Week Ending 20 January 2019
KOLKATA TO CHENNAI
This amazing week we were able to visit, learn about the saints in and experience the different cultures, languages and climates of Kolkata and Chennai. As reported last week, we were in Kolkata to get to know the wonderful little branch there. Jeanette wrote about it so I won't repeat, but it was a sweet opportunity to understand the members there and feel of their wonderful spirits. After Sunday we were able to spend a couple of extra days visiting with some members and parts of the City. There are so many photos but we have tried to narrow it down - but still many more than usual so be patient. Most of the photos speak for themselves.
KOLKATA
Old British architecture in old downtown Kolkata.
No, Jeanette has not defected. Statue of Lenin in the central park - hammer and sickle flags are very common. Kolkata actually had an elected communist government for nearly two decades. They were voted out of power and there was a peaceful transition.
Gate to British Governor's Compound.
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| Street scene - man with oranges on his head. We have discovered and are in awe of the writings and works of Rabindranath Tagore. He is the only Indian to have been awarded the Nobel Price for Literature (1913). We visited his family home and found this performance of a traditional Bengali dance. Bengal is in the east and north of India. |
Komartuli
The area of Kolkata where images of Hindu gods are made to be used in many of Kolkata's colorful pujas (acts of worship). Most end with the immersing the idol in the Hooghly River that flows through the city, as a kind of ritual cleansing. The river shows the residue of the many idols it has cleansed. Mostly they are made of paper mache, straw and mud.
Alleys filled with formed and partially formed idols.
Artisan at work.
Jeanette among a variety of idols.
Craftsman
Kali is the Hindu devi (or goddess) of death, time, and destruction but is also often associated with sexuality and violence. But then is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love!
Holy Hooghly River
Image of the goddess Kali.
Another portrayal of Kali.
More benign images leftover from the British Raj.
Some are made with great detail.
Always the gentle Gandhi, even his likeness provides safety and warmth.
Jeanette exiting the Kumartuli neighborhood.
And really the very best part of our visit to Kolkata - Sujal Saha, Branch President, and his wife, Sayanthanee. He joined the Church several years ago while working in Milan, Italy. After his return to Kolkata, this marriage was arranged. Sayanthanee was Hindu but joined the Church after a few years. He is quiet, she vivacious. Good couple. We learned that in arranged marriages the expectation is that you learn to love the good in your partner after the marriage. It seems to work most of the time; it is just a matter of expectations. He has been to the temple, they will go to Taiwan to be sealed in March.
CHENNAI
Mahabalipuram World Heritage Site
Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram was one of two major port cities from the 7th century within the Pallava kingdom. It is on the coastline 58 kilometers (36 mi) south of the city of Chennai. An ancient historic town and a bustling seaport in the 1st millennium CE, with a group of Tamil monuments declared as UNESCO world heritage site. Many of the temples are hewn from solid granite rock.
Krishna's Butter Ball
Shore Temple
Only remaining of several temples that lined the shore of the ancient sea port on the Sea of Bengal.
Vishnu in repose in the Mahishasuramardini Cave.
President Gill, visiting from the U.S., giving a series of family history firesides
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