History Bylanes: Nalanda & Bodhgaya

What would you do if you have a business meeting in Bihar - Patna that ends Saturday evening and your flight back home is only next late evening. My one and only trip to Bihar made me face the dilemma of spending Sunday in a boring (though) best hotel there! or head out to explore the city. 

Bihar is a place where at any time I found very few females out side on road, and a single girl alone was kind of rare. It could be a wrong observation or right... I decided not to take a chance of exploring Patna alone - but see if anything is close by. A little search on net told me of nearby Nalanda University and Bodhgaya. My eyes popped out on my search - as I never thought I could ever be anywhere near the ruins of Nalanda in my life.

A quick check with the hotel people told me it's doable - I can catch my flight in time only if I start early by 6 am. How excited I was! The feeling was similar to having a wish (you never imagined) come true. 

Along with my colleague, started early morning - the first stop was to be Nalanda. 

The distance was approx 80 km from Chanakya Hotel - however, the driver told us that it will take approx 2 hours or more to reach there. This was confusing as the terrain is plain - though we were made wiser once the journey started. The roads to such an important historical spot were full of pits, small narrow unkept roads...hence the time taken despite the less distance. Very disheartening! people from across the world come here and to have the driver tell us, that it is one of the good roads in the state!

At Nalanda Entrance

My fascination with Nalanda has been since childhood. Been brought up on stories of ancient India, Chanakya, golden era of Indian civilization - my mind had Nalanda as the ultimate, mystical destination for knowledge and learning. It has been mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang, acknowledged as one of the world's first residential university that flourished from 5th cen. AD to approx 1100 AD. Known for its impressive architecture and brilliant library - the university attracted students from as far as Japan, China, South East Asia, Greece, Persia, Tibet and many other countries. To more on this, please Click Here

Dormitories from top 

Walking thru the monastery.

What a systematic layout! Also as per Wikipedia - Nalanda had three main large buildings. One of The main building was Ratnadadhi, meaning the Ocean of Gems. It was nine stories high and housed the most sacred manuscripts. The towers were supposedly immense, bejeweled & gilded to reflect the rays of the sun! What a fascinating fact... stuff of what real good stories are made of!!

Stupa at Nalanda

This beautiful bell right outside in the gardens of Nalanda Museum is a Dharma Bell and is a gift from BuddhaDharma Foundation.

Thereafter, we moved to Bodhgaya - it was another approx 2 hr drive. At entrance of Bodhgaya, one doesn't feel one is in India - as everywhere you see banners of Japan Support. Wherever I turned I saw  - funded and aided by Japan flags / banners and no doubt the place was better kept than others in Bihar! Here the pavement, entrance was better, neater. Its now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



Bodhgaya is a site of pilgrimage and in the top four sites of importance to Buddhists. This is the place where Lord Gautama Budhha is said to have attained enlightenment. The Mahabodhi Temple as the guide told us was buried under layers of sand and mud, and was excavated only in late 19th century by Sir Alexander Cunningham - the same man who is also responsible for Harrappa excavations.


The entrance of the temple is marked by Ashoka Symbol - Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the temple 250 years after Lord Buddha.

The weather had become cloudy and indicated rains when we reached there which was quite pleasant. The temple as you can see below is quite like a pyramid, typical of Gupta architecture. The place dates as back as 250 BCE, however, temple's current structure is believed as to be 5th - 6th Cen. AD construction. Many other structures like stupas, railing around the temple are older than that - dating around 1st Cen. BC or older. In 2013, the tip of the temple was covered with gold as gifted from the King and devotees from Thailand. (The pic was taken in 2011) The temple is completely made of bricks and is one of the oldest brick structure to have survived in India.





The main sanctum, as you can see, doesn't have the image of Buddha with folded hands. The right hand here is shown touching the earth - this pose is representative of the moment of his enlightenment. It is also known as "Bhumi Sparsha" Mudra - symbolic of determination, confidence and steadfastness.
Again as usual, it was difficult for me to get away from here. It's a place where you feel the peace and the history. Yes, the history too! the whole area has a pulse of ancientness that is hard to miss.

Inside the temple, there is a lotus pond, and the Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.

There was a Sri Lankan team of approx 100-150 people visiting when I was there. A single leaf of the tree is considered a relic by the devotees - one is not allowed to pluck the leaves, so one stands for hours waiting for the air to make one leaf drop!

Apart from the lotus temple, the temple has beautiful stupas around, walls inscribed with Buddha's life incidents, and a row of stones known as Chankranama, this is the sacred spot right next to the main temple, its believed that wherever Buddha kept his feet, a lotus sprung up. I tried matching the steps on the side, my colleague with me was around 6 ft. tall, he could match the steps but still fell short by few inches... so Lord Buddha had to be really tall!

Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira were contemporaries. Although as per history, they never had a chance to meet, the guide showed us a carving around the walls of the temple that shows Lord Mahavira seeing lord Buddha as a child. This is a recent drawing, and can be an artistic expression.

Thereafter, we headed to airport before making a final stop at 80 ft statue of Buddha. Due to rain, could only take one quick picture.

Bodhgaya and Nalanda are beautiful places - and despite there isn't much one can do in Patna - I would not mind revisiting it for going back to these places. Better roads and better infrastructure from government would have helped in making it a top tourist destination for historical enthusiasts. However, should you be around the place, take out time to visit the old lanes of Indian history.

Weekend Getaway: Jaisalmer!

Who would ever think that Jaisalmer could be a weekend getaway from Delhi! this bizarre idea wasn't mine but of my friend... We had 3 days to go anywhere (Sat, Sun, Mon) and she came up with this idea as she had been to Jaisalmer before.
In my head Jaisalmer was the other end of Rajasthan....very far! which takes ages to reach...
A suggestion that was just perfect... as despite my umpteen visits to Dubai - I haven't had the pleasure of walking through sand dunes.

So off we went in April end - we realized taking a train from Old Delhi Station is the best way to reach Jaisalmer. The flight to the nearest airport is followed by at least 4 to 5 hr drive - which takes the same amount of time spent in reaching the destination.

We left on Friday noon (half day from office!). The train doesn't have any pantry - so please pack up food. Comesum people come and sell food thalis before the train starts - but better to carry home food if possible.
Old Delhi Station also boasts of a McDonald right inside the station. Apart from pantry, its a comfortable train and usually follows the time table - which can be a rarity in India. More or less 90% on time - so no worries there.

On the way, my friend told me that Jaisalmer is also known as "Golden City" as all the houses there have a yellow-golden tinge to them. We also discovered that the whole city is now a World Heritage Site.

On the way, early morning the train stops at Pokhran. Pokhran famous for its nuclear tests - was a name which we were simply excited on seeing. The train stops here for a while and one can get tea and snacks here.

We reached the place Saturday morning and people from Suryagarh Hotel were there to pick us. If you thinking Jaisalmer - think of no other hotel. Its a delightful hotel - that's just 20 minute drive from the station.
http://www.suryagarh.com/

It was a delight to arrive at the hotel - built in shape of a fort, very pretty, fabulous architecture and tastefully done rooms. With just 2 nights there - I would have been happy to just lounge around the pretty hotel.

After few hours of resting and post lunch, we headed to the "Sam Dunes". The locals call Sam as Sum as in Hindi. Sam Desert is a part of Thar Desert and is the area where we see the dunes.

We did not book the Desert Safari with the hotel or any other company. We wanted to go there and explore the place ourselves. In hindsight it was a very good decision as a typical safari is marked by - camel ride, ethnic dinner and dance show with time constraints. We decided to explore the desert ourselves at leisure.

The hotel cab dropped us from where the safaris start. The place had a lot of camels and camel carts.
They charged us only 100 each for one camel and one camel cart till the sunset point. Before we could be happy we realized we have been made a fool - as sunset stop is just fifty steps away!!!
Well - once there we made a deal with the cart guy - that he shows us around the desert, all the points that make a safari at only 700 INR odd. We used the cart as the dumping site for our bags and ran after the cart exploring the sand dunes on foot. It was a pleasure and a good workout climbing the dunes and hopping from on to another.

Sunset over the dunes is majestic

If you see any artists roaming around volunteering to play for you while you sit in desert. Please stop them to play for you, esp if you see some one carrying double flutes. Its an art that is dying. The double flute or as its called "Algoja", "Alghoza" has a strong loud sound and is a sheer delight to listen to! After a little search I found that this instrument was also quite prevalent in Punjab, though this is the first time I came across it. and its loud sound was perfect for desert setting.

A clip sharing our experience on desert:

The artist playing for us told us that only a handful of people are left who can play this instrument as it takes 10 to 11 years of practice to master it and one has to start early in age. I do not know how correct or false this info is - but in case you like the sound and want to hear it more.. check Rajasthani Algoza

The next day started early with exploring the hotel. They have pet peacocks and birds which they leave in their gardens in morn. It was fun to view them with my friends daughter.

After breakfast, we started the day early to avoid the day heat - as the mercury was soaring up to 43 to 45 degrees during noon in end April there.
We started with the lake - which till a few years back the sole source of water for whole city. Its a quick visit - however, outside the lake we found another fantastic artist.

Sorry for the inverted image in Video:

He played it so well! I even bought a CD from him of his own work recorded in a studio. Wow, an artist selling his own work outside a lake... what talent we have in India. Again he had the same sad story - very few people left with this art. The instrument used is Ravanhatta, a very ancient musical instrument - considered to be used by the great Ravana to please Lord Shiva.

Thereafter we went to see Jaisalmer Fort - don't take any autos, just walk till the fort from the parking, its a very small place. The main temple inside is quite pretty. Apart from the fort, we saw Patwon Ki Haveli - a quick round there was good, after this we headed to Lodurva, the old capital. It has a beautiful Jain temple which I found quite exotic.

It's a new construction, as in has been recently rebuilt using bright yellow sandstone.

We were able to finish our trip through the city by noon, and in the evening we enjoyed a wonderful cultural evening organised by the hotel people. I wish I had the pics and the video of it to share with you all. It was a classical program and which the hotel does almost every evening. However, this became extra special as guests from Palace on Wheels were being hosted by the hotel. So, a lot of dance and fun marked the evening.

The next day it was time to bid adieu to the lovely place and head back to Delhi. One trip I remember as truly short & sweet.