Namaskara from Mysore, India!
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| The steps leading up to the temple. |
On Wednesday, we ventured an
hour and a half outside Mysore to Shravanbelagola, a Jain Temple. This
breathtaking temple can only be reached by climbing over 600 steps carved right
out of the mountain. More than the incredible view of Hassan, the top of the
mountain holds the magnificent Gomateshwara Statue, the world’s largest
monolithic stone sculpture.
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| The view of Hassan. |
The spiritual experience was furthered by our
interaction with a Jain priest, who blessed us before the statue. Additionally,
we had the privilege of reciting a Jain prayer with our very own Sejal, whose
family practices Jainism. This once in a lifetime experience brought our
knowledge of the Jain religion to a new level, in which we could appreciate its
traditional roots first-hand.
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| The team with the statue of Gomateshwara. |
After this, we traveled another hour to Belur, where we saw
the Chennakesava Temple. One of the most profound aspects of this temple was
the detail in its carvings: no two were the same. Here, we learned about the
many forms of Vishnu, a Hindu god, and got a taste of the many Hindu myths. Extremely
fascinating was the fact that the King who commissioned this temple converted
from Jainism to Hinduism—a rare event.
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| The Belur temple. |
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| Intricate carvings of dancers on the exterior walls of the temple. |
Our day captured the religious diversity
within India and successfully translated out classroom knowledge into reality.
It has been an amazing week and we cannot wait to update you more in the
future!
This is JaM (Jack and Maddie) signing off.
