Incredible India, Part 8: Jodphur, Udapur including a hospital stay, and Mumbai

We headed out to Jodhpur, the blue-hued old city, which lies at the foot of the massive Mehrangarh Fort that dominates the skyline.  Jodhpur is the 2nd largest city in Rajasthan, with over a million people.  Fennel, cumin and lentils are grown in this area.  The fennel is tall and yellow near the top. There is no agreed on reason why many of the homes in the old part of town are blue.  Some say it keeps away termites and others say it helps keep the buildings cooler.  Bhanu said that the blue keeps away mosquitoes.

(Web photo)

 Jodphur is famous for its sweets, culture, and being a more conservative/traditional city with "high etiquette."  It is also called sun city because it is sunny most of the year. 

On the way, we passed through the area with big marble mines including Makrana and the Kishangarh quarries. The root "garh" means place.   Arke Marble is a big brand.  Some of the marble mining was banned ten years ago by the Supreme Court because of environmental issues.  (There are 28 sitting judges, men and women,  on the Supreme Court.  Retirement is required at age 65.)  

A hill of marble in the background

A marble statue store

There were lots of trucks on the road to Jodhpur, many filled with marble.
Along the way, Bhanu told us amusing but powerful stories of Mulla Naseraddim from the 13th century, like the one of a disciple who was told to fill a basket with no bottom. He learned that it is like filling himself with unrealistic expectations.  

He also told us that Nehru was very scientifically oriented.  India now has come full circle and launches rockets into space,  staffs a British research center in India with 13-15 rockets sent up for them.

He also mentioned that Buddhism swept India from the 4th--8th centuries.  Buddha was against idol worship, so it only began three to four hundred years after his death. From the 9th century on, the Buddhist revival grew when the central government grew weaker and the cow became "sacred."  

Bhanu told us more about cremation, saying that 99% of Hindus are cremated.  It is done to symbolically break the connection of soul with the body.  He told the story of a tigress who gave birth to three cubs, but one grew up with sheep.  One day a different tiger in the forest saw this big tiger in a group of sheep. The older tiger pulls him to a lake to see his image--the connection of self and body.

A child under 7 is never cremated, nor are pregnant women, or very holy people.  He said that every 7 years, the cells of the body get renewed so a young child still has many of her original cells.  At 70, we have not had our original cells for a long time.  The soul leaves the body on death so the body is not important.  At the cremation, the oldest son puts the fire for cremation in his father's mouth, where the first breath is taken.  Often women do not attend.  The son may also break the skull.  The next day, the family sweeps the ashes and picks out the biggest bone fragments called 'flowers" and takes them to the Ganges River.   There agents sort the person by cast and family before the flowers are placed in the river.  Records are meticulously kept and are a fantastic source for genetic research.  During periods of mourning, men shave their heads and leave a slight pony tail in the middle back of the head.  Our assistant to the bus driver had recently lost his uncle and had such a "tail."

Gas station along the way

 Sights along the way.  Notice the colorful head covering.

 Jute bags  used as a base for the new highways, to hold moisture.

 Sheep and shepherd blocking the road:

 Our assistant to the bus driver running down the narrow road to keep vehicles (or goats) from coming from the other direction.

At a rest stop, we noticed the woman who is the spiritual leader of a special kind of meditation in Seattle and elsewhere.

A woman baking millet chapatti using a clay pot and chuha, a traditional oven,  using wood sticks for fire.

Jodhpur was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha, a Raiput chief of the Rathore clan.  It currently has a strong airforce and military.  

Our first stop in the city was at the Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph, which is a memorial for important people.  It is a place of remembrances for the Jodhpur rulers.  Their bodies were cremated but this site commemorates them.  The kings of Jodhpur have been highly respected.   In the 19th century, there was a significant drought here, so the palace was built to put people to work.  The collection of buildings here is often referred to as the Taj Mahal of Rajesthan because of its beautiful marble construction.

 It was located in a beautiful setting

A bit past the ticket booth, we saw this little girl arranging her grandfather's hair while he sat patiently.  

A few meters past them, this musician was playing a traditional instrument, maybe a veena?

We approached the beautiful, white remembrance building.

At the entry to this beautiful marble building, this man showed off his amazing mustache!  Then we went inside to see pictures of the leaders of Jodphur through history, and all had big mustaches!

And his amazing head covering!

The oldest painting....he has a modest mustache and prominent sideburns.  "Rao" is a titular word like "duke," below the level of maharaja. .

 I didn't get a picture of the founder of Jodhpur.  He must have been right after the man above.  I think after the founding of the city, the leaders were then called Maharaja.

Quite modern looking with a small mustache.  He still has the prominent nose.

The current maharaja, I believe.

View of the blue city from this site

And view of town from here

Statue across from the entrance of the founder of Jodhpur

Our next stop was to the imposing Mehrangarh Fort, built in 1459 by the founder of Jodhpur, of burnished red sandstone and often called the "Citadel of the Sun."  it is one of the most impressive in all of Rajasthan and one of the best preserved forts in all of India. 

Web photo of the fort

 The 39th ruler of Jodhpur is the current owner.  Until 1949, his ancestors ruled from here.  In 1972, he turned it into the Mehrangari Museum Trust and opened it to visitors.

This fort was never taken by force.  There were several sharp right turns to enter the fort and then a door with lots of big daggers on it to prevent elephants from moving forward.

(elephants had a major role in medieval warfare.) 

Most of us walked up the steep path to the entry.  Along the way we saw the following:

Looking up

A wedding party the day after the ceremony, a tradition before consummating the marriage

Handprints of widows of leaders in early years

A musician and his assistant?

A warm day, but not too hot--about 77 degrees(24.5 C) with low humidity

They asked to have their picture taken with me and I asked to get one of them too.

After Bhanu gave us some background information, we we given audio tours of the fort with 33 stops and a bit over an hour to complete our self-guided tour of this huge complex.  In addition to the stops, we could also listen to additional information along the tour on the following topics:  caste system, the Maharaja today, Mughal alliances with the Rajputs, opium in society, conservation, colors of Rajasthan, miniature painting, Rathore clan system, and Maharani and princess.

I was fascinated by a number of these seats.  Lions were not native but a symbol of royalty and were put on some of these seats.  

The last palanquin was used to transport the king's mother to her Rolls Royce!

Opium paraphernalia, used socially

Nava observing opium paraphernalia while woman sweeps.  We saw a number of sweepers at this site 

 The room with paintings of varying sizes was fascinating.  I wish we could have stayed there longer.

The Phool Mahal or Palace of Flowers (stop 22 on the audio tour) is a magnificent 18th century chamber built by Maharaja Abhay Singh (1724-49) as a Hall of Private Audience.

The ceiling is in gold filigree and mirror, and the walls, painted in the 19th century, depict the various moods of the Indian classical ragas, Royal portraits and the incarnations of Vishnu and Goddess Durga.

With its delicate colors, golden-sheen, ornate ceiling and stained glass windows and screens, the Phool Mahal is the grandest period room in Mehrangarh.

 An ornate spiral staircase below:

A stunning, large painting

And a gorgeous ceiling in the same room that I almost missed 

A guard and a sweeper

A cutie!

Swifts!  A bird paradise...

As we were walking down the steep exit, we saw two of these critters

I think it was that night we had a special dinner....though I may be off by a few days.

The next morning,  Friday, we left Jodhpur for Udaipur.  We had an 11 hour bus ride planned to get from Jodhpur to Udaipur.  I was sick (with chills, weakness, and nausea , and  the only way I could tolerate it was to rest on the back row of seats and sleep a lot. The ride was very long thugho it was only 260 km (150 miles) as a new road was being constructed along the way.  We often had to take detours.  One of the men from our group very kindly got me a Coca Cola.  Thanks to Gail and Nava for many of the photos that follow.

The first excitement was to see our leader feed cattle grass. The cattle recognized the bus and came running.

A short time later over 30 big monkeys came running to get bananas and cookies from our staff.

One detour was on such a narrow street that the driver had to take off the side mirror to get by.  Nava thought a big bus had never been through this village before. The children watched in excitement and awe. 

Note the woman and child on top of the roof.

  When we arrived at the hotel in Udaipur, Bhanu got a wheel chair for me and a doctor.  The doctor said since I could not keep water down,  that it would be best for me to go to the local hospital 5 minutes away and get a diagnosis and an IV.  But more on that later.

On the way to Udaipur, we stopped at the  Ranakpur Jain Temple, one of the holiest Jain pilgrimage centers since the 14th century.  It was crafted of pure white marble with more than a thousand columns.  Construction began in about 1437 when a local businessperson had a vision.    You can read more about Jainism at 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism.  

Web Photo

The group also stopped at  Saheliyon-ki-Bari, or Courtyard / Garden of Maidens.  This garden was created for the 48 maidens who accompanied a princess to Udaipur as part of her wedding dowry.  For centuries, it was a popular resting place away from palace intrigues for the royal women and their attendants.

Nava with school girls in Ladies' Garden

Saturday the group also took a tour of part of Udaipur and went to the City Palace.  

It was built on Lake Pichola over 400 years, starting in 1553, in a "flamboyant" style and is the largest of its kind in Rajesthan and the second largest in India.  It has several palaces within it.   This is a great link for pictures and details of the City Palace Museum:  (Just click on the words to the left in purple as the photos are stunning and be sure to click on "read more" to see pictures like the one just below!!)

Web photo of very ornate Kanch ki Burj

Full City Palace complex, web photo

Meanwhile back to my cultural hospital experience.    Krishna, the local Gate 1 agent, drove me to the hospital  and Bhanu and Nava also came along.  Within a half hour of arriving, I was in the ER, had seen a doctor, and was on IVs with antibiotics and something to calm my stomach.  I doubt if one would get such quick treatment in the US!   The doctor thought that by the next morning, I would feel a lot better.  There were four slots in the ER, and two were occupied.  Each  patient had family members with him.  Bhanu and Nava went back to the hotel, and Krishna stayed until he was sure I was settled, saying he would be back in the morning.

He was back before ten.  I still felt pretty rotten, so they decided to keep me to the evening, and transfer me to a private room with a TV (which I didn't have the energy to watch) and a private bathroom!  By noon, I was able to drink water and some very weak sugary tea.  

IV drip with Rabeprozole Sodium to help with stomach infection and Ceftrioxone, an antibiotic 

By 2 pm,  I was feeling a lot better.  Krishna returned, and was able to get me checked about 2 hours later.  The staff was lovely.  My room was cleaned two or three times while I was in it, and the nurses were sweet. Nurses wore pink,and support staff wore green.  When I asked the nurse if I could take her picture, she giggled and smiled behind her mask.  

Nurse

View from my hospital room

Shrine by exit of hospital.  I actually had some color and smiled! Krishna insisted on taking the picture!

I paid for my hospital stay and will bill one of my insurances.  I thought the bill came to $2,000 US but I was woozy and was off by a multiple of ten.  It actually came to only US$200.  

Krishna and Uma, a lovely staffer from the hotel, took me back.

  Uma offered to take me to the lake in a electric hotel cart where the others were sailing and arranged for a ride for me.  She was so very kind and sweet.

The peacock is the national bird of India.  This hotel has over 70 living on the site.  Here are two, one very close to the main door!

On the way to the Banyan Park boat launch, we passed the ultra classy 5-star hotel which was part of the same complex as our hotel was.

A banyan tree in the park

Part of the Park

The City Palace from the boat launch

One group has left and the other awaits 

The second group heading out to see sunset from the lake

Bhanu arranged for me to have very mild clear chicken soup with a bit of plain rice for dinner and then I headed to bed as we were getting up at 3:30 the next morning to fly to Mumbai/Bombay.

Airport security in Udaipur seemed very tight.  I was surprised to see a Subway restaurant in the airport. 

The Mumbai airport,  renamed Shiraji Majaraj Airport for a 17th century ruler, was renovated and reopened in 2014.  It is stunningly beautiful and modern.

Our morning guide in Mumbai, Shabel, spoke excellent English--although often too fast for me to catch all that he said!  

Along the way, we saw a number of shanty towns.  Many of the people living there actually earn quite a good living.  A tea seller by the road side may sell 5,000 cups of tea a day and make a lot of money.  Of the 20 million people in the area, half live in squatter settlements.  In 1964, only four million people lived here, but since then the population has exploded.    Slum residents eventually qualify for subsidized or free housing from the government, so many are waiting for that to occur, and then they can rent out their slum space.  The government arm for this is the SRA, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority. 

The municipality pipes in water to the shanty towns.  We saw one slum area painted with bright colors by the port.  It is an experiment by a paint company to brighten up the area.  

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to this area about 500 years ago.  The name of Bombay came from an Anglicization of the Portuguese name "Bombaim," which is believed to derive from the phrase "Bom Bahia," or "Good Bay."  In 1996 a group came to power politically and wanted to get rid of all the colonial names so renamed Bombay "Mumbai," officially after the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, the city's patron deity.   ( In the 3rd century, it became the center of Hindu and Buddhist culture and religion. )  Our local guide said that many people still refer to their home as Bombay, however, out of habit. 

People have inhabited the area of Mumbai since the stone age.  it is now the largest city in India and the financial capital of the country and the capital of the state of Maharashtra.   

 Mumbai was created from seven hilly islands which were home to Koli fishermen.   In the 18th century, land was reclaimed from the sea to make the city more united.     The hills were cut down to fill in the space between the islands.  Mumbai is a natural harbor with three ports on the Arabian Sea.   

The local language is Marathi, but there are a total of 16 languages spoken in the state and over 1000 dialects.   

Lots of high rises have been built in the past twenty years where textile mills had been and also where fishing boats had been based.  There now is a small village for them.  Over 100 years ago, artificial washing places were made, including by textile mills, where people brought their clothes to be washed.  

We stopped to see the last remaining outside stone washed laundry area.  There are still some 5,000 workers in this profession, some doing the washing, others sorting and delivering.   The water is piped in by the government but nowadays most people can afford washing machines, so there is much less demand for this service.  Often new clothes are washed there before heading out to stores, including "stoned washed" jeans and linens,

Look how close the tall modern buildings are.

To many people,  it looks like an eyesore and is no longer a priority for the government.  Most of the workers are from the countryside.

We passed by the  glittering gold statue dedicated to the dabbawalas, the people that deliver lunch box daily of food cooked in private homes  About four or five thousand of them move the lunches from hand to hand, by bike, train, push carts, etc to get to the recipients in a timely manner.  Over 200,000 lunches are delivered daily in the Mumbai area.  This system is 127 years old and incredibly efficient. 

web photo

We passed by the home of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in  India,  The home is called Antilla.   A staff of 600 take care of this 27-story home for the family of five people. One floor has a snow machine for skiing, another pool, the roof has three helicopter pads, and it sounds really disgusting to me.   I love the sentence at the end of the article about Ambani, 

"Ambani does not appear to be influenced by calls by the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, for business leaders to be 'role models of moderation.'"

We also passed a place where Trump wanted to buy an old building, demolish it,  and build a hotel.   But a tenant living in the building had, according to Indian law, the right to refuse his request, and he did.  An Indian subsequently bought the site and made accommodations for the tenant.

After seeing the Gandhi museum, which I wrote about in my second blog on India, we walked to the Hare Krishna temple.   I have very negative memories of the Hare Krishna group chanting in airports and recruiting young Americans for their cult in the 1960s and 1970s  

I found out that in 1965, a Buddhist monk when to the US to preach Hinduism, the monotheist worship of Krishna (the 8th incarnation of god Vishnu on earth).  

We passed the vegetarian restaurant Govindas that they run, saw the inside of the temple, saw women making flower necklaces for the deities, and saw some of their publications including one in Hebrew. 

 The head of the group current is a man originally from Chicago and originally Jewish named Richard Slavin.  He has helped to make the group international with many devotees throughout the world. The book about Slaven is called The Journey Home, the Journey Within.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radhanath_Swami

The temple building was originally an orphanage. The orphans were moved to a farm where they grow organic vegetables and live in a less polluted environment.

The side of the main room with an ornate altar.

 The monks were orange robes and take a vow of celibacy.  Devotees chant a four-line mantra and repeat it 108 times.  They also have a number of social service activities including counseling for people who are stressed out.  I'm still not enamored with the group, in part because I do not like groups that are strongly into proselytizing.

 Next we walked close to the huge, ornate Victoria Station, Mumbai's only World Heritage site.  It was built by the British in 1887 for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.  Today a million people travel through this station each day.

 

 Nearby is Town Hall, with the statue in front of one of the first mayor's of the city.  He created the Bombay Act and was a Zoroastrian.  There are only about 100,000 Zoroastrians in the world.   They arrived form Persia about 1200 years ago.  Parsi is the largest Zoroastrian community in India with about 57,000 Zoroastrians.

 We were told that although the Indian national sport is field hockey, cricket is the most popular game.  Until  1964, India was a world powerhouse in field hockey. 

We saw groups of boys and men playing cricket in front of the "Little Ben" clock tower and the University of Bombay.

 We drove past the Gateway to India, an arch constructed for the visit in 1911 of  King George V. 

We returned to the hotel and several of us ventured out to the Calaba Causeway—a huge super crowded street of shopping.  We got a ride but managed to walk back through the super busy streets, in part because of a big art event taking place that we managed not to find.  I bought a simple scarf that I've worn a lot since coming back,  Nava and I got some small, practical purses, and Blanca got some cute items.

On the whole, Nava and I didn't feel that it was worthwhile to fly all the way south to Mumbai and then leave the next morning north for Kathmandu.  

We stayed in a very modern hotel. Nava and I were amazed by the bathroom that had a see-through window to the main part of the room.  It was only later that we (embarrassingly) found out from others in our group that there was a hidden set of blinds we could lower to obscure the view!

We set off to the airport so early that we saw sunrise on the way.

  As we drove to the four-year-old (remodeled) ultra modern Mumbai airport, we crossed the magnificent bridge in the Arabian Sea   It is 3.5 miles or 5.6 kilometers in total length.  (To compare, the Evergreen floating bridge in Seattle is a bit over 1.4 miles long.)

 The architecture inside and outside the airport was outstanding. The following is a modern  sculpture it is honoring a festival to Lord Krishna. .

I got another Shawal Shameez at the Biba store at the airport--a bit big and the pants are in the modern bulky style but the colors are stunning.

This ends the blogs about our trip to (mostly) Northern India.  We saw so very much in a short period of time and were astounded by the diversity of it all.  It gave us a taste and a craving for learning more.

Next, I'll work on our three days in Nepal.  Below is my first picture of the hills of Nepal, taken from the airplane.