Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Konark

Sep 27, 2009

Don't forget to see the pictures of this album; click Jp's Picasaweb.

Something has changed - I have become an impulsive traveler! This time it was green Orissa I had ignored in the past because it is just a bit too far from Hyderabad. Luckily, I had a long weekend to kill, my friend Smruti in Bhubaneshwar to arrange hotel and car, and a new 4GB SD card to click away. I took the sat evening flight instead of friday (to save to some $$$) :). 

Next morning I started my day in an old Indica at 5.30am! Another change in me - I am starting to dig the idea of going early to avoid the crowds (or even small numbers of people). First stop was at the Khandagiri and Udaigiri Jain caves 15 minutes away from the hotel. I did a leisurely walk around drawing little attention from the many "exercise/yoga" groups. Other than a little monkey, no one troubled me. I guess he was irked because I was climbing on rocks off-the-path (his domain) to check some angles for my shots.

Few minutes later, I arrived at the very old Lingaraj temple. In the able company of a Pundit, I checked the wood-burning kitchen (where they make free food for all 8 times everyday!); got tricked (kinda willingly) in front of the god to pledge 1/4 kilo of rice for the Pundit for a few months; admired the temple architecture (no camera allowed); whispered in the powerful Nandi's ear about my wish (sorry, can't tell you); and left with a small dry fruit prasad parcel.

Next stop was at the Raja Rani temple; 15 minutes, as many photos. And this temple started building up for the Konark fever. After a brief stop back at the Hotel (Royal Midtown), a quick tour of Dhauligiri (8km away from BB where Ashoka embraced Buddhism after witnessing the Kalinga war in the plains below), I reached Konark around 2.30pm. Checked in at the OTDC Yatri Nivas, ate a thali lunch and went to da temple. A guide latched on at the entrance (the guy turned out to be very good!).

What an impressive structure! All the pictures in the world cannot tell you how huge the temple is and how intricate the stone carvings are. My plan was to do the guided tour (I took about 2+ hours), do the evening under-the-lights walkabout and watch the sun-rays hitting the temple at sunrise.

I did all that, and along the way had to settle for some less than desired compromises. For example, the unpleasantness in dealing with the unfathomable rule that prohibits stands for still cameras!  And the mean weather that decided to blanket the sky with rain clouds at the instigation of a low-pressure bubble that arrived overnight. Minor irritants, but I came away filled with awe, wonder and photos at every angle I could think of. Please, I strongly urge you to visit this fantastic place - of course, you have to figure out how to deal with the erotica on the higher reaches of the walls that celebrates what we embarrassingly abdicate to the sneer and jeer today.

After my 5am beach visit (which was less than spectacular) I was overjoyed with my 6am peaceful visit to the Sun temple, that boasts 24 10-ft dia wheels. I was the first person to enter and the only tourist inside for about 20 minutes. If only there were a bit more sunlight...

We drove toward Puri in moderately heavy rain only stopping at a few places in the Balighai area to admire the scenery that you just cannot ignore. Very beautiful deer sanctuary. And soon I was at Puri - this time a bit  more savvy (and wet). The Puri temple was quite interesting - many, many architectural and actual statue similarities with the Konark temple; a different looking (me being a south-Indian) impressive set of deities; quite clean and less crowded than I anticipated. A Rs.5 ticket enabled me to avoid the pray-to-the-closed-door situation. Blessed by the many stick-wielding (yes!) priests, I made my way to the Grand hotel to grab a quick lunch.

Rain was still pouring; and my driver wanted to get back to BB because it was Puja day. And my heart was craving Chilika Lake. I almost gave up, until I realized the driver was making up stuff (like there is nothing, road is closed due to litigation etc); then I had to make the trip. The drive was pretty boring (for me) - I was reminded of the long monotonous drive in south florida that takes you to Key West. Now I know; I am not an open-water guy. I need landscape! The 50km drive to Chilika in pouring rain on a mediocre road came to a halt at the end of the road; but the two pictures of a blue boat I took erased my depression that was competing with the one dishing out rain in sheets. Without doing the customary boating trip and dolphin sighting, I headed back to BB.

As an aside, I still am waiting to get the refund from Yatra.com on a botched debit card transfer through my ICICI bank. Nonetheless, I am a very happy and satisfied customer, especially for an unplanned buy I executed. And proud that India has such a wonderful monument (and taking decent care of it). And thankful of the stars that paved the way for this trip.

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