India Day 16

Before we left Khajuraho, we went to visit its famous sculptured temples.  Of the 85 original temples which we built around 950 to 1050 AD, 20 remain today.  These large sandstone temples are richly carved with excellent sculptures that are frequently sensual and sometime explicitly sexual.  They were built to explain the Hindu's interpretation of life.  Hindus believe that knowledge will allow you to rise above the physical being and reach nirvanha.

We went to the Khajuraho airport around 3 p.m. and flew for an hour to Varanasi.  After briefly checking into the hotel, we took a rickshaw ride through the city of thousands to the banks of the Ganges River.  Varanasi is the oldest occupied city in the world and is famous for Hindus being cremated on its banks and ashes placed in the river.  Each evening, a variety of rituals are performed on the banks of the Ganges with tens of thousands of people looking on.  We were there tonight with the crowds.  There was bell ringing, chanting, and lights.  People were lighting candles and placing them afloat in the river.

Around 7 p.m. this evening, as we watched this beautiful ceremony, a bomb exploded only meters from us.  One child was killed and 20 people were injured.  The crowds stampeded away from the river bank as we watched stunned!  Our tour guide managed to get us away from the area and back to the hotel safely.  The breaking news reported that India is now on high alert.  We are suppose to leave by plane for Dehli on Thursday at noon and then home to Toronto in the middle of the night Thursday.

We are not sure what will happen to us at this point.
We are glad we are not American.