Walk to William Penn House for Tuesday Night Practice
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Seen From the Bus
It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been home from India for a little over two weeks given how busy I’ve been at work. I found some time this afternoon to pick out some photos to share.
On this second trip to South India, I was even more conscious of the protective bubble in which we traveled. I am not afraid or ashamed to admit that some of the places through which the bus drove would have been a big travel challenge for me without the bus and knowledgeable, competent, supportive guides.
These photos were mostly taken on a long day’s ride that became that much longer to encompass a detour to incorporate a last minute addition to the itinerary of an older and beautiful Shiva temple (I took the photo of the jackfruit vendor I posted last week after this temple visit). The detour was one of those only 20 kilometers extra detours that turn out to add three hours to the trip because it shifted from the main road to tertiary roads–I’m sure you, like I, have done that in the mountains somewhere), and it was truly someplace else from where I am used to being.
It was hard to be on the bus for those extra hours, but it was powerfully interesting to observe. Do click on individual pictures to see detail and facial expressions and in some, of course, the signs.
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Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Kali on the Outskirts of Town
She was banished to the outskirts of town by the patriarchy, but the outskirts are nicer than the center of town these days (not actually sure whether the latter is true).
She is unassuming on the surface and secretly wild, and she is completely self-sufficient.
I just reread Marilyn French’s The Woman’s Room and it has me thinking about Kali.
Photo taken in front of the Kali temple just outside of Chidambaram on January 1, 2014.
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Jai Hanuman
On the walk from the dentist back to the office. I wonder how many civil servants think about Hanuman on their way to work.
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A Change of Plans
I’d bought this basket with the intention of helping organize papers and clutter, but the goddess in her incarnation as Uma the cat clearly has other ideas about it.
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Signs Around Town
Yes. I am back in DC.
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Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Lions and Demons and Snakes, Oh My!
One of the most extraordinary things about the effulgent creativity and the omnipresent display of the pantheon in India is its unabashedly vulnerable nakedness about our deepest fears and desires (the ones we usually try so hard in the West to keep private).
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Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Jackfruit
This vendor was right outside a Siva temple we visited on the day after we went to Rameshwaram. I don’t remember the name of the temple (I was not good about writing down the names of the temples that were added to the itinerary after the fact).
I liked the temple more than many. Partly because it was quiet and peaceful since it is off the pilgrimage path (going to some of the temples reminds me of seeing the Rolling Stones at Wembley Stadium, both for crowds and noise level) and partly because it had all eight versions of Dakshinamurti–Siva as teacher.
I was most ready for dinner after a very long day on the bus to detour to this temple, but alas, the sight of street food brings more fear of disease than it does thoughts of slaking hunger and thirst.
