Shatrunjaya

Trip Start Nov 13, 2006
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36
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Trip End May 13, 2007


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Thursday, March 29, 2007

After another 165km ride we arrived in Palitana which is a rather big town at the foot of  one of the most important Jainism holy pilgrim sites ........... Shatrunjaya. It is another large hill ( why cant they build these things on flat ground ???) and at the top there are 863 temples and shrines. The Jainist people believe that building shrines brings good favour from the Gods and here they really must have got some great favours !!
The climb is 2km long and there are 3572 steps and is recommended to do so before it gets too hot as you are not allowed take food, water or leather items ??? with you !! So we began to climb at 9am and again we were told it would take two hours but we knew that was two Indian hours so we set off at a good pace and made the top in half an hour, but never have either of us been so soaked in sweat in our lives !!
Reaching the top we were stunned by what we saw. the buildings were like wedding cakes and nothing seemed real, the carvings and craftsmanship was amazing. Apparantly the temples were built in the 11th century but were torn down by the muslims in the 14th and 15th centuries before being rebuilt in the 16th century .
We stayed for about 2hours but wanted to get to Diu before dark so decided to run down the steps !! Everybody who saw us thought we were crazy and i agree as we could have broken our necks but once you get moving its hard to slow down your momentum takes you down. Two days later our calves and ankles are still letting us know how stupid we were !!! 
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Comments

boratsagdiyev
boratsagdiyev on Mar 30, 2007 at 10:46AM

Yagshemash
Hows it going...

Pictures look fantastic as ever. I was at the Ireland game on Wednesday night with Declan. Good athmosphere in Croker, especially as it was night and all the floodlights were on...

deborah3
deborah3 on Apr 2, 2007 at 06:13AM

debbie
hi ya enda

i think your travel log is great.
The time has gone so quick before you know it you will be meeting up with all the lads.
anyway keep pictures and stories coming they are the highlight of my day.
enjoy the rest of your trip hope to hear from you soon tell james i said hi.
take care debbie

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