While I waited for my Protected Area Permit the popularity of Hironmoy’s rental forced me to seek another place to stay. This turned out nice in a different way as my second airbnb hosts took me in like family. They invited me to go to the famous Kamakhya temple atop a hill overlooking Guwahati. Myself, the father, mother and their daughter Aditi piled into an Uber car. We were quickly out of town and squeezing through some pretty narrow gulleys. I experienced the ride to be half-way toward rally racing.
The car eventually came out of the narrow lanes and started climbing the mountain upon which sat the temple. As we ascended I noticed along the road the option of stairs and walk-paths for the Hindu pilgrims on foot. We stopped about halfway up the mountain to check the vista from a roadside shrine and snap a few photos. We then proceeded on and were soon parking. Then we were walking through what seemed to be a small town and bazaar dedicated to the Kamakhya temple and the visitors associated with it.
There were a lot of people waiting to get in. Led by the host’s very generous and firm-willed father, who paid a Brahman for all four of us to proceed directly to the temple without waiting, we quickly entered the temple grounds. It was only much later that it dawned on me that this was the first of only two times I was granted entry into a Hindu temple (something not usually available to westerners even if they are Hindu). At the time I didn't realize I was being granted this special opportunity.
Once we were inside the temple I observed a complex series of rituals and actions taking place. I could not even begin to accurately recount all that was done. First, as always, there was removal of shoes, then the buying of candles, incense, flowers, prassad (food offerings), an offering of the food and lighting the candles and incense, the pasting of tikkas (the red dot) on our foreheads, holy water dripped on us (some even drank it) chanting of prayers and holy words, offering of flowers, circular movement around the temple inwards and so much more. The place was buzzing with energy and it was overwhelming. As I mentioned earlier, for better or for worse, I am sensitive pick up on all that is around me. Something I was being exposed to, it was just too much. I was in a bit of a pinch as I was being ushered through all this as a privileged guest and I did not want to offend anyone by refusing to participate. Additionally, being invited to come along with this family gave me a break from being treated as a sole traveling foreigner and a walking business opportunity. I was really appreciating this. For that afternoon, I was partially able to shed my foreign-ness and granted semi-Indian status. Aditi's family showed me great honor and hospitality.
As a funny side note, at the center of the temple grounds a young Sadhu reached out to me with a smile and “Howdy!” Not what I was expecting. He was echoing the western style greetings used during the get together that India’s prime minister and then president Trump had just had in Houston, Texas. I was feeling very serious on this sacred visit and that sadhu really set me straight. Thanks man! After an hour or so cruising through the temple grounds we made our way back down the mountain. My hosts and I lingered on some of the mountain vistas before descending back into the city. The views from the mountain with the Brahmaputra snaking below the city and jungle were striking. We took some time to rest and appreciate these. Even my host’s charging bull of a father sat down to rest. This was a rare sight indeed!
We topped off the day with a visit to a temple (its name escapes me) at the foot of the mountain a stone’s throw from the Brahmaputra river. This place was peaceful and had almost no visitors. It was a welcome change. Then the family treated me to an authentic Assamese lunch. Being newly recovered from the bug I had caught in Bodh Gaya, I regret to inform you that I was tentative about consuming what was served me. The food was cold and included perviously cooked river fish. I could not risk putting myself back in the sickbay and most certainly offended my hosts by eating very little of what was offered. I was so exhausted from the pilgrimage to the mountain, I was short on energy to tactfully handle the situation. Although I regret any offense I may have caused, I don’t regret taking proactive steps to stay healthy on the road. When moving within the circles of the local, the traveler is often presented with the choice of doing what is least likely to cause offense and doing what is safe and prudent. The two usually conflict and it is never an easy call. But when you have moved on and traveled somewhere else, your former hosts are miles away and there is only you to look after yourself. So in my judgement taking the risk of mildly offending sometimes had to be the price.
For me the road holds many delights as well as rough edges to it. The sheer sensory overload that I experienced on the visit of the temple eventually receded that afternoon. It transformed to a dull headache and my feeling quite dazed and drained. I suspect that perhaps the energies within the temple were too much for me and that, perhaps, my interloping self was not welcome by certain forces there. I don't claim to understand- such is the experience of a sensitive soul engaged in adventures like this. Finely-strung instruments like us absorb the good, the bad, the holy… and everything in between, much more acutely than conventional folk! This makes for more intense experiences sometimes difficult to handle. In these instances a time-out is a necessity for us. I took that rest that night and recovered within a day or two.
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