 |
| Curious kids want me to take their photo. |
Jejuri Khandoba Temple is a 45km (2 hour) drive from where I live, a few kilometers outside of Pune to the east on Solapur road on the DSK campus. Last Sunday a colleague, his cook, a driver and myself took the trip up onto the plateau to the southeast where the temple lies atop a rock outcropping a couple of hundred stone steps above the small city of approximately 12,000.
I won't attempt to explain what the precise
 |
| A demure lady offered a photo opportunity and blessing. |
religious meaning of the temple holds for devotees but the mood is infectiously joyous. Groups included the old, the young, families, couples, people on their own and a (very) few western tourists. I carried a large camera and several people approached me and asked me to photograph them. Others wanted a photograph with me - sometimes parents wanted to take a photo of me with their children. Often groups of young men approached me, one such group posed smiling widely while one of them gave me the finger.
 |
| He asked me if I would stand with him for a photo. |
One man was clearly unhappy that I was taking photos. I asked him if he
wanted me to stop and he said that it was okay, although he was
obviously put out. As everyone else was also taking photos - including
many who were taking photos of me - I continued. One reassuring cultural
exchange was a photo shootout when I noticed a young man taking a photo
of me and I raised my camera and took his photo back. 'Nice!' he
exclaimed appreciatively as we both laughed.
 |
| Temple lunch |
The unique aspect of this temple is turmeric. Little cloth bags of it, along with small, soft coconuts are sold everywhere. The stone steps and the courtyard are blanketed with a thick layer of yellow dust. Adults and children fling hand-fulls into the air and priests smear it on your forehead. I was shown where I was to leave an offering of marigolds, paan and turmeric at several alters, including Shiva and a cow. Although the spice is in the air, covers your clothes, hair and camera, it is a surprisingly
 |
| Turmeric yellow at Khandoba temple |
innocuous substance, neither inducing sneezing nor particularly pungent, yet covering every surface with a pollen like, golden dust.
2 comments on "Turmeric"
E!
What wonders and exotic delights you bring to the table today! Sadly, my envy only grows as you adventure and I settle.
Turmeric? Well, as it so happens this also popped up in my travails lately: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/one-dose-kitchen-spice-improves-brain-function
Not as exciting as your pictures but at least you can get some sense of the value, the brilliance and the ancient knowledge these people have that we hubris-filled Westerners seem to just be catching up with...
More! More!
Yes, I agree with Jason! More More:)
Post a Comment