Off the beaten tram tracks

"Don't sit on the window seat. Your face will become black..!".

My Periyappa (Paternal uncle) used to shout. He should know better. He was a Ticket Collector...

It always fell on our deaf ears that were muted by the loud whistles of the steam engine. Clinging on to the window and treading the foothills of western ghats through and across the rivers, coconut grooves and water falls is a sight to behold before the Shencottah-Quilon express begins its slow but steady ascent through the impregnable mountain ranges; Its a journey of highly rewarding experiences.. Via ducts, dark long tunnels, coal dust swollen eyes and blackened face and arms.. !

Apart from the Newton's laws of physics, Steam engines - the wondrous locomotive of my childhood, operate based on two rules..

1.) They are capable of exciting kids;
2.) If you are not one, it will make you one

You would agree with me, Its this excitement that keeps the steam engine close to one's heart. However on an Easter weekend, I was left wondering why the Dutch tourism board didn't apply these rules to me while pegging the ticket fares!

Behind the hype of Keukenhofs and the Zaanse Schans', lot of graceful gems of Holland are usually lost. The historic triangle of Zuiderzee towns: Hoorn-Medemblik-Enkhuizen is surely one of them; This trip is certainly not in the check list of maddening tourists nor the locals who always look for something 'Gezellig'. At least the modest crowd turnout on a holiday weekend coupled with an empty returning tram suggested as much - much to our delight, if I may add!

In hindsight, traveling this route by the unique combination of Road, Steam Engine Tram, Boat and Train not only makes you feel like Phileas Fogg, it also rejuvenates you in such a way that you might actually consider blogging about it at the end of the day :-P !!

The best part about this trip is the way its designed. Five stars to the planners of this program.

Consider this..

- The tram station at the Hoorn is slap bang at the footsteps of a huge parking lot that charges you 2 Euros to park your car for the whole day;
- Vintage tram coaches leaving Hoorn to Medemblik pulled by an even enigmatic steam engine from the 1920s in all its full glory, chugging along a scenic Dutch country side at a speed of 15-20 Km/hr, providing every bit of romance it promises.
- After a leisurely 1 and half hours, The tram stops at Medemblik under the nose of a Jetty where a ferry is already waiting for you;
- With no reason to hurry, you are given a sizable chunk of an hour to extend the picnic on the banks of IJsselmeer to have that home packed Lunch or to walk around and explore the compact village of Medemblik.
- The next 75 minutes sees you in an Old fashioned steamer with its Saloon deck sails ferrying you to Enkhuizen, on the quite waters of the largest fresh water lake in the Western Europe.
- You may then alight at the Zuider Zee museum if you are a "touch-and-go" kind of a person or take a stroll around the pretty little harbor of Enkhuizen. Eitherways the ferry drops you at the door steps of your next point of interest;
- A fast double-decker Intercity train leaves Enkhuizen quite frequently, bringing you back to the 21st century as you arrive at your car park in Hoorn 20 minutes later.

The interoperability of this scheme seem to put the software I develop to shade !

Clearly the most alluring part of the trip was the Tram ride of 20 Kms from Hoorn to Medemblik; As the tram thunders away from the station every passer-by is waving at you. Waving back at them you feel like a certain Atal Behari Vaajpayee accepting the ceremonious welcome on a state visit, although it takes a while to strike to you that its the heritage of the tram that they are waving at and not at its measly passengers. The tram in the meanwhile is busy slithering through vast scenic stretches of canals and farm houses among which I was told a few were tulip fields as well. But we were probably a bit early for them.

Before the trip I had promised my son that we are going to go in the Thomas the Train Engine and I joked to him that I will introduce him to the Fat Controller. While my son was busy concluding that the engine pulling us is more a Skarloey than a Thomas (Becase Thomas is Blue in Color while Skarloey is red it seems. Our's was Red!!), the ticket collector indeed turned out to be a befitting personality whose prosperity was visibly exuberant romanticizing the image my son had in his mind; So when I requested him to pose for a photograph with my son, Mr. Fat Controller was more than happy to oblige. He even tossed around his hat to my son and the look on his eyes were suggesting that his fantasies were coming alive. Overall the support staff in the tram were extremely helpful (and were shrewd marketers as well selling cola to toy train on wheels to ensure that your wallet is empty to the last note!); They were giving you friendly safety tips as well as entertaining packets of information when poked, such as the engine consumes 500 KG of coal for the 20 KM trip and its capable of pushing as well as pulling the carriages at same speed etc.,

The beauty of this overall package is that, it makes such a lazy day by design since all you are doing is sitting on antique locomotives and soaking in the experience for 3 long hours or more. You can't do anything but relax even if you want to. A family day outing cannot be more unplugged.

If you do plan to take this package, here are a few tips that you might want to consider:
- Weather is the most crucial factor of this trip; Do your research on the forecast and please go only if it promises to be a nice sunny day.. I know this sounds like a no-go since sun light and Northern Lights share the same probability of appearing in Holland (!!); But believe me, this would still be the most crucial factor; After all there is no fun, standing on the upper deck of a steamer under the umbrella for the heck of it, with the chilly winds lashing you from all corners
- There is no advance booking for the tram unless you are a group of critical mass; While my guess is that the tram takes around 150 - 200 passengers, you might still want to arrive at least half an hour earlier to the scheduled departure of the tram to save the probable disappointment of tickets being sold out.
- When the Tram stops at Wognum (The first stop), it stops for a while. So get down and walk all the way to the engine; You won't regret it; If you have kids, they will be allowed on the engine cabin upon request and they love it.
- You may be left with no more than a couple of hours at the Zuider Zee Museum if you arrive at Enkhuizen by boat from Medemblik. So see if its something for you and if not do walk around Enkhuizen's compact harbor/ centrum; We opted for the later. Providentially we saw a skinny bridge opening for boat traffic and the mechanics of it was quite interesting.
- If you are family with 2 kids (not toddlers) then consider taking the family ticket as its relatively cheaper. The package costs around 23,50 per person including the intercity train and is not exactly cheap;

This trip is a genuine throw back to yesteryears. And that's probably THE charm of it.. and of course the program still seam to be a secret well kept. So as I said, The steam trams of Hoorn indeed run off the beaten track..

Quite literally...

With Love
Vicky

Trivia:
=====
- Shencottah - Kollam route which I referred initially runs through my home town in India and it was known as the Queen of the Meter gauges. Look for the relevant subsection on this page to learn more about it.

- For more a visual experience of Shencottah - Kollam route, You may see this you tube clip; Behind the obscure video, you can still get a glimpse of the train route back home that I mentioned. The via Ducts, The tunnels, the mountains all of them are nicely captured in this song. About this video itself - Why Maniratnam, One of India's celebrated directors, came all the way to this remote southern corner of Indian subcontinent to shoot an inconspicuous train sequence is not easily explained, Unless you are from this region; Its because, interestingly the time line of that movie sequence required an old fashioned steam engine. And my home town was still one of the last bastions of Indian Railways where those friendly monsters were part of every day life;

Ski is the Limit !

The only other occasion when I have given serious attention to Skiing is while watching James Bond movies. So when I had the opportunity to do some real Alpine Skiing in Austria along with my fellow colleagues, it was more an experiment to see if its something for me; It was just a 2 day trip.. If it’s a flop, the ordeal would have lasted only a couple of days and neither my stamina nor my wallet would be over drained … More importantly I will have someone to bring me back home if need be!!

And to realize that Skiing is at least not as easy as sipping a Shaken Vodka Martini, one has to be in ones own shoes. Ski shoes I mean. This dawned on me the day when I first tried them on during the trial day in our office; With a couple of kilo grams added to each of my legs and a thick boot arresting my calf muscles, I along with everyone else, was walking like some one who is just discharged from a family planning ward!! “Is this how uncomfortable it’s going to be wearing this thing..?” I asked.. “Yup.. For the whole day”.. a matter-of-factly colleague replied. That evening I was contemplating, “Well.. I still have the choice …!!”

The place was a small ski village in the Innerkrems region of the Kranten province in Austria called Schonfeld, a location which our bus driver described as “middle of no where”. The First session on the first day of Ski lessons was bewilderment. The Ski instructor, one Mr. Roland, an easily 60 plus native but as agile as a rabbit, was explaining how to put the skis on to your shoes. He was locking the shoes with the skis by simply applying a little pressure on the feet while to me it felt as complex as if I am an Astronaut preparing for my first space walk. Despite jumping harder than Javed Miandad imitating Kiran More, I was always caught off balance landing my feet down only to get my boot’s sol thicker by a few centimeters of snow - which in turn made the shoe fitting process much more complex than what it is. By the time I got over it, I was up and running.. quite literally .... because the moment you are on your skis you are on a zero friction surface and even slightest of the slopes is good enough to put you on an involuntary take off that ends up with a grand fall finale unless you know how to stop yourself, which being on my first day I didn’t; If I manage to get up(which is again a very cumbersome and irritating process), within seconds I was moving again mildly along the direction of gravity and a seemingly unsuspecting situation turns to a disaster in no time. I simply could not stand on my own. I ask Roland, “Is there something wrong with the Skis..?” He replied “No... This is one of the best brands...” with a funny look on his face that meant “its not the skis... its you...”

It wouldn't have taken as long for Newton to discover the force of gravity had he skied before he bit the apple. Whatever else I managed further that day in the name of skiing was just fluke. No techniques, No control... At the disposal of Mother Gravity.. However I had found one fall back option to stop in case of emergencies; and what’s that..? I just told you.. Fall Back… !!

Being starters we were practicing on a ski area that was meant for Kids. And there were so many of them skiing so wonderfully well that I was not sure if it was humiliating or inspirational. But by now, I've learnt what I need to learn (!!). My balance while on the move was Ok. I am leaning forward and bending my knees. But I didn't know how to brake, how to steer and how to walk with my skis (Trust me, this is a very essential part for beginners.. Don't forget.. Mother Gravity is always watching you..). Exhausted - both mentally and physically, Score line at the end of day one read: Down.. almost Out...

Back at the hotel, I asked another colleague, for some personal tips. He and his wife were kind enough to explain me the basics. For braking, just make a 'V' with the Skis with the pivot of the V pointing in front of you while simultaneously bring your knees close to each other. (This way the inner skis will make friction against the snow and eventually reduce your speed… Aah…); For steering, Move to your right (as in move your shoulder and right knee a bit forward) and you will automatically turn left.. Do the opposite to turn right. Difficult to visualize..? Well.. Think of birds or Aeroplane.. Now, finally to anchor yourself or for walking with the skis, First get yourself perpendicular to the slope (with the help of stocks); Now peg the ski that’s towards the slope outward, take a small step with the other leg and peg it parallel to the first ski. Small steps.. all the time.. And you have taken a giant leap in skiing..!

Day 2 was crucial. Having learnt the theory I was anxious how am I going to fare in the practicals. Thankfully it was not as futile as my engineering Electronics Devices and Circuits lab (where Milman & Halkias along with the toppers of my class seemed to be the only rare breed to prove what the text book said) but as tangible as the high school chemistry lab (Blue..? Crystalline...? Ok.. Its Copper Nitrate..); Whatever I was told, seem to be working as I realized this is a race between You and Fear.. the winner takes control.. It’s just a mind game…

As I continued, I could slowly overcome the fear.... Then, I started to enjoy it…. And then I became obsessed.... I didn't even go for the first break session and kept practicing; After 3 to 4 routines, I had the confidence to try out the first blue piste. Along with Roland, I skied down a basic slalom of 8 flags; And once I had the hang of it, I repeatedly took the lift and kept skiing ignoring my calf muscles which was throbbing already. After one such slalom, a stranger came to me and asked in his broken German English "Where you from..?" and I replied "India..". "You have mountains in India?...". "Yes.. the biggest of all !!..." "You ski in India? .... ". "No.. This is my first time.....". "Oh! Can I take picture with you..?". Bemused I ask him "Why..?"; He then said "I haven't seen anyone from India who could ski that well..." I was not sure if he sounded like someone congratulating a batsman scoring a century on his debut or someone who found me as amusing as a Pomeranian riding a one wheeled cycle on Gemini Circus. Either ways I had to take heart from the fact I was a subject worth a photograph.

Much of the 2nd day's afternoon was spent taking joy rides on lifts to much higher altitudes and having nice Italian Ravioli for a late lunch at a 6500 feet restaurant that offered some breath-taking panorama of Alpine scenery. Back at my room, that night I saw the clearest sky ever and noticed some famous constellations with amazing clarity thanks to some real wilderness absent from any human light. It was the culmination of a productive trip. From the most miserable starter on day one, I ended the day 2 spotting Orion's dog for the first time together with some confidence to handle a blue piste. I am still just a 2 day old novice slogging to ski and my technique no where near perfection... but these 2 days did re-ignite some long forgotten learning skills;

I am not fit enough to be at your majesty's secret service yet. But I am sure even James Bond started like me... !!

Goa - The Earth on Earth

Geography says, 71% of this earth is Water. In the remaining 29%, one-third is taken up by the Deserts. Endless Mountain ranges, vast Polar Regions, other big fresh water lakes and rivers, and miscellaneous uninhabitable terrains vie for the remaining two-thirds. Sounds like there is hardly any piece of land left to live in the earth. Isn't? But then here we are, 6 billion of us cramping ourselves in whatever little place available and thinking that we are living in earth. A Frog in a well is not nearly as naive as one. So it was a reality check for me when I found myself amidst some real piece of planet earth - full of Flora, Water, Sandy beaches and even a bit of Mountain. It’s not hard to figure out why Goa has come to symbolize the term "Holiday" for every average Indian and the world alike.I am not going to croon here about the Goa which the guide books speak about. Babbling all page about the been there - done thats is redundant. You want to know about the Partying in Baga or the flea market of Anjuna or the tranquility of Paulolem, You would be better off googling out. My Goan experience, like my predecessors has its own unique mystic charm. Here I am with what ingredients go into its making, just like the recipe of a goan fish curry. Never mind I am a vegetarian!!

1. Commuting - Unplugged: How about donning a different cap (or a helmet rather), that of a chauffeur and be the master as well? Confused..? Well, If you aren't hiring a scooter and loosing yourself in the by lanes of goan country side, you sure are missing the real charm of being here. Its cheap, gives you some unbelievable freedom to do what you want when you want and fits well with the geographical fact that Goa is compact enough to do this. By the way, don't worry about directions. There are a million signboards everywhere in the form of ever friendly locals.
2. The mythical Legends: This place is woven so closely with Indian Cinema, that the filmy legends about Goa surely fires up your imagination once you are here.. "You know... Its the Dona Paula where 'Ek Duje ke liye' was shot..."! "Anjuna is the beach where Jackie Shroff spots Urmila in 'Rangeela'.."! " 'Vagator' is the place to ponder about life just like Akash, Samir and Sidd in 'Dil Chahta Hai'.. "! And the Tamils would fondly recall the Goan diversion amidst the movie "Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal". The ever continuing romance of Indian Cinema with Goa can be found all over ...
3. The Portuguese Past: The first typical site to greet me on the drive from Airport to the city was a Hutch banner - a fisher man claiming "Dempo my favorite" while an old lady vouching for "Vasco". Goa is definitely a prominent feather in the cap of Indian diversity. You have to pay a visit to realize its stark contrast, thanks to the Portuguese who irreversibly changed its demographics - be it in the lifestyle, cuisine, architecture or the football. Some of the finest shrines of Christianity in India can be found here in a Goa. A visit to the Churches and the Cathedrals does transport you back in time while their grandeur easily matches up to that of any medieval town of continental Europe.
4. The Goans: "Calangute?" I ask; with lazy eyes he points to his right. "Aguda?" I ask; again a silent gesture by another to his left; The "one line chemistry" between the wandering tourist and the native here is so effective that it leaves high-tech-pre-planned-itinerary-from-google-maps-(elsewhere-in-the-world), obsolete. In Panaji, I was lost and was asking the route to "18th June Road" to a passer-by (what a name for a street..!!, This way you can at least name 365 streets in a town unambiguously :-P ). He wasn't sure. Another gentleman overheard us and suspended what he was doing, volunteered in and gave us the directions, except that he was talking on a roadside PCO!! I approach another, "Which way to the Beach?" .. "Rocky or Sandy..?" comes the reply.. Haven't seen such improvisations in free advice elsewhere... No doubt that the relationship here between the locals and the visitors, like any other tourist place, is Symbiotic. But it’s that ever accommodating goan spirit in the people that makes your visit lively. While on my shopping I ask the shopkeeper, what is truly goan that I can find here.. "Me.. Of course.." he smiled. He did add that, now a days goans are on the decline as they loose people both ways. More goans leaving outside and more establishments in Goa being owned by others. Sad, probably.
5. The Landscape: Goa is one of the best spots all over the world for an ideal beach holiday and rightly so. It’s not only the quantity but also the quality. Shun the popular beaches.. Find a quiet one (and there is no dearth of them in Goa), sit around, do nothing but gaze into the sea, collect some nature’s souvenir in the form of shells and pebbles from the beach, chase a crab and you will surely feel rejuvenated. There are some beautiful relics of many Forts which is a must visit as well. I would recommend viewing the Sunset from Vagator fort for a sublime experience. The country side leaves a metro dweller dwarfed. A pleasant climate (not so sultry compared with other coastal regions down south), Abundant greenery dotted by elegant churches around every corner, no mad traffic on winding and narrow roads along the Natural creeks and of course a lot of sea and beaches... Goa is not a Heaven on Earth. It’s after all, Earth on Earth !

Ajanta: Part I - My Gateway To Nirvana !

How would you feel if you go on tiger hunting and end up stumbling upon a treasure trove…
Ask John Smith, the British army officer from the Madras regiment, who first noticed a two millenia old unusual archway, that of Chaitya at Cave 10 of Ajanta, while on his tiger trail during April 1819. (Don't worry... Your Mathematics is Ok.. these caves were started 200 years before Christ..)

If the discovery of Ajanta sounded like an Indiana Jones adventure, the hazy history shrouding its establishment and existence along with the perpetual jinx on its conservation efforts, rivals an Alfred Hitchcock Mystery. The discovery of these caves did more harm than good for the paintings. Because curious tourists arriving in droves to take a peek at still fresh paintings a century ago came with large Oil lamps, emanating black soot, which started the darkening of the paintings. Efforts by one Major Robert Gill was commendable as he camped in these caves for 20 years (1844 – 63) to take hand made copies and have it sent to England. They were spoiled by a fire at the museum where they were housed. A second attempt by Mr.John Griffiths, then principal of Bombay school of Arts, spending 13 years to replicate the paintings produced no different results. The copies were destroyed in a fire, for the second time. A Japanese team from Kyoto University arrived at 1918 to try their luck. Their copies, made by pressing wet rice papers against the originals, lasted less than 2 years as they were destroyed in an Earth Quake !! Efforts by Nizam of Hyderabad, done in good intentions to restore the paintings back fired, as they injected casein to fix the peeling paintings back to their wall, except that it did the opposite. Wisdom of Griffith’s team from Bombay to shine the paintings by applying shellac, proved fatal in the long run as most of the paintings were darkened due to this. And ASI is now doing its best to restore them. Poooh...

The disadvantage I had when I visited Ajanta, (unlike my Ellora visit, where the Hindu sculptures needed no introduction to understand) is that I lacked any insight into what Buddhism is. Because each and every thing that you see in Ajanta is esoteric with the religion that I found them to be Greek and Latin (Or should I say Pali and Sanskrit :-) ). The only insight I had prior to my visit was, the basic life history of Buddha which I’ve read in my school days. For instance, why is Buddha Omni presently seated in the “Dharma Chakra Pravartana Mudra” (or the teaching position) is something you will ask yourself when you visit this place. The presence of this particular posture of Buddha is so pre-dominant that without any insight into the religion, I was a bit mischievous to think that, the task master must have given impositions to the most naughty Bikshu to carve this a thousand times all over!! Excuse me, but the real answer lies in understanding basics of Buddhism.. I am no qualified to explain you these. Its just my basic crude understanding in hindsight (by reading Wikis!) combined with my Guide for the day's explanation, that follows. My apologies if I distort the truth or made it appear too casual.

First enlightenment to hit me hard was, you and me and everyone can be a Buddha, if and when we ‘realize’ the ultimate happiness in life (aka ‘nirvana’). This ultimate enlightment cannot be taught or conveyed or explained. It has to be experienced self. It was ‘Gautama Siddhartha’ or “The” Buddha as we’ve known him, who attained the nirvana first. He wanted to share the secret of how he achieved it and hence he also defined the path which everyone could follow to achieve it. (Remember he didn’t teach about the ultimate prize, he only taught about the path to get there. i.e., No turn-key to success or shortcuts.. you have to endure the same mystic path by mastering the whole syllabus first). A more defining example of 'Bottom-up' approach could not be found elsewhere other than in the fundamentals of Buddhism. Its an approach where you start with what you have and go up the chain to find out the solution (as opposed to the 'Top-Down' approach where you know what you need to achieve and break it down further).

Siddhartha didn't have any mission in life except that he was Suffering and he wanted to get rid of it. But he didn’t know how. So he started with what he had. The only initial realization he had was ‘Life is full of sufferings’ (Can any one of you reading this, put your hand on heart and say you don’t have problems in life.?). So he pondered about the cause of all sufferings and found out its due to craving and attraction or the ‘want’ factor (I want my son to be like this, husband/ wife to be like this, Boss to be like this, house to be like this, salary to be like this, relatives to be like this, traffic to be like this); He didn’t stop his root cause analysis there and went one level up.. The Craving and wanting is due to ‘Ignorance’ (what am I chasing behind) and this ignorance can be ‘solved’ by practicing a noble eight fold path (such as right thoughts, right deeds, right speech, right livelihood etc). And you have to first become a ‘Bodhisattva’ or a state where you commit yourself totally to become a Buddha. And Buddha-hood cannot be obtained in one life and you have to reincarnate as many Bodhisattva in as many lives to finally become a Buddha.

So the chain goes like: Sufferings--> Due to Attraction-->Due to Ignorance--> Which can be solved. And he suggested a ‘Middle path’ neither too indulgent nor too ascetic, to achieve this Nirvana or Supreme Liberation or Happiness. This is what, i.e., teaching people on the path to nirvana, is what “The” Buddha did for the most part of his life. These teachings form the basics of Buddhism and the “Dharma Chakra Pravartana Mudra” is all but the symbolic representation of this philosophy, which is the corner stone in Buddhism. It made all sense to me after this... If the foundation is not reinforced, the structure cannot survive on top....

Kailasa Temple: Part II - Through My Eyes

Until I visited Ellora, One of my favorite authors was Jeffrey Archer, for the way he cuts a long story short!! Now I shift my allegiance to the sculptors who etched the mighty Itihaasas of Ramayana and Mahabharatha into a crispy visual collage on the exterior walls of the mandap on the South and North side respectively.

And I thought ‘Relay’ is a recent concept in Olympics until I was welcomed by the grand sculpture as you enter the complex - two pair of elephants on both sides of the Gajalakshmi, bottom ones drawing water from the pond and passing it on to the ones on upper deck which anoints the Goddess with the water. The motion of the elephants in action is signified by the flutter in the water surface causing the leaves to float unevenly and the bells on the elephant swinging backwards due to their force in the forward direction (especially that of the bottom right one - And we credit Sir Isaac Newton who came a thousand years later for discovering 3rd law of motion..?)

Flanking the pavements below the porch that connects mandappa 2 with the main temple are the best contradictions of how a same person assumes different persona. On the east side is Lord Shiva as 'Maha Yogi', symbol of peace and serenity and on the west side is Shiva in his 'Rudhra Thandavam' (Rudhra = Anger, Thandav = Dance). Here too the aesthetic beauty of the sculptor kicks in, with Shiva reassuring his better half not to worry as he is in full control and is aware of what he is doing, by caressing her cheek with one of his hands. Positioning of these two right opposite to each other couldn’t be more poignant.

We were also Pioneers in equality, a fact signified by the Statue of 'Ardhanarishwara' in the north courtyard (Ardha = Half, Nari = Woman), where half of the statue is male (Shiva) and the other half is female (Parvati, his wife). This is an iconographic representation of how male form of life (Shiva) is inseparable from the female form (Shakti). The details in the sculpture are impeccable. The female half is delicate while the male rough. The jewellery on the female side, the hairstyle, the attire, the breast, the curve of the waist, all are expressed with absolute perfection and distinguishing with that of Siva.

An interesting carving in the south facing walls whose better account can also be found in Cave 21 is – Parvati stunning Shiva over a game of dice which he usually wins. Shiva pleading her to play one more time to settle the scores even and a rather lackadaisical Parvati, not enthralled by the offer prepares to leave as she wants to use her winning proposition to full advantage. What beautiful characterization of the male ego – not admitting the defeat easily and the female ego – enjoying the prospect of the male going in circles around her. Life hasn’t changed much in a thousand and half years !!

Also one of the most famous sculpture of the complex, Ravanna buoyed by defeating his brother deems himself mighty and shakes the Mount Kailasa in an attempt to carry it off. The chaos is beautifully portrayed. Parvati caught off balance, male attendants fighting by throwing stones down at the evil and the female attendants are frightened and one of whom even fleeing, some troubled saints fearing the end while the picture of Shiva and his loyalists symbolize composure and Shiva restoring order with merely pressing his right toe down and silencing the villain.

Other Stories include Shiva’s heroic efforts of killing the daemon Anthakasura, Shiva Playing the Veena, Ravana offering all his ten heads to Shiva, Kalyana Sundaram (Or Shiva marrying Parvati) ... All these sort of round up most interesting tales from Shiva Purana. There are also some rare anthropomorphic representation of - Rathi and Manmatha (the God and Godesses of desire), The Trinity of Rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasawati, The Mahishasuramardhini etc.,

Apart from the Shivite illustrations, stories from the Vaishnava schools are no less impressive. Portrayals of Vamana avathara(what a stunning display of story telling..!!), Narasimha Avathara, Varaha Avathara all from the stories of Dasavathara deserve special credit. The Short and Sweet account of Ramayana and Mahabharatha, with Krishna’s mischievous childhood at Vrindavan (especially the Govardhana Giridhari), repeatitive but complex Vishnu on Garuda, all of them and more gives him his due credit.

The reason behind embellishing the whole temple so lavishly with so many sculptures and with so much of details engrained in each of them is that, a vast majority of visitors a thousand years ago, would most probably neither knew how to read nor write and hence the pictorial representations. As one complete the tour, one really can't help but salute the valiant attempt of these master sculptors.

Just to put in perspective, the 'Gotthard railway link', a 57 KM long tunnel that runs through the Swiss Alps is slated to become World's longest tunnel when completed. It was started in 1993 and will be commissioned in 2015. Amount of excavated rock would be around 24 Million tons. The 400,000 tons of rock supposedly excavated for Kailasa alone is certainly no match to this. But then the Gotthard project employs four state of the art Tunnel Boring Machines measuring some 440 meters(1400 Feet) and wielding 5 Mega Watt energy (equivalent to 6700 Horse Power) that can drill about 40 Meters in a given extra-ordinary day while in Kailasa there were 7000 human labours using just hammer and chisel, for 150 long gruesome years. By one account, the Baroda copper plate (inscription dated 812 A.D) suggests that the Chief Architect of Kailasa of Ellora was happy to have completed the work in his own lifetime (thou' the temple is supposed to have taken some 150 years from start to finish). Man may invent a machine which substitues his body.. But the key question is, can he invent a machine that substitutes his mind and soul..? Can a machine be invented which can carve such sculptures full of life?

Therefore in all fairness, The audacity with which this edifice was Planned, The gut feeling with which the plan was Conceived and more importantly the Endeavour with which the conception is executed is the ultimate triumph of Human Imagination and Capability.

Finally, If you thought Six Sigma is the most sophisticated measure of error free benchmarking, you are bound to change your opinion once you offer a visit to Kailasa temple. Probably the title should go to "Shilpa Shastras" (The rules of statue making).

Kailasa Temple: Part I - See it to Believe it

As you face the entrance of the Cave 16 of the Hindu group of caves, you feel a sense of Ordinariness... "This looks like any other temple Gateway..!!".
As you enter the Temple complex, Ordinariness turns into Curiosity..
As you catch the first glimpse of the master piece, Curiosity turns into Bewilderment..
As you walk around the temple, Bewilderment turns into Disbelief..
As you finish your tour, you think this is surreal..

Am I exaggerating.... ??

When you see that, a wide gateway which conceals a three storied temple whose walls happen to serve the purpose of a gigantic canvass that hosts hundreds (may be thousands..?) of meticulously carved sculptors, Flanked by two self standing gigantic pillars (or Dhwajasthambas) scaling upto 52 Feet each, the temple's tall tower (Gopuram) measuring some 100 Ft, A sheltered Courtyard surrounding the complex which is also easily one of the most impressive art gallery of Hinduism anywhere in the world, and its main shrine, a massive hall measuring 55 Ft X 52 Ft- All of these is carved out of a single piece of rock, you will realize I am not.

How can someone even think of creating an island of rock mass by cutting grooves some 100 Ft deep all around from top of the mountain so that it gets seperated from its parent to become an independent piece of rock ? (Remember they are still connected at the bed rock) This island rock mass in the center is then chiseled top down (i.e., vertically) into the tapering 3 storied temple structure. This is called Cut-Out Excavation. Once this is done, they chiseled from outside to inside to produce the hall of the huge main shrine. This is Cut-In Excavation. Compare this with a constructed structure where the pillars are raised, Roof slab is cast and then the brick work is done, all different phases of work and the final space created by joining various dissimilar structures. Here too, there is a roof, there are walls around and there are pillars, except that all of them still happen to be the same rock and there are no joints what so ever!!

The greatness of this structure lies in the fact that, This is a proper temple strictly adherring to the Vaastu Shaastra and other rules of a worshipping place, in all accounts identical in every detail to a constructed one whilst it rivals the aesthetics and grandeur of the common breed unequivocally in the eyes of a beholder with no knowledge that all this is carved vertically down into the living rock.

My adulation reaches its Zenith as I wander through the sculptured corridor. Strength of Materials and the Breaking Stress are two concepts that I never understood, a main motivation for me not to choose Civil Engineering. But these principles has been mastered here 1500 years ago. The corridor of the temple has the largest Cantilever rock cover in the world. The Corridors are about 22 feet wide and their ceiling is as wide and has rock of about 100 feet thickness above. And the corridor runs around the temple complex (a rectangle of 276 Ft X 154 Feet) while their ceiling is supported by what ..? Nothing !! Its the remaining portion of the living rock that supports this mammoth suspension. How did they know how deep (horizontally) they can afford to carve in so that the roof of the corridor wouldn't collapse ..?

And interesting still, how on earth (Pun Intended..!!) did they make out that the rock that hosts the whole complex is in fact one rock ..? There were no Satellites, no Ultra sonic waves, nothing at all to test if a structure that big is inherently one single piece or not..? What if 100 ft deep, there was a crack..? or what if it happened to be made of two or more rocks as they uncovered the rubble of trees or while half way into carving..?

Was there a scientific assessment..? or Was it just Gut feeling ..? or Was it Divine Intervention?

I was shocked by the statue of Nataraja hanging from the ceiling of the main shrine. Remember this is not a statue made in the ground and mounted on top. The Statue is part of the ceiling !! What it means is, firstly in the rock ceiling of a room measuring some 2500 Sq. Ft, you have to mark a portion of some 30 odd Sq ft. Now leave that portion to jut out extra feet or two while you shave the massive ceiling of remaining 2400 odd sq ft by few inches with Chisel (and remember chiseling the ceiling in is no ordinary task as doing anything with your hands above your head is difficult let alone chiseling!!). And finally in the jutting out 6ft X 6ft canvass of rock of few inches thickness, you have to carve this figure of a lively Nataraja replete with expressions (Watch his face expressions.. He is in a trance due to involved dancing). Now imagine the Sculptor who did this. Akin to Tom cruise in Mission Impossible, he also would be hanging from the ceiling in his all fours, except that he is facing up and not down. And he is chiseling right above his eyes with all the debris and dust falling on his face… You would also do good to remember this is an horizontally excavated room with poor lighting (It still is poorly lit...) . There were no electricity or light bulbs either. So mostly the Sculptor should have used Metal mirrors to divert sunlight or just oil lamps. And if he makes one error, it cannot be erased... nor is there any second canvass !!

PS: Please bear with the poor quality of the picture. I told you it was a dark room.. What I didn't tell you is that I had an ordinary camera :-)

Ellora: Renowned or Renounced ?

Ellora is not very marketable !!! Because,

Like Taj mahal, it doesn't have a dramatic story to back its existence....
Like Varanasi, it doesn't typify India's spirituality as the West would like to think....
Like Rajasthan and Kerala, its home state doesn't go all out to promote it as it's main source of revenue is definitely not Tourism.... And lastly,
Like Ajanta, its name doesn't start with the first alphabet and hence the taboo of always being referred second in the sequence as if its a lesser dwarf...

Whatever could be the reason, The nirvana that the structures standing here deserves a place first-among-equals can be obtained only if you walk down the same path taken by those eccentric sculptors some 1200 years ago and see it for yourself. Clearly Ajantha and Ellora, started as dark horses as Me and my Wife decided to visit them for a weekend retreat, with only my eighth standard history book (which I vaguely remembered to have emphasized their importance) as the jury to back my judgment. My kith and kin were not very amused - "Isn’t Goa a better choice?". Add to that, the Indian summer roasting you down at 44 C (112 F) with the dry & dusty May heat of Deccan - clearly we were up against the odds. But if Eskimos can brave the Pole, Arabs the Dessert, Dutch the Sea, Tibetans the Altitude, why not Indians the Sun ?? Out came the caps and the shades from long forgotten boxes perched on high lofts. We decided to have a taste of Extreme Living and headed west..!! In the couple of days that followed, Water bottles became what Kavach and Kundal was to Karan in Mahabharath and with sun lotions all over I had to try hard not to look like Kumara Sangakkara !!
(But in hindsight it actually worked for our advantage, what with little crowds at the caves even allowing us to mediate in serenity for few moments in otherwise most sought after chaotic caves, off-season steals in curios, relaxed guides who were willing to spend the whole day with you as opposed to the lone hour they would have spent with you rather hasty and reluctant in the peak season)

I am sure you always remembered Ellora as the Siamese Twin of Ajantha where as in reality they are a good 100 Kms apart and has got little to do with each other. So what’s great about Ellora.. ?

There are two types of structures in this world. One is putting together pieces of materials and creating living space. They are called "buildings" and the basic idea is to "Construct"; we see them everywhere and live and work in one. The other one defies your common sense and flies in the face. They are called the "Excavated" ones, where you remove pieces out of a single pre-existing structure and deform it to create the living space. They are called 'monolithic' edifices (Mono = Single, lith = rock) and the basic idea is: "Destruct to Construct" . So Ellora is full of monoliths where structures are made by cutting from and across stand-alone large living rocks (er.. why don't I simply call it a 'mountain'!!) The big deal is that, If you make a mistake during "Construction", you can reconstruct it. But if you make a mistake while "destructing" – a mistake more easier to commit going by the nature of the job - there is no rollback; You simply have to live with the bane of being an imperfect structure if the blemish is not catastrophic and if it is, just abandon all your dogged efforts thus far and choose an alternate rock. And what if that single rock happen to measure some 100 meters long (330 Feet) , 60 meters wide (200 Feet) and some 30 meters tall (100 feet)

Welcome to The Kailasa Temple at Ellora.. The largest monolithic structure in the world!!