The past few days have been pretty interesting; lots of car rides and long hikes through poop and dust/mud covered trails. It is pretty strange that just a few days ago we were playing in the snow up in Kedarnath, sliding down the Himalayas on our butts. Now we are in Rishakesh and the weather is definately not cold. And we are not the only white people here. Oh...last night was pretty strange, we all danced in this Indian wedding brigade (initiated by Sunshine who seems to find much love and brotherhood with the Indian people everywhere he goes). The women in the wedding did not like us so much but the men loved us and kept inviting us back into the parade. We decided against following them for 20 more minutes to the brides' house for a dinner due to some dissaproving stares by a few.
So anyways, about the pilgramage. Well, the trek itself sucked (except for the temple part and the awesome scenery). The trail was covered with poop and pee and men carrying people and mules pushing pedestrians out of the way. It was a pretty grueling uphill 14 km hike and most of it was extremely hot until the last kilometer or so which was surrounded by snow covered mountains. I enjoyed the scenery immensely when I wasn't dodging mules or people carrying people. As I walked, I wondered what sorts of things were going through the pilgrim's heads. Many of them had spent a lot of time and effort in order to go on the trek. People of all ages were there. Children sometimes paid for their parents to go and so entire families went together. I even met a few Indian people who had come from America to do the trip. They were there with their families. At the top of the mountain, it was very poor. The Saduus were probably the worst ones we have experienced. There was so much begging and people harassed us more than others because we were the only noticeable westerners; therefore, we were rich. Even through all the poverty, trash, and sickness, I think the group overall had a good experience. Although we faced many challenges, the group held together well and took it all in stride. Sharing a room and a bed with 5 sick/semi-sick people was part of the fun. None of us wanted to split up into separate rooms after we had all experienced the joy of body warmth and story-telling. It was a good bonding experience, probably the climax of the trip.
In addition to the human connections we had, I felt some spiritual connections as well. The surrounding Himalayas created a natural spiritual inclination in my thinking and I was aware of this constantly. This spiritual feeling was most pronounced when we visited the temple and I saw the sincere devotional expressions on the faces of the praying pilgrims amidst a sea of yelling and shoving Hindus. The temple was an amazing experience. So many people were waiting in line barefoot in the cold to get in, and when our group evaded the line, they were not pleased with us. I felt kind of guilty to be taking their place in the temple when many of them had traveled a long distance to worship Shiva at this sacred site. At the same time, I felt privileged to sit with the temple priest while he chanted things in Hindi and performed puja. Watching the people practically fighting over one another for a brief glimpse of the shrine induced feelings of awe and respect as well as disbelief and sadness. Sad, because I did not like to see the people who waited their whole life for this pilgrimage pushed along after only a few seconds of time spent with their deity. And awe because it did not matter to them that they came all this way only to see their God for a few seconds; they were not bothered by the bunches of pushing people swarmed around them. They were used to it, they expected it, it is their culture. I wonder what the difference in experience was for a Hindu from America and who had the Americanized expectations of the pilgrimage versus the Hindu from India. Would the hordes of noisy people serve to make the American Hindu become disillusioned and lessen the religious experience for them? Or would they feel so absorbed and aware of themselves and their heritage that it would all add to the experience? Culture in this way seems to play an intrinsic role in the religious experience. I think if our group had gone through the temple in the way the pilgrims did, pushing and shoving to get a few seconds look at the Shiva, it would have taken away the spiritual dimension, because I know that at least I would probably be too focused on the crazy crowd and my surroundings and be unable to feel the people’s emotional connection to their God. Only because we were able to go to the front and sit was I able to partially comprehend what it meant to them. Oh no, I am out of time to write, I'll be back soon, no worries.
