Sunday, 2/21/16 - Meeting Dany at Sreekrishna Temple Festival in Guruvayur, Guruvayur Devaswom Captive Elephant Sanctuary |
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Since I had showered before bed, I woke up, got dressed, and went to reception to upload yesterday's photos to Facebook. There was nobody else around. Soon the phone rang. The desk clerk appeared and groggily made his way to the phone, as if he had just woken up. Several more phone calls came in succession. People were reporting that there was no water again this morning. I felt relieved that we had thought to shower last night for just this reason. When I went back to the room, I learned that the first phone call (which woke the desk clerk) had been Craig reporting lack of water in our room. The outage wasn't as lengthy this morning.
This hotel was an enigma. The rooms are luxurious and comfortable. The grounds are immaculately manicured. There is a wide variety of tasty food. But the infrastructure and administration is just not up to the standards of most of the places we have stayed in India. In this morning's Hindu Times (which is delivered to our room), there was a feature about the Periayanamepetta Pooram Festival. There was also a story about the Sreekrishna Temple Festival that we would visit today. It talked about elephant races (anayottam) which had been held yesterday to open the 10-day festival. Craig and I went to the dining room and enjoyed a buffet breakfast. We also ordered dosas (a bit of a disappointment after the superb and authentic ones served at the Eighth Bastion, but still good). Our Facebook friend Dany Kallery, whom we had not yet met in person, was kind enough to offer to ride his motorcycle to Guruvayur from his job in Tamil Nadu to meet us! His family is from Thrissur, and when we told him that we would be near his hometown, he arranged to meet us there! It was so nice to finally meet him in person after corresponding via Facebook. (He has enjoyed our travelogues, and we have enjoyed his lovely photography of Kerala.) We left the hotel at 8:30, bound for Guruvayur. We passed some trucks carrying elephants going in the opposite direction; perhaps they were some of the contenders in yesterday's elephant races. We passed many picturesque churches, temples, and mosques. We always found it interesting to drive through these areas; there is always a lot to see. In addition to the chaos of traffic and all of the different vehicles on the road, there is a wide variety of styles of homes. From traditional Kerala bungalows to more modern fancy homes, the economic and religious diversity of the population is apparent. We had planned to meet Dany outside the East Gate of Guruvayur. There were some incongruous, whimsical floats welcoming us here: a T-Rex, a gorilla beating a drum, and a monkey playing a saxophone. Sadanandan parked the car. As we walked toward the festivities, Craig heard someone call out, and there was Dany on his Royal Enfield bike! While Dany parked his bike, we did a little bit of souvenir shopping. We wanted to get souvenirs from a Hindu festival, but Periayanamepetta Temple had not had much to choose from. There had been some statues of gods, but they were too big and bulky to easily carry home. Besides, the Ganesha ones that we had liked had sold out before we had a chance to shop. Here, there were a lot of choices, and we got many small things, including some elephant keychains for our godchildren. I had been wanting a definitive book on Hindu gods and goddesses. Mukul found "Hindu Gods and Goddesses" by Swami Harshananda at Nishant Book Shop, and purchased a copy for me. I am grateful, and it is an excellent resource. Dany met up with us and together we walked through a concourse toward the temple. The concourse was covered by a hangar-like roof to provide shelter from the weather, be it rain or shine. Today it was shine, and the weather was steamy. We were definitely grateful for the shade. Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple, but we were able to observe the festivities taking place outside. There was a queue containing hundreds of people patiently waiting to enter the temple. We found seats in a covered outdoor pavilion and watched a cultural dance program. It ranged from classical dances to folk dances. Dancers ranged in age from young children to adults. The sound system was quite good (when we have attended festivals in other places, sometimes the music is very distorted). The music ranged from Hindu a capella chants to "western fusion". The large audience was quiet and respectful. Some of the very little girls performed solo dances which consisted mainly of them jumping and twirling around, with their chiffon skirts flaring out. Across cultures, it seems to be a universal truth that little girls love to do that when wearing dresses. There were also dances which enacted folk tales. Small and large groups of women performed dances in synchronized choreography. The costumes were beautiful. There was one dance that really captivated me, and I may be looking for opportunities to study Indian dance at home. I got some video footage of the performances. It is very shaky, as we were far from the stage and I had to use the maximum zoom. But the footage gives a good overview of the variety of styles of dancing and the accompanying recorded music. The festival was in honor of Krishna, and one of the dances featured a toddler dressed as Baby Krishna. He and a girl who was slightly older than him danced around the stage. Baby Krishna fell on his bottom, and a wave of giggles rippled through the audience. Later on, a girl dressed as Krishna danced around with a flute. Women in white saris chanted and encircled a brass lantern. The acts kept coming, and there didn't seem to be any end in sight, so we had to tear ourselves away. I asked Dany and Mukul if there was some place where I could buy some western fusion Indian music here. They immediately went into a shop and helped me to find a DVD of mp3's that were just what I wanted.  In addition to treating us to a delightful lunch, Dany presented us with a lovely, thoughtful gift: a Kathakali mask! Thanks, Dany! It is gorgeous and has made an excellent addition to our mask collection at home. It will always remind us of our time together in Kerala! After lunch, Dany joined us on a visit to Guruvayur Devaswom Captive Elephant Sanctuary. We love elephants, and Dany had never been there even though he is from the area. So we thought that it would be a fun first for all of us. We drove to the sanctuary and waited for Dany. We bought tickets for all of us, and chatted with some local families with young children. We started to get a little worried because a lot of time had passed. We started to wonder if he had gotten lost, but he finally showed up. He had forgotten where he had parked his bike. There were so many vehicles at the festival, that people had to park all around the side streets, wherever they could squeeze in. It was easy to lose your bearings. Luckily, it is a distinctive bike, and he eventually found it. We gave Dany his ticket and entered the sanctuary. Devotees of Lord Guruvayurappa have offered these fifty-six elephants to serve Lord Krishna at the Guruvayur Temple. This sanctuary covers 10 acres, and the elephants moved here from a former location in 1975. A naalu kettu (a traditional rectangular home with a central courtyard) which used to belong to the Punnathur Raja is now used as a training school for the papans (mahouts who train and care for the elephants). Since the elephants are sacred, caring for them is ritualistic. The papans perform the rituals of Gajapooja (worshipping elephants) and Anayoottu (feeding elephants) as an offering to Lord Ganesha. The elephants serve Lord Krishna at various festivals throughout the year. They participated in the Anayottam (elephant races) at Sreekrishna Temple yesterday. Photography was not allowed here, and although many Indian tourists were taking surreptitious photos of the elephants with their phones, we respected the rules. We wandered around, looking at the beautiful Indian elephants, with their triangular ears, convex spines, and their freckled pink skin on their faces and ears. Though it is difficult for us to see these majestic and intelligent creatures chained up, the treatment they recieve here is regulated and much better than in past times. Given that the oldest elephant on premises is around 82 years of age, their life span is apparently not negatively impacted. They have plenty to eat and drink, and they have shade from the hot sun. They get socialization with humans and other elephants. And we learned that in order to "work" at a festival, an elephant must get a certificate from a veterinarian certifying that he/she is healthy enough to participate. We walked around, observing the interations between the papans and their elephants. The papans were cooling the elephants down with a hose, and one elephant supplemented this bathing process by sucking water into his trunk and then blowing it into his ears. He lifted his rear feet one at a time for the papan to clean. They obviously have a very trusting relationship. We saw some papans clipping an elephant's nails and applying medicinal turmeric to their feet. An elephant dug a hole in the dirt with his trunk and then blasted the dirt onto his back, as sun screen. One seemed to be doing yoga as he crossed one front leg over the other (figure four style) and, with legs still in that configuration, sank into a downward dog. We heard a heavy chain dragging on the ground and when we looked up, we saw an elephant on the move. We made sure that we were out of the way, as elephants can be unpredictable. The elephant's papans verbally commanded him to pick up some large branches. He scooped them up onto his tusks and then wrapped his trunk around them to secure them. He followed the papans to his place. The papans affixed his chains to some stone posts. He continued holding the branches aloft, and Mukul said that he would continue to hold them until commanded otherwise. Sure enough, one of the papans gave a single word command at which point the elephant dropped the branches, which were his food. There were lots of families here, and we made many new friends. Most were local, but we did meet a lovely Saudi Arabian family. After walking around the sanctuary, we said goodbye to Dany as he had to get back to Tamil Nadu for work, and we had to get back to Cheruthuruthy. It was so nice of him to go out of his way to visit us today. We really enjoyed chatting with him, and we made some special memories together. We got back to the hotel and took a rest. People have been asking how Craig is doing on this trip, with the extreme heat. The heat is uncomfortable for him, but he has been doing great! He has been able to rest each day at the hottest part of the day. He takes a nap and cools down in the air conditioning. And each night, he has been going to bed very early while I stay up and post on Facebook. Since fatigue is one of his most prominent symptoms, having all of this rest has made all of the difference. While he rested, I wandered around the beautiful grounds of the hotel, through the gardens, over to the swimming pool, past the cottages which house the hotel's spa, and down to some farmland. The sun was a big red orb descending behind the trees, with cows grazing in the foreground. It was absolutely beautiful, and my camera couldn't capture the fieriness of the sun. As I walked back toward the hotel, the almost-full moon was visible. It was surreal. For dinner, we repeated our favorite dishes from past nights: Craig had the beef curry and I had the beef coconut dry fry, and we had some Kerala paratha bread. Craig and Mukul split a Kingfisher and I had a vanilla milkshake with ice cream. And we had ice cream for dessert! For some reason, the internet was working well tonight, and I was able post photos to Facebook from the reception area. We also showered tonight just to be safe, as the water situation here is tenuous at best. At this point, we have concluded the busy portion of the trip. We will head to Alleppey tomorrow to board a private houseboat for two nights. It will be nice to have a couple of relaxing days with Mukul on the famous backwaters of Kerala. We never lack things to talk about with Mukul, and we know that we will enjoy the relative downtime together. Up until this point, the trip has truly been a whirlwind! Sreekrishna Temple, Guruvayur Guruvayur Devaswom Captive Elephant Sanctuary |
 Dany arrives to meet us  Sreekrishna Temple Festival in Guruvayur  Sreekrishna Temple Festival in Guruvayur  Baby Krishna dance  Dany and Steph watching the dance performances  Western fusion dance  Kathakali mask: a gift from Dany  Guruvayur Devaswom Captive Elephant Sanctuary  Saying goodbye to Dany  Craig waving from our second floor room at the River Retreat  Sun setting behind fields and livestock  Dinner 
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