July 31
This morning at the crack of dawn we headed back to the colorful and lively streets of the Kali ghat area, this time to see the number one tourist attraction of Kolkata, Kali Temple (another pleaded for and granted experience:).
The streets were starkly different this time. They were littered with garbage. Crows were scavenging the cadavers of rats, piles of feces were everywhere. Crippled people were begging. Some still slept uncovered or under thin pieces of plastic. An eleven year old girl was crying out to her mother in abject misery and the mother kept scolding her and slapping her about the head. She was ill. I commented to Catherine that life in the Kali ghat and other areas of India could quickly lose relevance. Aha, we finally understand the belief in reincarnation from an emotional rather than intellectual perspective.
We entered the Temple of the goddess Kali with the in-laws of our Delhi director. The in-laws live in Kolkata and sure do know the ropes. We were very fortunate to have them with us. The temple can apparently be a nightmare experience of people separated from groups, many rupees requested by priests, shoes stolen, pockets picked. We were in the best of hands.
The temples surely are the oases from India's street life. Shoes safely stored we were all given a handful of red flowers for offering. We went to a shrine for Kali and offered our blessings amidst the sandalwood and jasmine, brass bells clanging. It is a special month for Shiva so we moved to another shrine to her. Here we paid ten rupees and each got a small terra cotta pot. We placed the marigold from the pot at the top of the shrine. Then we poured the holy water and leaves from the pot over the top of that. A group of young men in orange came through chanting to Shiva in an exhilarated way and ending with right arm air pumping and "yay, yay, yay".
After breakfast, of which I might add I partook with gusto and enjoyed some western fare; pistachio French toast, bacon and egg...ah, good to be back in the game, we went to a very cool area of the city. It is called Kumartuli, and since the Mughals declined it has been the center for generation after generation of family clay-idol makers of West Bengal. Criss-crossed by a maze of narrow alleys, men are taking clay from the holy Ganges (uncleaned) and mixing it with straw. Our guide told us that is also holy. It is molded into the popular Hindu deities in life-sized figures that will be used in various Hindu celebrations throughout the year. Then, they will be sent back into the Ganges (the Kolkata river is a branch) completing a sacred cycle. Every year museum representatives and other collectors of artifacts come to see the one best creation of the year. The best works are often purchased and shipped throughout the world for museum and private collections. www.kumartuli.com
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