians. It’s just a quaint ‘pink’ (or red) city surrounded, cut and partitioned by numerous city walls (all ‘pink’), palaces, hidden courtyards, alleys and lots of colourful shops.

Jantar Mantar, The Observatory, Jaipur

Actually, it’s a pretty interesting city, like something straight out of the 1000 & 1 Arabian Nights (although this is India you’re talking about). It’s located in a half-desert kinda place surrounded by arid rocky hills on 3 sides of the city with ramparts and watch towers, fantastical domed (Rajasthani-style) palaces and forts atop hills. There’re camels roaming around the city carrying goods (like some barter trade from the past). There’re turbaned, mustachioed & earring bedecked men, with baggy dhotis and pointed shoes smoking hookahs by the footpath. There’re veiled women dressed in the most bizarrely matched colours and the most imaginative jewellery you can find (like upper arm armour-like bracelets & metal breastplates, the men must be really ferocious people here).

View of Amber Palace, from Jaigarh Fort

Anyway, there’re lots of places to visit, lots of ethnic things to buy, lots of touts to drive you semi-mad, lots of guides to bug the hell outta you, and one corrupted police man to drive you outta the city (no, no, no don’t get me wrong, I love Jaipur, it’s a one in a million type case, and it only happened to me & Anu, and this is my third trip to Jaipur, and I have a feeling it’s not the last), so do visit if you have a chance, it’ll be a really enjoyable trip (if it’s in winter). In summer? …heaven help you.

Amber Palace, and Jaigarh Fort (on top of hill)