South India

[RedFred]

mactbone, I believe there is some sort of water rights dispute between two neighbouring states.

Looks like I got Madras and Madurai mixed up so the Meenakshi temple could mean a field trip. I know it is probably a post-colonial thing, but I wish city names would remain the same. Beijing Duck and Mollywood both sound retarded.

Seeing so much old stuff should be amazing! I live in a city where many of the "heritage" buildings are under 50 years old and most are under 100. The whole city was pretty much forest 150 years ago.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
[q=aneeshm]OK, a slight amendment. The Kaaba has been desecrated in such a manner that the pilgrimage can no longer command the reverence it once did - it is dead.[/q]

Answered:

[q=Geronimo]Look at what happened to the jerusalem the only holy city of the jews. None of the wanton destruction and loss ever removed it's value to them. I also suspect those who choose to visit modern jerusalem would be unmoved by your assertion that to do so would be too depressing in light of the tragic history and the destruction of all of their temples.[/q]

well actually it WAS depressing - thats why it was called the wailing wall. Nonetheless, you are correct that Jews continued to make pilgrimages there, and created a Jewish quarter of the city close to the wall, at least as far back as the time of Nahmanides, in the 1200s. Jews never forgot the Temple, or the sovereignty with which it was associated, even as they mourned its passing, and looked forward to its restoration.

With the restoration of Jewish soveriengty over the wall in 1967, the wall is now called the Western Wall, not the Wailing Wall. However a Jew who visits still faces complex emotions, as it still brings forthe the memory of the lost Temple.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


well actually it WAS depressing - thats why it was called the wailing wall. Nonetheless, you are correct that Jews continued to make pilgrimages there, and created a Jewish quarter of the city close to the wall, at least as far back as the time of Nahmanides, in the 1200s. Jews never forgot the Temple, or the sovereignty with which it was associated, even as they mourned its passing, and looked forward to its restoration.

With the restoration of Jewish soveriengty over the wall in 1967, the wall is now called the Western Wall, not the Wailing Wall. However a Jew who visits still faces complex emotions, as it still brings forthe the memory of the lost Temple.

I''m sorry. I didn't mean to imply that the sense of tragic loss had diminished. I only meant that it was not discouraging continued visits to the modern city by those who greatly appreciate the depth of that long and recurring string of tragedies.

[Dinner]

Let's get to the real questions. How was the food?

[RedFred]

Food was great. Good north Indian food is easy to get in Vancouver. Good south Indian - not so much.

Did not think this thread would get resurrected - surprised my login still works!! My first trip was over five years ago. My most recent trip was last November and I have now travelled much more of India. I have a Persons of Indian Origin card so we can go any time without the bother of getting a visa.

Hard to imagine all the languages, religions, cultures and people crammed into one country. It is kind of like visiting another planet instead of another country. Personal highlights: Minakshee Temple in Madurai (in my socks in 40C heat), cruising the backwaters in Kerala in a traditional houseboat - the cook that came with the houseboat made the world's best dosas, the Taj Mahal at dawn before the crowds got there, a Jain temple that looked to be all carved from a single rock, camel riding in the desert, staying in a hotel right in the fort at Jaisalmer, despite horrifically bad Italian food (Italian food... ...what?), almost everything about the Pink City, the view from the mountaintop at Visakhaputnam at night, Lotus temple (perhaps the only quiet place in all of Dehli), seeing a street dentist in the Agra slums - he was using a battery operated hand drill and his patient was in an old barber's chair, Mysore tour, Fatehpur Sikri, Onam in Kochin - especially the flower murals and the snake boat races, experiencing every kind of transportation: boat, elephant, autorickshaw, bicycle rickshaw, taxi, the insanity of the Delhi underground, flights from newly built or just being built modern airports...

In some places I felt like a rock star. People could see that I was from a long ways away, so I got spontaneous invitations to peoples homes, photographed, even asked for my autograph. I am so white that my aunt-in-law's housekeeper (a very dark south Indian lady) asked in Tamil what kind of product I was using to lighten my skin so much...

If you have not been and you are thinking of going to India, I highly recommend it. You can go a dozen times and never run out of amazing things to see and do.

[SlowwHand]

Good barbecue?