Anybody heard of ... Ajmer???

Ajmer is a town in north-central Rajasthan numbering about 80,000 people. I can call this a town rather than a city because by India's population standards, to be classified as a city the settlement must have over 1 million people, half a million auto-rickshaws (the three-wheeled taxis referenced in an earlier post), and a quarter million cows, camels, and dogs of various shapes, sizes, and temperaments. [Digression: Did I mention that I saw seven monkeys in Ahemdabad? We're driving down a busy street (picture...Broadway in Manhattan). I look out the bus window and there are seven monkeys perched on a building ledge, peering (yes, there is supposed to be an "r" in that word - I know what some of you are thinking) into the street. Four of them must have been spooked when they saw me because they immediately jumped into a nearby tree. I have that effect on monkeys.] Anyway, back to Ajmer. So, Ajmer is a small town of 80,000, which is roughly 30,000 people more than Johnson City, Tennessee. But, did you know that Ajmer (actually, it's the neighboring city of Pushkar that has the temple) has the only temple to Brahma in the world??!! And, we saw it. I took pictures of it. It'll be in my Power Point.

In Hindu tradition, Brahma created the universe. Vishnu sustains it, and Shiva destroys it. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are the three main deities in Hinduism. Together, they make up GOD (Generation, Operation, Destruction for those who, like me, are mnemonically-challenged). The Brahma temple in Pushkar (near Ajmer) is the only Brahma temple in the world. Others throughout time and in far-off places tried to construct other Brahma temples, but were always unsuccessful, or at least that's how the locals tell it. So, this was a special treat for us to see the only Brahma temple in the world, and it's in Pushkar. It's very beautiful with carvings and paintings. It was also quite crowded with worshippers, so I didn't get a chance to study the details as much as I would if it had been empty. I don't know if my pictures will do it justice. It's always interesting to observe how people practice their religion. In Hinduism, the faithful will gather at a small shrine with the icon of a deity enclosed in it. Several incense sticks are burning, so there's always a sweet smell associated with Hindu temples. A small bell hangs over the entrance to the shrine, and each worshippers clangs the bell as the enter the shrine. As one person told me, the bell is there to "wake up the gods." Then, the person positions him/herself in front of the deity's icon, clasps his/her hands together in prayer, offers some short pooja (prayer), and then they may leave some kind of tangible offering like a flower (or a strand of flowers), some kind of small food (the size of an M&M but without the chocolate center, I'm guessing), and then some worshippers will touch the ground and then will touch themselves on the forehead and on the chest in a motion that looks very similar to making the sign of the cross in the Christian tradition. I've got to find out what these movements mean. The most common shrines I've seen are devoted to Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. Another deity you'll see alot in India is Ganesh. This is Shiva's son, and is the god with the head of an elephant. Ganesh gives special blessings and good luck, particularly at the start of new ventures (marriage, new job, long journey). You'll also see swastikas painted everywhere in India - on temples, doorposts, as random grafitti. These aren't the bent swastikas used by the Nazis, and the swasitkas in India have nothing to do with Nazism nor anti-Semitism. I've asked about the symbol, and no one seems to know the origin of it except to say that it's very old (historians date it to Aryan times in India - again, nothing to do with Hitler's ideas about the "Aryan race") and that it's an auspicious sign of blessing and good fortune.

That evening, our hosts took us to a Sufi shrine, Dargah Shareef, in the old city of Ajmer. This was the experience of a lifetime. It's hard to put into words the experience. It's the only Sufi shrine in Ajmer, and I believe it's actually a tomb of a Sufi saint (that might have been lost in translation). Anyway, Muslims from all over India and indeed south Asia come to this shrine for special prayers and blessings, and I've got to tell you it seemed like all of India and south Asia were there Thursday night when we visited. The narrow streets leading to the shrine were absolutely packed with pilgrims, merchants, shoppers, beggers, and people staring at the Americans. We had to cover our heads (a sign of respect) and remove our shoes and we made our way to the shrine. Similar to most Hindu temples I've seen, this Islamic shrine was actually a complex - a large cluster of buildings and open spaces with people literally everywhere. There was a bathing pool to our left as we entered the shrine (we didn't bathe). On our right and slightly elevated was a huge pot where pilgrims throw rice, wheat, and money (bills and coins), all of which are donated to charity. Then, we and about 90,000 other people entered the shrine itself which was about the size of a dressing room at Dillard's. I started getting scary images of a British soccer stadium, and I'm not exaggerating. It felt like it was about 1,000 degrees and people kept pushing and cramming to get up close to the center where what I think was the saint's body (again, I could be wrong about this whole tomb/body thing) was covered with a shroud, which itself was covered with thousands (millions?) of flower petals of all kinds. The room smelled of flowers, incense, and human sweat. We approached the tomb and one of the clerics tied a scarf around our necks, said some kind of prayer, and then gave us a handful of rose petals which we were commanded to eat. So, I ate a flower in a Sufi shrine in Ajmer, Rajasthan Thursday night. What did you do??? Then, we were ready to leave except...oops, there are 90,000 people in the room besides us and the exit was (heh, heh) on the opposite side of the room. The only verb I can think of here that most appropriately captures the experience is "swam." We "swam" through a sea of people to the exit and emerged, after about 10 minutes of swimming and 20 minutes of treading pilgrims, into the portico where it was a bit less crowded and a bit less hot. We were saved! Except (heh, heh) we had to go back in again to receive another special blessing. This time, the cleric touched the shroud to our heads (actually, we put our entire head under the fold of the shroud). Then, after more swimming, we emerged unscathed and energized because, come on - how often does THAT happen??? Afterwards, and since the flower wasn't enough sustenance to hold us until breakfast, we had dinner in a local restaurant and then returned to the hostel. That was a real adventure.

So long for now, PW