The Caste System

Posted on August 11, 2013 by annetbell

caste-system Today, I was going to post on death rituals or mummification and reincarnation but as I was doing research, I got interested in learning about caste systems in India and ancient Egypt. I always feel a tad tenuous speaking as an authority on subjects, I have only read about…I dip my toes gingerly into the pool of history and beliefs of cultures not my own. I would be most happy if any readers from India and or Egypt would step in and make corrections or comments. I can only say I have the deepest respect for both these cultures and the accomplishments and ideas they have given to the world both then and now. Please know that any mistakes I make are not malicious but because I lack the knowledge.

First a caste system is defined as a way to organize society into groups based on heredity. For Americans, we can understand this by the English system. It was ordered on a system of marriage only from the same group and heredity as a transmission for occupation, though education has become more important since the industrial revolution. And of course, Prince William married Kate Middleton, a commoner, and she will one day be Queen of England. They met and graduated from St. Andrews College in Scotland. This is quite similar to the caste system in India. And before we American deny a caste system here. . . . . have you noticed that most politicians come from a few select ivy league collages?

Since the ancient Egyptian system is no longer in use, unless my Egyptian friends can elaborate, I will just talk about the Indian system. The charts are pretty self-explanatory so I have only a few comments to make. It is interesting to see similarities in the two charts of systems that started so long ago. In India, there used to just be the top four classes, until Mr. Gandhi , the father of modern and free India, made a lower caste called the untouchables, Dalits or the “children of God.” The Indian constitution has outlawed the caste system and has instituted “affirmative action” programs to help these people with the challenges in their lives. I think of the programs for hearing, speech , and sight impaired Indian people I blogged on earlier. Both of these are private organizations, though I am sure that the government has programs as well.

https://talesalongtheway.com/2013/06/19/the-blind-at-your-doorstep/

https://talesalongtheway.com/2013/06/18/good-citizen-kfc/

Today in India, there is a different approach to the caste system in the cities than in the villages. In the cities with the rising middle class consisting of 50-75 million people, the emphasis has shifted more to education leading to work and marriage. But in the villages, the caste system still usually dictates marriage rituals, births, deaths and occupation for all who lived there. Habits passed down from generation to generation are difficult to change.

Posted in India, Uncategorized | Tagged affirmative action, against the law, caste system, cities, education, Egypt, Ghandi, India, villages | 93 Comments

Update on Uttarakhand, India & The Economist on the hazards of religious travel

Posted on August 10, 2013 by annetbell

Interesting and informative information on this tragedy.

Pilgrimage Portal

I’ve been looking for updates on Uttarakhand in northern India, after the floods that claimed so many lives (11,000 missing, according to United Nations estimates, though that number may be revised). The debate over urban growth and the pressures that religious tourism has put on the area continues — see this interview with a climate change expert arguing for afforestation and building codes in Himalayan states. The need for disaster preparedness at major pilgrimage sites is another ongoing discussion.

The dangers from flooding have not passed: there is still the struggle to distribute aid to those affected as roads and other infrastructure have been washed out or damaged by landslides. Heavy rains are causing flash floods, with injuries and fatalities. And, on August 2, the Manikarnika Shiva temple on the banks of the Bhagirathi river was swept away by flood waters. This happened during the

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Posted in India, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Word Press Family Awards

Posted on August 10, 2013 by annetbell

WordPress Family Award

I was most honored to be nominated by two blogger friends within days of each other for this lovely WordPress Family Award. I decided to thank them and nominate others all on one post. First, I heard from Sista Sertraline at Phoenix Flights. She is a very brave, transparent person who struggles with depression, and paranoia who shares those struggles with fine good humor. She is not depressing at all. Check out her blog and encourage her to “rise like a Phoenix from the ashes and learn to live again in 2013!” sistasertaline.wordpress.com

The second nomination came from Sonal who has simplyvegitarian777.wordpress.com Check out her vegetarian recipes adapted from all over the world and are low-fat as well. She has ideas for cooking with children, links to her two other blogs…..and she writes poetry! Sonal is a passionate India who has a great love for her country as I do. She is also a truly lovely encourager. If you don’t know these bloggers, please visit their sites and be enriched!

The Creator of this award wrote:

‘This is an award for everyone who is part of the “WordPress Family” I started this award on the basis that the WordPress family has taken me in, and showed me love and a caring side only WordPress can. The way people take a second to be nice, to answer a question and not make things a competition amazes me here. I know I have been given many awards, but I wanted to leave my own legacy on here by creating my own award, as many have done before. This represents “Family” we never meet, but are there for us as family.”

Here are the rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog (see above).
2. Link back to the person who nominated you (also see above!)
3. Nominate 10 others who have positively impacted your WordPress experience.
4. Don’t forget to let your WordPress family members know of your nomination.
5. That’s it! Just pick 10 people that have accepted you as a friend, and spread the love!

1. kimberlyakinola.wordpress.com
2.martyfnemec.com
3. shivaani8.wordpress.com
4. highheelgourmet.com
5. shehannemoore.wordpress.com
6. janalinesworldjourney.com
7. 22flowers.wordpress.com
8. inavukic.com
9. donostertag.wordpress.com
10. likeasilverlake.wordpress.com 11. nwharrisbooks.wordpress.com 12. annalinnehan.com 13. moderatextremetravel.com 14. insaneowl.com 15. alotonyourplate.wordpress.com 16. sfoxwriting.com 17. mysticalwild.wordpress.com 18. inspiringevolution.wordpress.com 19. anitaflowersdotme.wordpress.com 20. thejeremynix.wordpress.com 21. artattack4.wordpress.com 22. ks3nia.wordpress.com 23. cbkwgl.wordpress.com 24. hansiriley.wordpress.com

Thanks to all of you for letting me be part of your family! Namaste. . . . Anne If this is all out of a list. I have no idea what to do about it. It was all a list of 1-24 nominees when I typed it, but when I previewed it was now. Sorry…

Posted in awards, India, Uncategorized | Tagged WordPress Family Awards | 18 Comments

Faith Systems

Posted on August 9, 2013 by annetbell

b6ad-dd4000_1_5_1____9.0_9.0_479455_Faith-Is-Not-Belief-Without-Proof

Beliefs have always been an important in understanding cultures from ancient times until today. This morning, I want to try and tell you about the ancient religions in India and Egypt and compare and contrast their belief systems. Both Hinduism and the ancient Egyptian religions are very old. The root of these beliefs are the human mind trying to understand the world and all that is in it. The Vedic Brahmanism is the ancient religion that later became Hinduism. There was worship of fire and rivers and a pantheon of nature gods who controlled wealth, health, and the number of children born. The Vedics tried to please the gods in order to obtain prosperity. The ancient Egyptians had a pantheon of gods and beliefs that the gods were present in and in control of nature. They, too, wanted wealth, health, prosperity and lots of offspring. The formal practice of religion revolved around the pharaoh whom they believed was human, but descended from the gods. Much treasure was spent on temples. This religion lasted for 3000 years and was a strong influence of many ancient and modern cultures.

This is Ganesha who is a very popular Hindu god today. He is lord of success, destroyer of evil and obstacles. Our bus driver had a statue of Ganesha and in the morning and evening burned incense to him, as he prayed for the god to overcome obstacles and provide a successful trip. Ganesha’s head is of an elephant and a body of a boy.

This is Hanuman the monkey god. He serves lord Rama and represents the bonds between master and servant. People pray to Hanuman for physical strength, perseverance and devotion.

In the Egyptian pantheon of gods, this is Anubis. He is the god of mummification, and the guide of the dead through the underworld. He has the head of a jackal and the body of a man.

This is Ra, of Egypt, the first sun god in mythology. He is the king of gods and creator of all things including mankind. It was believed he was born each morning, rising in the east, riding across the sky and disappearing into the underworld in the west each night effectively dying, to be reborn the next morning.

The ancient Gurjars worshiped the sun god in ancient India. We visited the temple of the sun god, Surya at Modera, just a bus ride away from Ahmedabad.

The Sun Temple of Modera is where at dawn, the sun god’s first rays enter the temple.

The two most striking comparisons are the river worship in both cultures. Hot, dry climates and much desert accentuate the need for water in both countries.

This is the Ganga or Ganges considered in Hinduism as the goddess of the holy Ganga. It is the holiest or most sacred river in any religion. Rituals performed there multiply blessings to the devotee, and cleansed him/her from sin. Dying near the Ganga leads to salvation of the departed and going directly to be with his/her ancestors. Check out my post on Varanasi which is the holiest of all Hindu cities. Prayers and bathing are done at sunrise on the ghats in Varanasi. We rode a boat in the early morning and saw the sunrise over the Ganga.

The Nile is the longest river in the world, 400 miles. It was a natural boundary, provided fresh water, transportation for travel and trade. Each spring the Nile flooded it banks with mountain water. This flooding provides rich black farming soil when the water receded. This process is called inundation and considered to be the gift of the Nile to Egypt. Without the Nile, Egypt would be a desert. In the Old Testament account of Moses and the Pharaoh, the king said that his people worshiped the river.

There are similarities of the faith systems of these two great countries in worship of nature, such as the sun, and the great rivers. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what future anthropologists will say about the faith systems of today and how it affects our beliefs and actions?

Posted in India, Uncategorized | Tagged ancient Egypt, faith systems, Ganga River, Hinduism, India, Nile River, photography, travel, vedism | 6 Comments

Read And Write Like An Egyptian

Posted on August 8, 2013 by annetbell

Over 5000 years ago, ancient Egyptians wrote using a picture writing called hieroglyphics. The writers were called scribes. Not everyone had this training not even the Pharaoh and his family. There was a problem because Egyptians wrote down everything, and hieroglyphs were beautiful, but time consuming! The scribes needed a faster way to write. They created the first shorthand called Demotic script. The new scribes used that exclusively and never learned the ancient hieroglyphs. They wrote faster and even created some new scripts.

Hundreds of years passed and archaeologists discovered beautiful hieroglyphic writing on ancient walls of tombs and pyramids in Egypt. But there was a problem. Though they knew there was a story told there on the wall, and they could read Demotic Script, there was not one person on the face of the earth who could read ancient Egyptian! This mystery wasn’t solved until about 200 years ago, when a huge black stone was found in Egypt. The stone had the same short story chiseled into it, in three languages, Greek, Demotic and ancient hieroglyphs. The scientists could read the first two and noticed it was the same story, so they came to the conclusion that the hieroglyphs was also the same story. With their knowledge of Greek and Demotic, and the gift of some ancient Egyptian, the linguists were able to finally begin to read and understand hieroglyphs.

The very famous stone was named the Rosetta Stone. Today it is on display in the famous British Museum in London. When we were there, it was possible to touch the stone and feel the excitement of this discovery many years ago. It is displayed in a glass case currently.

I decided to dust off my teacher hat this morning and tell you about hieroglyphs! It was a system of picture writing. The first were pictographs or pictures of the meaning. A sun was a sun. Later the the meaning could represent ideas and or the literal meaning. An example is the pictures could be the sun or it could mean the daytime. Then the hieroglyphs had became ideograms. Finally, the pictures were not only the appearance of an object, or related to ideas, but also the sound of a spoken word used to describe an object. Now a sun could be “son” or the beginning of Sun-day. So each picture took on a unique sound to form thoughts and ideas. There are no vowels in hieroglyphs. With the combination of sound signs, pictographs and ideograms, no wonder it was so difficult to decipher hieroglyphs! Here is a chart which may make this clearer.

Ready to translate? To read the hieroglyphs you need to know that it is read from right to left, but sometimes left to right or in columns. How is a reader to know? You read towards the faces.

I am going to include the link to the “translator” which my students loved. You type in your name and then the translator will produce your name in hieroglyphs! Or you can first try to write your name and check it with the translator. You can send me a postcard. anne.t.bell@gmail.com

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/egypt/glyphPreview.html?hpylg=657878693266697676

Namaste. . . . .T I E

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged ancient Egyptian writing, Hieroglyphs, London, pyramids, Rosetta Stone, scribes, temples | 43 Comments

Cairo Museum

Posted on August 7, 2013 by annetbell

Egyptian Museum in Cairo tourism destinations \

As a response to one of my blogger friends, I am going to tell some tales from other places I have visited along the way. There are more stories about India, but I thought I would take you to this world famous museum in Cairo today. Until I came to India, I was all about the Egyptians and how kind and friendly they had been to us . We were there in the early 80’s with our children, 12 and 6! One of the first days in Cairo , the agenda for my architect was to hit this museum. Along the streets, we were constantly approached with ” shine shoes, tour, change money?” Egyptians desperately wanted to have have dollars . The exchange rate given on the streets was much better for us than the state rate, but we were concerned that somehow we would be in trouble for exchanging on the street. This post is an overview of the museum and next I want to talk about mummification and compare the Egyptian idea of life after death, with the Hindu belief in reincarnation. Also, I want to do a post on the Egyptian gods and Hindu gods.

The Cairo Museum houses the richest collection of ancient Egyptian art in the world, including the amazing treasure from Tutankhamen’s tomb. The building is neoclassical in design and built in 1900. This was the time when there was much interest in ancient artifacts all through the world and an especially strong desire to see all things Egyptian. Many museums were built and the most desirable ones were lucky enough to have a mummy. This would insure many visitors! The small museum in Albany has a mummy as well as a cat mummy. Unfortunately, Egypt was plundered of their treasures by many visitors who took them to museums all over the world. The organization of the Cairo Museum is by the three kingdoms, Old, Middle and New. Egypt was a world dominating power for 1700 years! Each kingdom lasted about 500 years. From the pictures I found on the internet , it appears that the museum is much more orderly and organized than when we where there. Then , there were boxes of treasures just lying on the floor or pushed in the corners, that we had to step over. There seemed to be very little planning for display. I remember we chucked at the contrast to the elaborate displays at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Now I see no boxes in the pictures. One other memory of our day at the museum was men standing around wanting to show us special things in the displays….for baksheesh. It really did help focus because it is easy to be overwhelmed at the volume of things to see.

The King Tut exhibits are filled with gold, jewels and treasure for the boy pharaoh.

Beautiful jewelry was for men and women ….wealthy ones.

Both men and women during ancient Egypt used dark charcoal eye liner to protect against the bright, blinding sun.

The stately obelisks covered in ancient Egyptian writing, hieroglyphics, can also be seen in St. Peter’s Piazza, Paris, and in New York in Central Park.

Cleopatra’s Needle is 3400 years old and the oldest outdoor statue in the world today located in Central Park, New York City.

A very old mummy person!

Cats were considered gods who would protect their homes. There was a particular cat which was hairless that was worshiped. The cats also helped with the rat problem in the city! If a family had a pet it was a dog. Cats were now pets but were venerated.

For thousands of years the rest of the world has marveled at the mystery of this ancient culture that was superior in the world beginning in 2700 BC which is 4713 years ago. I hope that this proud culture of intelligent creative people will be on the way to another Renaissance!

These are two previous posts on Cairo and Egypt:

https://talesalongtheway.com/?s=cairo%2C+then+and+now

https://talesalongtheway.com/?s=June+30th+Cairo

Namaste. . . . . .This Is Ancient Egypt Through My Eyes!

Posted in India, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged ancient art, architecture, art, Cairo Museum, cats, Cleopatra's Needle, Egypt, King Tut, mummies, photography, travel | 14 Comments

Train Travel

Posted on August 6, 2013 by annetbell

Indian-Rail-Info-1

are a terrific experience. They run on time, unlike the ones in Italy, where I have traveled extensively as well as lived for 2 years. Now, those who have seen the pictures of Indian trains completely covered with people will think I have lost my mind. Well, I am not including any of those pictures seen in the Gandhi movie and others. The net is full of them if you must see. Let me say we traveled with no guide and went on three trips : an overnight from Delhi to Ahmedabad, an all day trip from Goa to Mumbai, and then an overnight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. I am not saying that these photographs are not true, just that we didn’t see them now. India has the 4th largest rail network in the world. It is also the 2nd largest public sector employer in the country. I think most Indians would agree that this is a very positive legacy of the English. India has the second largest population in the world and is predicted to be first in global population in 2035. That is quite a few people to travel by train. And kudos to India, the trains ran on time, or at least the three we traveled on! Bravo! We were very pleasantly surprised because there were other times where things and people seemed to be on “Indian time!”

Now the New Dehli Station is pretty much a struggle, I will admit that with people traveling, people dropping off loved ones….all just there…a snapshot of India….teachers, doctors, students, professors, day laborers, vendors…all trying to get to their train. A small Indian microcosm!

The worst part for me was the line for the x-ray screening of bags. There were lots of rushing , pushing people with heavy bags and there didn’t seem to be any train authorities to control the crowd. We did get through and headed up some steps and then down others to a platform. David had been told that on the outside of the car, there would be a list of beds and names and sure enough it was there. Travelling in a group of 13 is a struggle with some straggling because of heavy bags, and it was hard to stay together. We didn’t have bunks together but in the same car.

This is a third class sleeper , three on each side. We also had two trains that were second class sleepers.

Some people were still struggling to get on board.

It seemed like a giant sleep over party!

Some spaces were more crowded than others.

Food vendors are back and forth all during the day and night. I do have to give you a warning about the food. We ate on the first train and everything was fine, but sometime between trips, we heard on the news that the government had done spot checks and found poor sanitation on trains both for food preparation and serving. We brought things with us on the 18 hour, two train trip from Goa and were fine. The people were trying so hard to sell us things, of course, I felt bad about not buying from them , but didn’t want to risk getting sick.

Hmm. . . I think these guys got the memo. Notice the the covered heads and hands!

I love train travel to look out the window and see where I have been and where I am going. I like to be able to eat, get up, visit, and walk around. It seems so very civilized and unhurried opposed to air travel. I was a tad nervous about Indian train travel, without a guide and all on our own, but I hope we will get to do it again. Would I like to try 1st class, maybe. I have always wanted to go on the Orient Express, but I remember the very fancy French train we took to Thebes and the poor and destitute of Egypt lined up along the tracks waving at us. I guess that was the highlight of their day, but it was sad for me.

Anyway, it was good to be back home in Ahmedabad!

Namaste. . . . .T I I I

Posted in India, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Ahmedabad, Dehli, food, Goa, guides, India, Mumbai, train travel | 28 Comments

The Sultan’s Langar

Posted on August 5, 2013 by annetbell

Sultan Ahmed Shah was a pious and generous ruler who founded Ahmedabad in 1411 as the capital city of Gujarat. He introduced the idea of a langar or community kitchen as he decreed that no on in his city should ever go to sleep hungry.

The man in the pictures is Yasinbhai Sheikh serving a free dinner nightly next to the Friday Mosque. The men in his family have done this each night for 600 years. People from all walks of life and religions visit the langar in Manek Chowk to taste the khichdi (porridge) which is said to have healing powers. Today, there is a line item in the budget of Ahmedabad to fund the langar just as mandated by the Sultan.

“The sultan gave orders to open a community kitchen wherein only vegetarian food was prepared and served free to the poor. He had made arrangements to keep a separate fund for the food at the langarkhana. To date, the langarkhana has never turned down any poor who visits its door. No matter what the situation, it is always open,” said Yasinbhai.

The khichdi made here is known in the community to have healing powers. One son came daily to get some for his mother who was quite ill. He was very happy to see marked improvement in her condition after eating the porridge for a week. An older beggar women said that there are many places in the city where food is served for the poor, but thinks nothing compares to the khichdi served by Yasinbhai because it is both nutritious and non-spicy.

Here is a short You Tube video showing the poor of Ahmedabad lining up for the nightly serving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWwOWzqi-k

Much of the criticism of India in the world is the numbers of poor people who are there. There are 1.2 billion people living in this country with the population equal to the population of North America, Central America, and South America together! OK, none of those countries can claim no poverty, quite the contrary in some of those places. Yes, maybe there is a need to have family planning, but that is another topic. India is trying to feel the poor. The Jain temple near our hostel served free meals in the afternoons to all who come. This langar is in operation daily as well as others sponsored by temples, mosques and the government. Indians do care for the least among them. Remember my post on the Sihks at the Golden Temple where the poor can bathe, sleep and eat 24 hours a day? They feel up to 100,000 people purely with volunteers and donations.

Ahmedabad is still blessed and blessing others because of the generous, just spirit of her founder Sultan Ahmed Shah and his legacy that lives on after 600 years.

Namaste. . . . . T I I I

Posted in India, Uncategorized | Tagged Ahmedabad, faith, feeding the poor, Friday mosque, Hindus, history, India, Jains, langar, Muslims, Sikhs | 11 Comments

Bathing in Incredible India

Posted on August 4, 2013 by annetbell

We all arrived in India with toilet paper as there were many stories we had heard of the “lack there of”. The hostel gave us three rolls..one for each month? So one of our first shopping trips was to find the necessity of OUR lives. As we traveled on and off buses, we would take our roll or borrow from a friend. All pretense of modesty was gone. We were in the same boat together! And if anyone borrowed , we would return a new roll, cause you didn’t want to be known as a toilet paper ” thief!”

Bathing was a new experience, too. The bathroom in the hostel was tiled from floor to ceiling and the whole space became the shower. It took some experimenting as no directions were included! There were several knobs to turn, to have hot or cold water, others to have the water come from the shower attachment, or the spicket into the bucket or into the sink. Probably makes perfect sense to the Indians, but we clueless.

We tried to use the shower as we did at home coming from the spray, but it was like pins of water and shampoo was very hard to rinse. Then there was the bucket with the cup. We are pretty savvy travelers… The light came on so to speak and we filed the bucket with hot or almost hot water, if we showered between 7-10 am. The small cup was used for pouring the water over us! Some of the smart students discovered that the water was hot in the afternoon just from the solar power of the Indian sun. A funny thing started happening in April with NO hot water in the morning. Complaints were made and the desk said that something was broken…hmm…No hot water…don’t things get fixed? Finally, Niraj our American of Gujarat heritage and pretty fluent in the language, got the real story. For us to have hot water, the furnace had to be on in the morning. The proprietor thought hot showers were not needed in hot weather and also didn’t want to fire up the furnace! Complaints and suggestions continued but the only hot water available was in the afternoon. We just have to take our “bucket shower” in the later afternoon if we wanted hot water! India teaches all who visit her ….patience and adaptability!

And how could we really complain or whine about our accommodations when we were often seeing how Indians adapt to bathing in the streets? Either in a group. . . .

or alone?

Boys are the same everywhere , turning most anything into a game including bathing and washing clothes.

There is ritual bathing for blessings in the Ganga at Varanasi and

ritual cleansing for prayer at the Friday mosque.

But my favorite bathing picture is this lovely lady enjoying a good soak!

Namaste. . . . .T I I I

Posted in India, Uncategorized | Tagged bathing, bucket bathing, elephant bathing, Ganga bathing, Indian showers, plumbing, ritual bathing, street bathing | 47 Comments

Teen Darwaza

Posted on August 3, 2013 by annetbell

Teen Darwaza or the Triple Gateway is almost as old as the city of Ahmedabad. It is the only surviving and intact secular building built during the Mogul Ahmed Shah’s regime. The three arches are 24 feet time and built to be the primary entrance to the city with the square behind it containing fountains and fruit trees. Today it is the site of the huge busy daily market which I have discussed before. It is also the entrance to the Pols on the left and shops and markets on the right.

There is a tale from folklore of a guard at the gate who saw Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu,leaving the city. He asked her to wait while he got permission from the Sultan to let her pass. Knowing if she left, that Ahmedabad would fall into despair. To protect his beloved city from economical ruin, he killed himself , confident that the goddess would not break her promise to wait until he returned. Lakshmi kept her word and never left and the city has continued to proper even today. In memory of the guard’s sacrifice and Lakshmi’s blessing, an oil lamp burns continuously in a tiny niche located under the central arch of the huge gate.

The circled area in the image above is the oil lamp which has burned continuously for 600 years in memory of the brave guard and as a offering to Lakshmi for her continued blessing on Ahmedebad. This is the wife of the man who has taken care of the oil burning lamp for 55 years. He is old and sick now and can hardly walk.

Over all these years, he has raised his family from the alms given by worshipers to cover the oil.

His wife and children have told the city government that if the lamp is to continue burning, they will need 200 rupees ($4) a day to supply and fill the lamp with oil.

In 1812, the city’s leading official told the Maratha ruler Fateh Singh Gwekwad about the absence of rights for women in the city.

As a result, a marble plaque inscribed in Devanagari surrounded by sun and moon images was placed on the eastern side of the gate announcing the ruler’s command: “Let the daughter get her due share of property without any hitch. So is Lord Vishwanath’s command. If you defy, the Hindu will have to answer to Mahadev and the Mussalman will have to explain to Allah or Rasool.” There is a English translation on a subsequent plaque to the far corner of the left arch. ( Note: I saw neither the oil lamp or the plaque but discovered these interesting stories doing research. Nor could I find images. I do hope we will return and will definitely look for these details.)

This area is largely populated by Muslim people and is near the Friday Mosque and the markets. Muhammed and Sunil the rickshaw drivers lived there. It is not a ghetto in the Jewish history sense of the word, but just an area where they have lived for hundreds of years near family and friends.

You can see Moslims and Hindus together on the street. Notice the chai server!

This is my favorite picture showing the faithful Muslim people gathering at the Teen Darwaza brightly decorated with colored lights for the celebration of the prophet Mohammad’s birthday!

Namaste. . . . . . . . T I I I

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alhemedabad, architures, celebrations, entrance gate, faith, Hindus, history, India, markets, Muslims. religion, Teen Darwaza, The Pols | 12 Comments

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