India Day 11

Just outside of the city of Bhopal, there is a small community called Sanchi.  Between the 3rd Century BC and the 12th Century AD, a complex of Buddhist monuments (burial mounds) were constructed here.  Most of these structures are "stupas" and the best and largest preserved on the site today is "stupa #1".  I have included a picture below.  The weather was perfect for this famous location.  It poured rain and we all got soaked.  This Buddhist architecture symbolizes "the Buddha".  Around the 3rd Century BC,  a mother had a dream about her son becoming a very famous man who would spread his word of non-violence throughout the world.  Many of the sculptures on "stupa #1" tell this Buddha's story.  This form of Hindu religion still exists throughout the world today.  We briefly toured the local museum to view some of the Buddhas dug up on the site over the years.  I discovered that my Buddha at home is not a Buddha but really a Bodhisvattva!  I met Jitean, Satyam, and Salman at the hotel tonight.

We traveled from Sanchi to the train station where we experienced once again "the real India".  While waiting for the train, thousands of Indian travelers put on quite a show for us.  There were beggars, families, and many men staring at us.  We had two young college students come up to us and ask our country of origin.  They were very articulate in English and we even exchanged emails.  They thought that only old people lived in Canada.  Another young girl brought her old grandfather over to introduce him to us.  They wanted to exchange photos with us and were also very kind and happy to meet us.  We were like celebrities finally.  The train took us to a place called Jhansi.