Wed., Jan 27

My new long sleeved suites have arrived, along with warm weather, natch. After I dressed in one of them, I went to Anita bahoo's room to show her my new duds. She smiled as I entered, but gave me the shoo-away sign. As I backed out of the room, Arpit, who luckily was there, told me she was telling me to come in. Well, that explained a lot of misunderstandings over the years.
As I prepared for the trip to Sarnath, which for me means finding my pen and notepad, I noticed that the wool I had bought and stored on the balcony was gone. Smita bahoo explained she had moved it, fearing the monkeys would take it. I thought, yea, they could probably knit a better sweater than I. Across the street a boy of about 7 skipped out of the house on the way to school. Could this have been the miracle baby ? A palanquin carried by two men passed at the same time. These are still used here, although infrequently.
The auto rickshaw has arrived. JP, Smita and I squeeze into the back. Arpit rides along on his motorscooter, Aradhana sitting behind, followed by Arun on his scooter. Although just 20 miles away, it takes about an hour's drive. We are quickly out of the city into rural India, small agricultural plots and thatched roofed houses. I know when we are approaching Sarnath by the number of red clad monks appearing.
Buddha came to Sarnath, in about 500 BC to preach his first sermon after reaching enlightenment in Bodhgaya. In the 3rd century BC the great Buddhist emporer, Ashoka, had magnificent stupas and monasteries build here. By 640 CE there were 1500 monks living here. However, shortly thereafter Moslem invaders destroyed and desecrated the city's buildings, and Sarnath disappeared altogether. It was rediscovered by British archeologists in 1835. Sarnath is now a beautiful park, even boasting a small zoo. I'm not sure how Buddha would have felt about animals being caged as an honor to him, but the families visiting on this holiday are certainly enjoying it. Along with the red clad monks, I notice old Tibetan nuns in brown, all fingering their japa malas (rosary beads).
On the spot where Buddha gave this first sermon, are six huge statues depicting the event. Surrounding the statues are large engravings giving the entire first sermon in many languages. We walked through the Mulagandha Kuty Vimara temple and marveled at the murals completely covering the walls. At the front alter sits a huge golden statue of Buddha. Monks sit at the base, chanting. Arun is fasting today as it is Tuesday, Lord Hanuman's day, but the rest of us ate lunch at one of the few restaurants here, largely forgettable, and went in search of the magnificent South Korea temple. Jai seems to be the only person who is able to find this temple easily, but we are determined. We turn up a small lane and are instantly transported back to the Sarnath Buddha must have known. As we proceed, it becomes all too evident that this is not a place for auto rickshaws, despite their small size. As the path gets narrower and narrower, the villagers sitting on their steps look at us as though we are from Mars. We stop to ask directions and an elderly woman hops in, determined to show us the way. Suddenly we are not on a path at all, but are on the shore of a small lake, bouncing away. Then before we know it, we are traveling along a narrow alleyway between the backs of the houses. There is about one inch of space between us and the stone walls of the alley. We approach a T intersection when I just start laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. But, by golly, the driver managed to make a 10 point turn and off we went. By this time the old woman had tired of us and, pointing the way, hopped out. By this time we are all laughing hysterically. The driver calmly takes it all in stride; just another day.
Somehow we actually manage to find the temple and I immediately recognize the ornate gateway. As we walk to the temple, we pass masterful chalk drawings on the pavement, done each morning by the monks, only to be worn away during the day. A tribute to impermanence. We also pass the "Butter Lamp " room, where 100 candles constantly burning in honor of the Buddha. All are welcome to come in and light one. Written in stone on the outside of this most ornately beautiful buildings is the text of "The Explanation of 12 Links of Dependent Origins", inscribed in stone. The ornate detail of this magnificent temple is difficult to describe. One huge golden Buddha surrounded by 108 (?) small ones in glass boxes and many hundreds more in even smaller boxes. The painted wood carvings everywhere are brightly painted, and I just look, mouth agape, as I always do when I am in this place.
Down the road we find the Tibetan temple, much less grand than the South Korea one, yet somehow more profound. I think the pain of the Tibetan people permeates this place. Outside the temple is a large hand written plaque detailing the plight of the Tibetan people at the hands of the Chinese: 1.2 million Tibetans killed, 6000 monistaries destroyed, forced abortion and sterilizations, 7.5 million Chinese moved into Tibet leaving the 6 million Tibetans a minority in their own country. At the bottom it read, "Please help us". I cried.
There are many more things to see in Sarnath, but it is getting dark, so we head home. We are all exhausted when we arrive back. JP and I lay down, Smita bahoo starts dinner.

Peace,
Nadine