Cows and temples

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  Puri, India
Monday, February 28, 2005

Okay, deep breath.... eww it stinks!! India sure is one smelly country and with a rising population it isn't likely to get any better. Besides the constant stench our train journey in 2nd class sleeper from Kolkata to the little beach side pilgrimage town of Puri was bearable - for less than $10 you can't complain. The men really do stare a lot which can be pretty unnerving when they are sitting directly opposite and all around you but then once one of them gets up the nerve to ask where we are from, the stares normally recede and the conversation goes something like...

Q: "what is your mother country?"
A: "Australia" (with good old Aussie accent)
Q: "oh Australia, You like cricket?"
A: "Yes I like cricket very much" (of course only Michael says this, Kate just smiles and thinks how boring cricket is)
Q: "I like (insert Aussie cricketers name)..."

This is then followed by a large number of questions about our occupations, family, more cricket related discussion and about our travel in India

Interesting temple art at Konark Sun Temple

. Many people are also interested in what food we eat which is hard to explain if, like us, you enjoy a variety of cuisine every week, and try explaining what a sausage is!

Cows are sacred in India, apparently due to the importance of their milk (much more valuable than their meat) and boy do the cows in Puri know it! Thankfully there wasn't too much traffic to dodge down the dusty lanes of the town as we were constantly having to dodge cows and their dung.

The beach wasn't too spectacular and the dunes were full of trash but the evening was full of action with people playing cricket (of course), fisherman bringing in their catch and couples and families enjoying the sea air.

We tried to glimpse into the Jagannath Temple dedicated to the black face deity Lord Jaganath (whose face looks a bit like a golliwog doll) and his brother and sister. A
'Hindu only' rule meant we could only peer across the compound from the library across the road. There were also many beggars although the dead cow down the road had collected more money than the beggars combined - one of the many peculiar Indian habits we constantly come across.

We were befriended by a lovely Indian girl secretly visiting her fiancee in Puri and were taken to the beach and dinner by her friends. It was a fascinating evening spent learning many of the Hindu customs particularly in regards to marriage and women (feminism sure has a long way to go here)

Kate and Anuorava, Puri Beach

. Kate also got a recipe to make a paneer (cheese) curry which she can't wait to try out at home.

On our final day we hired a car and driver to take us to the Konrak Temple built in the 12th century as a tribute to the sun god it was decorated in some highly animated pictures (we will let you see for yourselves). Unfortunately Michael came down with a dose of the 'Puri Puke' - probably food poisoning from the flash restaurant we ate at the night before - so spent most of the day sleeping, after throwing up on the world heritage Konark sun temple, while Kate was chauffeured around Bubanashwar to more ancient temples.

Michael thankfully recovered quickly and we spent the next 20 hours on the train to Chennai drinking chai (milky, sugary tea) and talking to our fellow passengers about, well yeah you guessed it, cricket.

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Prilgams, Puri beach

Road to Jagannath Temple

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