August 20th and 21st: Weekend in Vellore

Saturday, August 20th
Today we took full advantage of our first day to sleep in. We finally made it out of our room late in the morning and walked over to the College Store on campus. The College Store has been very convenient and has provided us with everything we have needed. We were all able to purchase phones and local SIM cards, which will making keeping in touch back home much easier and cheaper.

Hindu temple within Vellore Fort

After we left the campus store we found an auto rickshaw just outside the campus gates that took us to the Vellore Fort. The Vellore Fort was built in the sixteenth century by Nayak, but was thereafter seized and acquired by many different rulers. The fort holds the Sri Jalagandeeswarar temple, a Mosque, St. Johns Christian Church, and an archeological museum. We only toured the temple since the Mosque is no longer in use and we weren't sure if we could just walk into the church.

Andrea, Rachael, Sarah, and Alison outside the Hindu temple in Vellore Fort

Flower petals for sale used in offering during temple worship.

We left our shoes behind as we entered the temple, since they are not allowed inside. The temple's architecture was amazingly intricate and the Hindu statues were beautifully decorated with flowers and colorful sandalwood paste. While walking through the temple, Alison accidentally led us to the interior sanctum where we each received a blessing from the pujari (the temple priest), a bindi (a red dot) and a tilak (a white mark). These are made on the forehead and from ashes or sandalwood paste. While inside the interior sanctum, the Hindu worshipers were very friendly and welcoming.

Statue of Ganesh, a Hindu god

Woman outside temple
weaving strands of jasmine blossoms

After leaving the temple we were able to find a local woman who was selling strands of jasmine flowers, which has quickly become a favorite addition to our outfits. After each of us had a new strand of fresh jasmine placed in our hair, we walked over to see St. Johns Church and the Mosque before we decided to find a place for lunch.

While looking for St. John's Chruch we spotted a few monkeys sitting in the shade of a large tree. There was a baby monkey suckiling her mother as they sat on a fence. They were fun to watch as they interracted. It was one of our first close encounters with monkeys. There were some Indian men close by who were laughing at us as we took multiple photos of the monkeys.

 

Sarah and Andrea on the way to lunch in the rickshaw

Rachael and Alison on the way to lunch in the rickshaw

We stopped at a random restaurant we passed while driving in the auto rickshaw back toward campus. The restaurant had a sign stating it had A/C, which was our only requirement at the time. It turned out to be our first authentic Indian restaurant. The food was delicious but our lack of knowledge of Hindi and Tamil made for difficult conversation with our server. After lunch we ventured down the crowded street, dodged a few rickshaws, and stopped by the Gorgeous Salon to splurge on a wonderful 20 minute neck and back massage. We all managed to rationalize and talked each other into the purchase since it only cost around ten US dollars. After a very relaxing massage break we decided to stop by FabIndia, a common Indian clothing store, to buy gifts, clothing and jewelry. After the stop at FabIndia we decided to head back to campus for dinner at the College Canteen.

Sunday, August 21st

We all had a relaxing morning then headed off to the college canteen for lunch. Each of us has become more adventurous in our meal selection. 

We then headed to the Golden Temple, called Sri Narayani Manthram. We did not know the rule for not carrying any cameras or mobile devices, and while trying to respect the temple's rules, we did not want to leave our electronics at the counter. So, two of us decided not to go to the temple and instead explored Vellore.

The temple is beautiful and is just outside a busy market place. It is very pristine, with well manicured gardens and an idyllic background of mountain ranges. There are many sculptures of the gods throughout the lawn and there was a water fall, a stream and even a large lake. Similar to a monastery, it seemed like the Brahmins lived there (including the women). We walked along a walkway that surrounded the temple (it is traditional to walk in a clockwise fashion on the periphery before entering the holy of holies/interior sanctum). The periphery is in the shape of a 13 sided star. We completed the darshan, which means to glimpse the god and thus receive his blessing. The holy of holies was surrounded by water with elephant sculptures spurting water, and the entire inner temple was gold plated. Everyone was extremely welcoming. Some women called us their friends and many asked where we were from. We were welcomed to receive the prasad (which is food or flowers given to the worshipers after the darshan). 

Alsion in the market outside of the Golden Temple

From all of the descriptions, this seems like a very ornate and elaborate temple, but, there were many signs throughout that pointed out all the good deeds the temple does for the city. There was information about providing health care through clinics, providing clean water during droughts from the temples cistern, and offering scholarships. Just outside the temple, there is a Girl Guides building and it has the name of the temple on it, probably indicating that the temple funds it. This contemporary temple seems similar to how other temples might have operated in the past.

Alison and Andrea, who went to the temple, returned before the others exploring Vellore. As we waited for them to return to have dinner, we wandered around the CMC campus. We found the chapel that has a lush garden surrounding a pond full of beautiful lilly pads with rich purple flowers.

Chapel gardens at CMC Bagayam campus

We ended our day with dinner at the College Canteen and each of us indulged in fresh pineapple juice, our new staple at dinner.

Returning to our Tuesday post, the answer to Patrick's riddle is: “You can't start a sentence with because, because, because is a conjunction.” We thought it was funny at the time.