Holy!

 I wanted to tell my story in an orderly manner, and while I've only written up to Day 4 and we're actually on Day Something Else Maybe Nine, I have to interrupt my train of thought to tell you this story. You have to read this to the end, please, even though parts of it refer to religion. And you have to know how the Hindu people respect all animals and will never hurt one deliberately, all life is sacred to them, and they feed and care for all of them...pigeons and birds always have seeds, cows have hay, dogs are fed and they all live harmoniously together. That's important to this story.

We are in Pushkar right now, which you may have seen on various travel shows as a very famous place known for the camel fair, where camel traders come from around India to buy and sell camels. It also has one of the holiest temples in all of India and you can go to the ghat there and partake in a blessing ceremony. 

A ghat is a holy place near a lake or river where a Brahmin (type of holy man) will bless you in a ceremony that includes also blessing your family and friends; past, present and yet unborn. It's a very serious ceremony, no shoes, no skirts for women, no bare arms or legs and certainly no cameras or cell phones. Husbands must sit to the right of their wives and everyone cups their hands as the Brahmin pours fresh rose petals which signify (and you are warned to not smell them under any circumstances, it's apparently very insulting)  then some rice, which signifies prosperity,then sugar which signifies a sweet life, then red powder which signifies family and future family, and finally turmeric which signifies the ones you love who have died.  As he adds each one, he prays and blesses you, and then he has us repeat a series of prayers in Hindi. At the conclusion of this, he puts a smear of the mixture on our foreheads and we then think of everyone we want to be blessed and then we are to go to the lake and toss our petal mixture into the water whilst wishing for good karma for all our loved ones.

Above picture is the ghat, steps leading down to the water.

Below picture is the temple, and also some of the pigeons in flight. Keep reading to understand the importance of the pigeons! 😳

So we walk down the steps to the water and I hear this sort of hollow "thunk" and a freaking pigeon falls from the sky and lands at my feet. He's flown straight into the pole beside me. He tries to lift his head and I see blood all over, and his wing is broken. What the hell kind of message is this?!  I'm standing there, kind of shocked and sad and a bit panicked, and a stray dog runs right over; grabs the bird and rips it in half and runs away! Imagine all this happening in a split second, at this holiest of holy ceremonies. And the Brahmin's robe opens up as he runs over and he's wearing a t-shirt that says "Venice Beach, California." Seriously, what the hell? All that's left at this point is a few feathers and I'm wondering if I hallucinated the whole thing. Then I thought I was going to burst into hysterical giggles, because I look at everyone else and they're standing there, mouths ajar and eyes wide and bugging out and some of them have grains of rice stuck to their forehead from the Brahmins blessing and it looks ridiculous and also sort of like maggots. It was probably one of the strangest experiences of my life. 

So that's India for you, always expect the unexpected. 

I will be back on track tomorrow since its a complete day off at this fantastic resort and speedy wifi. 

Until then....namaste!