In India, religion is all around. It influences the people’s every day life and is a main determinant of the country’s culture. Fortunately, here at the beach, there is no temple in sight, so we have some rest and can reflect about our previous experiences …. just that you know that we do not relax on the beach!

Hinduism is fundamentally different from the religions we have in Europe (Steve is Christian whereas I am agnostic). As previously noted, Hinduism is much more concrete. It speaks to the senses: The rituals comprise meditative music, bells ringing, worshipping images, colourful statues and the use of perfumed essences. Moreover, it gives answers and offers help for much more topics than Christianity. If you want to get rich, if you search for a pretty girlfriend, if you are afraid of diseases or car crashes or if you need a quiet hour to calm down, then the Bible has very few specific recommendations to offer. In India they have. There is a prayer, a priest or a temple for all of these problems, such that the devotees almost never have the feeling of being let alone. Admittedly, the fact that you have to pay for most of these services gives a strong incentive to “develop” a metaphysical solution for any problem. Continue reading →

Each time we write a new entry, we say to ourselves “This time the post will be shorter than the previous ones!”. As you may have realized, very seldom we achieved that aim. So in the last week, we carefully avoided every place where something worth reporting could happen and focused on the tourist spots and trekking routes. We started the week in Mysore (staying at Hotel Dasaprakash), the former capital of one of the Maharajahs’ dynasties. There we went to the “Chamundi Hill”, a holy Hindu site. Here you have to pay if you want to pray inside the temple, black persons want to sell “very beautiful sunglasses” and seemingly the devotes are convinced that the gods enjoy seeing them shattering coconuts onto the ground. Probably we will need some more time to fully understand this religion ….

Back to the profane world we visited the famous “Mysore Palace”. It is a wonderful building, full of lovely details, creating a marvellous atmosphere. By many tourists it is perceived as representing the traditional architecture of South India, but this is not true. The palace was designed by British architects at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a mix of many different styles from all over the world – actually resulting in some kind of fantasy architecture. And this is the main reason why you have so much fun visiting the palace, since you will experience new surprises in every room. It is just a pity for the Maharajahs that they only could live there during about 25 years, before India’s independence ended their residency. Continue reading →