November 14

A quieter day today – sort of, and will get to that - as the Sidhhartha festival finished with lunch yesterday.

How can I adequately describe that amazing festival, held under the Bodhi Tree next to the Mahaboddhi temple.

The festival began on the morning of the 11^th. I walked from my guest house with Suzie and Diane to the temple. The previous day we had picked up our festival kits – a cheesecloth shoulder bag containing a program booklet, a book of chants and a festival ID card. The temple, while usually decorated with flower offerings, was this day absolutely adorned with flowers, which were replaced each day with a fresh lot. On the ground by the temple entrance there were patterns made from rose petals, marigolds and various other flowers, all through the grass around the temple were scattered individual marigold flower heads, along the sides of the designated festival area were paths of  rose petals and marigolds, and there were wide bowls of flowers placed in various locations. The shrine at the front of the festival area, located under the Bodhi Tree, contained offerings of water lilies, and this was backed by a large golden Buddha statue in a glass case strewn with a solid mass of flower garlands. The festival goers were seated in five sections. The ground of each section was covered by a heavy light brown cloth covered with cream rag rugs then topped by cushions in a soft beige/brown. Two sections were under the shade of the Bodhi tree; the other 3 sections were shaded by canopies of bamboo and draped white cotton, decorated with gold tassels. A large white cloth-covered platform/stage was set up to the side of the front sections.  These words can’t really give a clear picture of how beautiful it all looked but hopefully will give a bit of an idea.

On the first morning a very lovely and moving ceremony was conducted by traditionally dressed members of the Indian sangha who made certain symbolic offerings to the Buddha.  Each of the three mornings began with a Dharma talk and a meditation session given by one of two monks, other talks on various Buddhist subjects – the history and stories of the Bodhi Tree, the life of the Buddha, the history of Bodhgaya – were given by Indian academics, devotional Buddhist chants were sung in Indian style accompanied by sitar, flute and harmonium. In the early evening there was traditional Indian music and dance, the lighted spire of the temple with the moon rising behind it in the background.

Mid morning and mid afternoon the festival goers were invited to make their way to a grassy area on the top level of the temple complex, where chai and various Indian snacks – either sweet or savoury were offered. Scattered under a large spreading tree were low timber stools topped with woven rope seats. People sat on these or on the grass enjoying the refreshments, listening to talks, discussions and singing.

As the group was quite large, for the night program people were allocated one of the two nights. This was held at another venue a short walk from the temple.

I attended on the first night and walked with friends to the venue. We were welcomed at the gate by volunteers who tied a small bracelet of flowers to our wrists. Inside the grounds a traditional music performance was underway. We made our way into a building where rugs, colourful bolsters and cushions had been set up for people to lounge on while watching Rinpoche’s latest movie ‘Hema Hema’. (although as it got more crowded and not too much lounging could be done). The movie was set in the Bhutanese forests  - and was a strange story of people living in a limbo like place wearing wild looking masks – all very symbolic and quite weird. I was reminded of things I had seen or heard of in remote Aboriginal communities.

After the movie there was a lavish buffet dinner provided with many different curries, some being special local dishes of Bihar. I sat outside in the balmy night with Suzie and Diane to enjoy this meal then moved on to a performance of qawwali, or sufi devotional, music. This was held in the central courtyard of another building within the complex, open to the night sky; this also had been set up with cushions and bolsters. People could also enjoy this concert by looking down from a roof top terrace. So much to try to remember and relate of these past few days.

A couple of other lovely moments occurring on the last morning included a performance by a German opera singer – such an exquisite voice; and a ritual to engage the senses in which all participants were given a small pottery dish containing the following objects - a damp cloth infused with rose water, some sandalwood paste, a small round piece of mirror, a little brass bell and some rose and gold leaf paan  - and were invited to partake of each one in turn.

This was the first time such an event has occurred at the Mahabodhi temple, perhaps even the first time for something quite like this anywhere in the world.

How fortunate I feel to have been there  - despite the dust, dirt, heat, crowds, the money chaos and a heavy cold (and only just recovering from a horrible flu back in Oz).

Yes the money thing has been a bit of a hassle. A few days into my trip – after having withdrawn 30,000 rps mostly in 1000 and 500 notes the Indian government unexpectedly (at least for most people it seems) announced these two denominations were not longer valid currency. As I had not brought any $A, expecting to be easily able to use the many ATM’s or my cc, I was mostly stuck with unusable money - as were many, many other tourists. Locals with bank accounts were in a slightly better position but still not easy for many of them either. It was announced that tourists could change a maximum of 4000rps – once only. And extract from an ATM 2000 rps per day  (approx $40). I managed to get my 4000 rps worth of 500 rp notes changed into 100rp notes a few days ago, which required a photocopy of passport, visa and some special bank form, while being slightly crushed in the bank queue (more like a mob). And today waited 2 hours to get my day’s allocation of 2000rps, again in 100rp notes – spending about 40 minutes in one queue and nearly getting to the front when the machine died. So after standing around waiting for another 15 minutes for someone inside the bank to come and fix the problem Diane and I gave up and headed to couple of other banks finding an ATM at the second one that was working, and had some money in it (which has also been an issue). Another wait in line there and finally my 2000rps in 100rp notes. Having another month in India will be interesting to see if I can get my hands on sufficient cash  - but am trusting it will work out!

I spent most of my time on the first few days in Bodhgaya before the festival at the Monlam, also attending two talks/teachings given by Dzongsar Kheyntse Rinpoche. These talks were held a short distance out of town over the river, on the rooftop of a school looking out over local vegetable plots and farmland. So peaceful in contrast to the crazy chaos of Bodhgaya. To get there I shared a tuk- tuk with 3 other friends. On the first day as no one really knew the way, including the driver who didn’t really speak any English, we ended up quite a way out into the country travelling along small rough dirt roads. We had given ourselves plenty of time to get there so after a bit of asking around we finally found the right place. From the tuk tuk drop off we walked along a short dirt track through a small grove of bamboo to the school building to be met by some of the school children, who showered us with marigold petals as we walked up the steps to the roof. While we waited for Rinpoche to arrive two musicians – a flautist and singer  - played. Then the talk by Rinpoche on a sutra recently translated into English for the first time (of which we were given a copy), some more music and then back home an hour and a half later in the same tuk tuk, the driver having waited for us along with many other vehicles waiting for other attendees. Created a bit of a traffic jam. The next day was a repeat of the same  – although without getting lost!

So now a day of relative rest, and tomorrow night off on the train to Delhi, (one more trip to the ATM – oh well)

Ps - not many photos as there is tight security around the temple so no mobile phones and fee for taking in camera eats up one of my precious 100rp notes! But it's sort of nice to not think about taking photos and just enjoy taking it all in.