Happy Lutheran

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

Before talking about today’s outing, I want to mention that last night, I was fortunate enough to watch a ganga aarti ceremony–part of a puja in honor of Mother Ganges. They have one of these ceremonies every night at a ghat further down the Ganges, but tonight, Sunday night, is the only day of the…… Continue reading Benares Hindu University

So, I woke up to a lovely little surprise today–the internet in the hotel is working! So, I am writing this post from the little desk in my room. Very nice! After this trip, there are so many little things that I will never, ever take for granted again!Since I wrote such a long post…… Continue reading A Walk Along the Ganges