Happy Lutheran

I forgot to mention one interesting thing about my room. I had assumed that there weren’t many Muslims here in Madurai–I always assume that there are more of them in the north, just because of the history of partition. However, I think that assumption is incorrect, for two reasons. First, there is a mosque right…… Continue reading Last stop, Hyderabad!

I spent much of today wandering around the Sri Meenakshi temple, which is, as my guidebook says, not so much a temple as a 6 hectare complex; and every inch is absolutely breathtaking. Even now, sitting at my iPad, I’m not even sure how to begin to describe it. It was packed with people, full…… Continue reading Sri Meenakshi Temple

I am in my last hotel of the trip, in my penultimate destination city. [I’ll say more about my last stop, Hyderabad on Thursday]. I am only in Madurai two days, and I came here for one thing and one thing only: to see the Sri Meenakshi Temple, one of the grandest temples in all…… Continue reading Out and About in Madurai

Today was my last full day in Chennai: tomorrow I fly to Madurai. Today started early again, as I took a cab over to Gurukul at 8:15, in order to be there by 9:00 am. The United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India has its offices there, and I was doing the short homily for their…… Continue reading The Last Day in Chennai

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this will be my longest blog yet–the pictures are going to do most of today’s explanation: I have been with people from sunup to sundown, and the day has been absolutely fabulous; BUT this introvert is also absolutely exhausted! If I sit very quietly, I can…… Continue reading Worship in the Morning, Worship on the Evening

After a 12 hour travel day yesterday [a one hour drive to Varanasi airport + wait time in airport + 90 minutes flight to Delhi + wait time in airport + 2 1/2 hour flight to Chennai + 30 minute drive to hotel], I made it to my hotel in Chennai, and I must say,…… Continue reading Feeling Good in Chennai!

It is great to be a boy on Holi. Oh sure, Holi is for everyone, but it is hard to imagine anyone enjoying more than young boys the freedom to spray complete strangers with colored water–even using high-powered squirt guns–and throw colored powders at them! It is definitely a day for boys–young and old.Here’s the…… Continue reading Holi!

Forgot to post these pictures. The Buddha statue is inside the temple, and the other statues represent the Buddha teaching his disciples–that group of statues is located outside, near the bodhi tree, another picture of which is also attached.

So I shifted religious gears a bit today, from Hinduism to Buddhism, as I took a little day trip out to Sarnath, which is about 12 km away from Varanasi [However, it still takes roughly an hour to drive there–I believe I have mentioned that the traffic is not to be believed!]. Sarnath is the…… Continue reading Sarnath!

Today was the day I walked down to the Manikarnika Ghat, which is the main ghat for cremations, and said to be the most favorable place to be cremated. [There is another, smaller cremation ghat, Harishchandra Ghat, but it is nothing compared to Manikarnika!] As I think I have mentioned before, Varanasi itself is most…… Continue reading Cremation on the Ganges