November 8, 16

Sitting on the verandah of my guest house in Bodhgaya. Life’s been a bit of a whirlwind since arriving.  Starting to settle in a bit more and get a sense of how to be with things in India. I’ve been spending time in the Mahabodhi temple - sit ting in on the Monalm -  Great Prayer festival, which started several days ago  and will continue until the 10^th. (The main purpose of the Great Prayer Festival is to pray for the long life of all the holy Gurus of all traditions, for the survival and spreading of the Dharma in the minds of all sentient beings, and for world peace. The communal prayers, offered with strong faith and devotion, help to overcome obstacles to peace and generate favorable conditions for everyone to live in harmony). 

I walk around the inner temple area listening to the chanting of the prayers, people watching and enjoying the sights and energy of this very sacred place for Buddhists or find a place to sit out of the sun and take it all in – the imposing spectacular temple, decorative and brightly coloured offerings, squirrels running along stone walls or cavorting high up in the trees, flocks of green parrots and various other birds, gardeners - cutting, raking, sweeping, workers constructing temporary shelters out of long bamboo poles tied together with strips of cloth, dogs – doing a lot of lying around - and lots of pilgrims – monks and nuns from all the various traditions, Indian  family groups, people in large tour groups (the Sri Lankans dressed all in white, jostling to hang Buddhist flags on the walls around the main temple) snaking around the complex in long unruly lines, just lots of people.  Despite the crowds there is a general atmosphere of tolerance and acceptance and as it is quite a spacious place there is not often a crush of people, except perhaps around the inner enclave near the Bodhi Tree when several tour groups arrive at the one time.

On my first morning on entering the temple area I was accosted by an elderly Tibetan monk. He invited me to sit and chat and was full of compliments and flattery – quite a flirt.  Getting up to go I shook his hand and had to physically extricate myself as he held on for a bit too long!  Walking as across to the site of the Monlam I met up with a number of people I know from past trips – a couple of close friends and the familiar faces of those less well known.

On my second morning was the last day of celebrations for the Chhat Festival (an ancient Hindu Vedic festival historically native to eastern Uttar Pradesh, North Bihar of India and Mithila State of Nepal.^[3][4][5][6] The Chhath Puja is dedicated to the Sun and his wife Usha in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes. This festival is observed by Nepalese people and Indian people, along with their diaspora.^[7]

The Sun, considered as the god of energy and of the life-force, is worshiped during the Chhath festival to promote well-being, prosperity and progress. In Hinduism, Sun worship is believed to help cure a variety of diseases, including leprosy, and helps ensure the longevity and prosperity of family members, friends, and elders.

The rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days.^[8] They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water (Barta), standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prashad (prayer offerings) and arghya to the setting and rising sun.)

I walked to the river about 5.30 in the morning through  streets decorated with flashing lights and coloured banners, surrounded by local family groups carrying all manner of offerings to the river. At the river there were crowds of people  - some in the river performing puja, some standing on the banks waiting and watching, vendors selling balloons and toys, loud speakers blaring Bollywood-style music and fireworks exploding in all directions.  I stayed for some time watching out for explosions, taking in the sights and taking some photos On my way back there a large stall had been set up handing out free chai. Lots of local men and boys were enjoying a cup, no women in sight, so I was initially a little hesitant but decided to brave the male throng and got my chai – then stood on a raised platform watching the activities at the river from a distance and the sun rise through a hazy sky

Bodhgaya is a noisy, dusty, crowded, exhilarating, exhausting  - etc - place a busy village with lots of visitors. I can escape to the relative peace of my room, which is in a quiet street (mostly) with views from the verandah across the local houses and guest houses to some open fields and palm trees. Or go to the Happy Café, run by a Canadian woman and her Indian husband, to have a chocolate banana pie and a chai, which I did for dinner last night – they do also have great coffee. Or  go to Hari Oms around the corner from my guest house and have a spinach cheese omelette.