Melanie's parents (Rick and Regina) spent about six weeks with us and we have been busy. I (Aaron) will catch you up on a few of the adventures that we have had over the past month.
Ajmer
On 01 November, Rick and I took a day trip with Naeem to Ajmer and Pushkar. We made our first stop at the famous Muslim shrine in Ajmer known as the Dargah. The Dargah was built for Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty (also known as Gharib Nawaz) who lived from 1141-1230 A.D. He is known for founding the Chishtiyya Islam order of South Asia (particularly India). He is said to be a direct descendant of Muhammad (founder of Islam). He was a sufi and recognized as the most famous sufi saint ever. Sufism is a mystic tradition within Islam that encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to Divine love and the cultivation of the elements of the Divine within the individual human being. This particular Dargah is one of the most famous in the world. People from all over Asia as well as abroad make there way here for blessing. I have read and been told that seven trips to this Dargah is equal to one trip to Mecca; this ensures salvation and an eternity in paradise. We were there just three weeks after a bomb went off inside the complex on Thursday 11 October 2007 evening killing three persons and injuring 17 others as thousands of Muslims were breaking their day-long Ramzan fast.
After the blast, we were not allowed to take a camera inside, hence no pictures to post except the street looking towards the entrance of the Dargah at the end of the street. The entrance is through the huge archway.
Pushkar
After we left Ajmer, we left for Pushkar to see the Brahma Temple. This is said to be the only one in the world. Some say that there is a second one although there is dispute if it is for Brahma or for others in addition to Brahma and therefore not a true Brahma temple. Brahma is known as the creator in Hinduism and responsible for the creation of all that is. He is one of the three members of what is called in Hinduism the "trimurti" The trimurti is formed by three gods; Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva (destroyer). This trimurti is seen as keeping balance in the universe.
This is the main temple inside the temple compound.
This is the inside of the main temple. A statue is Brahma is seated in what appears to be a silver box. The man in the orange shirt with orange paint on his forehead is the priest.
The lake at Pushkar is also very famous and the water in it is second only to the Ganges river. The lake was said to be formed when Brahma dropped a lotus flower, the result was that this holy lake formed. People make pilgrimages here to bathe in the water in order to gain merit.
This is a picture of part of Pushkar Lake. I was not able to get a good picture because as I took this the man in the picture began yelling at me. He along with another man told me that unless I offered a flower to the lake and prayed, I was not allowed to take a photograph. He stated that failing to do this would surely bring a great deal of bad karma upon me. When I told the man I was a follower of Jesus and that I would not pray to the lake or any other god (politely), he became angry; I thought that he was going to beat me and my camera. I knew that this was a scam in which he would gladly walk me through the blessing and worship ceremony, once complete, he would then ask for some baksheesh (cash). I told him that I would not betray my faith and walked back to my car.
Agra
Rick and Regina really wanted to see the Taj Mahal while they were here. On 07 Nov I drove them to Agra and we spent the morning walking around the Taj Mahal, taking pictures and imagining what it would have looked like during the time of the Moghul Empire. It is truly an amazing site. Since I have other pictures to post, I will not show any of the Taj, I am sure most of you have seen plenty of pictures of it. For more information on the Taj Mahal and pictures, you can check out my favorite website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal . Another good website with information as well as great pictures is http://www.taj-mahal.net/.
Before we moved overseas, one of my professors (Dr. McDaniel) in graduate school told me about his great...great...great...grandfather who was buried in Agra. Dr. McDaniel asked me to take a picture of the grave if I was ever in Agra. Since we had the whole afternoon free, we decided it would be fun to track it down.
We were not sure where to begin looking except that the man's name was Sir John Mildenhall. He was one of the first, British to be buried in the early 1600's.
Sir John Mildenhall is famous because of his contribution to the British Empire. In 1599 the Dutch, who held control of the whole of the East India trade, raised the price of Pepper in England twice, nearly doubling its original price. The direct result of this action was a combination of London merchants who formed a venture and dispatched Sir John Mildenhall as their ambassador to the Emperor of Delhi (Akbar the Great) in order to obtain trading facilities and privileges. Thus was laid the first stone of the British East India Company. It turns out that he is very famous and his grave is a landmark in Agra. The only problem is that he is famous among westerners and nobody (Indian) whom we talked to or asked was familiar with him.
I called one of my friends who lives in Agra and he and his driver joined in the hunt. Both parties searched for about an hour around the city, asking in churches and talking with people we thought might know. Eventually we joined forces and visited a graveyard. The graveyeard was in disrepair and there was thick brush everywhere. After about an hour we discovered that there were no graves from the 1600's or 1700's anywhere to be found. We were told that there was another graveyard at St. Peter's Cathedral across town and that we should check it out. When we arrived, we were told that the graveyard there only dated back to the mid-1700's but the oldest section was across town in the church's annex cemetery. The problem was that the cemetery had just closed for the day (5pm) and it would soon be dark. The man at the church called the caretaker and asked him to return and unlock the gates for us.
After 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the cemetery. The cemetery was very well maintained and contained only Christian graves. It was interesting to see how the Moghul Empire influenced the architecture of the mausoleums and grave stones. The Moghuls were Muslims and were famous for their domes (Taj Mahal) and scalloped arches. At first glance it looked as though this was a Muslim yard until we realized that there were crosses incorporated into everything (windows, inscriptions, carvings and decorations). There were even crosses on the top of the domes. The Muslims would never use a cross for anything since they do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. After about ten minutes and just as it was getting dark, we found the grave! It took a collective ten people and several hours but we finally did it.
This is the eagerly sought after grave. The epitath reads "Here lies John Mildenhall Englishman who left England in 1599 and traveling to India though Persia reached Agra in 1603 and spoke with Emperor Akbar. On a second visit in 1614 he fell ill at Lahore, died at Ajmer and was buried here through the good offices of Thomas Kerridge Merchant. R.I.P."
We were so excited, everyone was cheering, even the gatekeeper who had no idea what was going on. We took pictures and looked around the area for a little while before leaving. We were sure to give the gatekeeper some rupees for his effort; he was very excited and thankful. That evening I called Dr. McDaniel and gave him the news. He was very pleased and he said we made his day. The funny thing is that I think that the adventure of looking for and finally finding the grave was the highlight of our trip.
Well Kept Secret
This past week we were able to go somewhere that is not even known to exist by most people in the area. It is kept secret in order to keep people away. We were very fortunate to have a friend get us in. After driving about 20 minutes from our home, we pulled onto a seldom used back road and soon came to the end. I was told to pull through a gate with a sign stating that entrance was strictly forbidden. We drove through a wilderness area for a short time until coming upon a concrete walled compound. The gatekeeper would not let us in until our friend called the head Dr. of the compound on her cell phone. The Dr. told the gatekeeper to let us in. We were instructed to leave the cameras in the car before entering. Upon entering, we were in a compound surrounded by cages which opened into very large enclosed pens containing natural wilderness areas. In the individual cages were about 60 tigers, 40 lions and 1 animal called a tigeron. The animals were kept here by the central government and all were rescued from abuse or dangerous habitats (human poaching). The facility also does some breeding in order to maintain the species. They are well kept and well fed (approx 16.5 lbs of buffalo per animal per day). The animals were in wonderful shape and some were actually quite friendly. I have never been so close to a lion or a tiger (I was able to pet some of them!). They were all within a couple of feet from us. The handler had some of them stand, growl, roar and one even rolled over on his back like a cat. It was an awesome experience. The one thing that seems like something out of Napolean Dynamite was the Tigeron named Simba. Simba's mother was a tiger and his father was a lion. The face and fur were like a lion. The paws and growl were like a tiger. The fur also had what looked like broken stripes but not quite spots. The Dr. told us that there were only two of these which have successfully been bred in the world.
That is enough for now. Be looking for an update on the some more exciting and wierd adventures and trips in the coming weeks.
On 01 November, Rick and I took a day trip with Naeem to Ajmer and Pushkar. We made our first stop at the famous Muslim shrine in Ajmer known as the Dargah. The Dargah was built for Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty (also known as Gharib Nawaz) who lived from 1141-1230 A.D. He is known for founding the Chishtiyya Islam order of South Asia (particularly India). He is said to be a direct descendant of Muhammad (founder of Islam). He was a sufi and recognized as the most famous sufi saint ever. Sufism is a mystic tradition within Islam that encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to Divine love and the cultivation of the elements of the Divine within the individual human being. This particular Dargah is one of the most famous in the world. People from all over Asia as well as abroad make there way here for blessing. I have read and been told that seven trips to this Dargah is equal to one trip to Mecca; this ensures salvation and an eternity in paradise. We were there just three weeks after a bomb went off inside the complex on Thursday 11 October 2007 evening killing three persons and injuring 17 others as thousands of Muslims were breaking their day-long Ramzan fast.
After the blast, we were not allowed to take a camera inside, hence no pictures to post except the street looking towards the entrance of the Dargah at the end of the street. The entrance is through the huge archway.Pushkar
After we left Ajmer, we left for Pushkar to see the Brahma Temple. This is said to be the only one in the world. Some say that there is a second one although there is dispute if it is for Brahma or for others in addition to Brahma and therefore not a true Brahma temple. Brahma is known as the creator in Hinduism and responsible for the creation of all that is. He is one of the three members of what is called in Hinduism the "trimurti" The trimurti is formed by three gods; Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva (destroyer). This trimurti is seen as keeping balance in the universe.
This is the main temple inside the temple compound.
This is the inside of the main temple. A statue is Brahma is seated in what appears to be a silver box. The man in the orange shirt with orange paint on his forehead is the priest.The lake at Pushkar is also very famous and the water in it is second only to the Ganges river. The lake was said to be formed when Brahma dropped a lotus flower, the result was that this holy lake formed. People make pilgrimages here to bathe in the water in order to gain merit.
This is a picture of part of Pushkar Lake. I was not able to get a good picture because as I took this the man in the picture began yelling at me. He along with another man told me that unless I offered a flower to the lake and prayed, I was not allowed to take a photograph. He stated that failing to do this would surely bring a great deal of bad karma upon me. When I told the man I was a follower of Jesus and that I would not pray to the lake or any other god (politely), he became angry; I thought that he was going to beat me and my camera. I knew that this was a scam in which he would gladly walk me through the blessing and worship ceremony, once complete, he would then ask for some baksheesh (cash). I told him that I would not betray my faith and walked back to my car.Agra
Rick and Regina really wanted to see the Taj Mahal while they were here. On 07 Nov I drove them to Agra and we spent the morning walking around the Taj Mahal, taking pictures and imagining what it would have looked like during the time of the Moghul Empire. It is truly an amazing site. Since I have other pictures to post, I will not show any of the Taj, I am sure most of you have seen plenty of pictures of it. For more information on the Taj Mahal and pictures, you can check out my favorite website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal . Another good website with information as well as great pictures is http://www.taj-mahal.net/.
Before we moved overseas, one of my professors (Dr. McDaniel) in graduate school told me about his great...great...great...grandfather who was buried in Agra. Dr. McDaniel asked me to take a picture of the grave if I was ever in Agra. Since we had the whole afternoon free, we decided it would be fun to track it down.
We were not sure where to begin looking except that the man's name was Sir John Mildenhall. He was one of the first, British to be buried in the early 1600's.
Sir John Mildenhall is famous because of his contribution to the British Empire. In 1599 the Dutch, who held control of the whole of the East India trade, raised the price of Pepper in England twice, nearly doubling its original price. The direct result of this action was a combination of London merchants who formed a venture and dispatched Sir John Mildenhall as their ambassador to the Emperor of Delhi (Akbar the Great) in order to obtain trading facilities and privileges. Thus was laid the first stone of the British East India Company. It turns out that he is very famous and his grave is a landmark in Agra. The only problem is that he is famous among westerners and nobody (Indian) whom we talked to or asked was familiar with him.
I called one of my friends who lives in Agra and he and his driver joined in the hunt. Both parties searched for about an hour around the city, asking in churches and talking with people we thought might know. Eventually we joined forces and visited a graveyard. The graveyeard was in disrepair and there was thick brush everywhere. After about an hour we discovered that there were no graves from the 1600's or 1700's anywhere to be found. We were told that there was another graveyard at St. Peter's Cathedral across town and that we should check it out. When we arrived, we were told that the graveyard there only dated back to the mid-1700's but the oldest section was across town in the church's annex cemetery. The problem was that the cemetery had just closed for the day (5pm) and it would soon be dark. The man at the church called the caretaker and asked him to return and unlock the gates for us.
After 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the cemetery. The cemetery was very well maintained and contained only Christian graves. It was interesting to see how the Moghul Empire influenced the architecture of the mausoleums and grave stones. The Moghuls were Muslims and were famous for their domes (Taj Mahal) and scalloped arches. At first glance it looked as though this was a Muslim yard until we realized that there were crosses incorporated into everything (windows, inscriptions, carvings and decorations). There were even crosses on the top of the domes. The Muslims would never use a cross for anything since they do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. After about ten minutes and just as it was getting dark, we found the grave! It took a collective ten people and several hours but we finally did it.
This is the eagerly sought after grave. The epitath reads "Here lies John Mildenhall Englishman who left England in 1599 and traveling to India though Persia reached Agra in 1603 and spoke with Emperor Akbar. On a second visit in 1614 he fell ill at Lahore, died at Ajmer and was buried here through the good offices of Thomas Kerridge Merchant. R.I.P."We were so excited, everyone was cheering, even the gatekeeper who had no idea what was going on. We took pictures and looked around the area for a little while before leaving. We were sure to give the gatekeeper some rupees for his effort; he was very excited and thankful. That evening I called Dr. McDaniel and gave him the news. He was very pleased and he said we made his day. The funny thing is that I think that the adventure of looking for and finally finding the grave was the highlight of our trip.
Well Kept Secret
This past week we were able to go somewhere that is not even known to exist by most people in the area. It is kept secret in order to keep people away. We were very fortunate to have a friend get us in. After driving about 20 minutes from our home, we pulled onto a seldom used back road and soon came to the end. I was told to pull through a gate with a sign stating that entrance was strictly forbidden. We drove through a wilderness area for a short time until coming upon a concrete walled compound. The gatekeeper would not let us in until our friend called the head Dr. of the compound on her cell phone. The Dr. told the gatekeeper to let us in. We were instructed to leave the cameras in the car before entering. Upon entering, we were in a compound surrounded by cages which opened into very large enclosed pens containing natural wilderness areas. In the individual cages were about 60 tigers, 40 lions and 1 animal called a tigeron. The animals were kept here by the central government and all were rescued from abuse or dangerous habitats (human poaching). The facility also does some breeding in order to maintain the species. They are well kept and well fed (approx 16.5 lbs of buffalo per animal per day). The animals were in wonderful shape and some were actually quite friendly. I have never been so close to a lion or a tiger (I was able to pet some of them!). They were all within a couple of feet from us. The handler had some of them stand, growl, roar and one even rolled over on his back like a cat. It was an awesome experience. The one thing that seems like something out of Napolean Dynamite was the Tigeron named Simba. Simba's mother was a tiger and his father was a lion. The face and fur were like a lion. The paws and growl were like a tiger. The fur also had what looked like broken stripes but not quite spots. The Dr. told us that there were only two of these which have successfully been bred in the world.
That is enough for now. Be looking for an update on the some more exciting and wierd adventures and trips in the coming weeks.
5 comments :
WOW! What fun adventures!!! Awesome! The Agra trip sounds fun!! That's cool that you found the grave!
The lions and tigers sound cool too!
FUN! Thanks for sharing!!!
Impressive blog post! :) So that sounded so fun, all cheering over finding the hunted grave. And very cool about the lion/tiger thing. Too bad I don't have connections there, I guess we'll never get to see it.
WOOOOOOOOW!! I have GOT TO come hang out with you guys some time! What great adventures you have and what great knowledge of history and stuff. That makes living in such a culturally rich place even better. Thanks for that blog post!
You're more than welcome to come visit anytime! Maybe we'll see you soon!
Both sound good to me!
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