Bhopal Day 1: Sanchi, Udayagiri Caves and a palace

I am sooo behind in blogging. I have so much I want to share with you all except I've been too busy living life over here that I haven't had time to write about it, so forgive me :) This blog post actually relates back to our first weekend away, when we visited Bhopal. I have split it into 2 posts because there is just too much to share in one go.

The weekend started with 11 out of 12 of us taking this trip together, on our first weekend. Exciting times!

Our CSC group, minus Greg.

Hanging out with the Tropic of Cancer. I've been told this is somewhat important in the world :0)

First stop, Sanchi. Our ticket here for $5.

The story of Sanchi. What impressed me most about this place was just how long ago it was when everything was erected.

On our way to see the 'Stupas'. Acording to wiki (because my notes from the tour guide are not reliable) "The 'Great Stupa' at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. It has four profusely carved ornamental gateways and a balustrade encircling the whole structure"

It is so hot during the day here that I welcome the scarf over my head, just to get some relief from the sun.

Toranas surround the Stupa and they each represent love, peace, trust, and courage.

Reading these 'toranas' is like reading a book, if you know the language. It really was quite fascinating. Folded hands represent prayers for Buddha.

According to our tour guide Rayka, the lower level of the Stupa represents earth, the dome is the cosmos and the top level is heaven. This is where Buddhist relics are kept and the umbrella's above this represent respect for the person in there. NB: These are from my notes, and I may have captured some of this detail incorrectly. All mistakes are my own.

We have now climbed the stairs of the main stupa and are looking out around us. Those smaller stupa's you can see on the left there indicate that the higher the relic, the more prominent the person. The smaller ones are the students of their teacher (who are in the larger stupa's).

Stupa's are solid inside and are a structure. This main stupa is 2300 years old and in the 12th century, Buddhism went away and it wasn't until 1818 that Sir John Taylor discovered this Stupa and he restored what he could. Since 1921, it has been like we see it now.

You can't really see it in this photo, but on the bus we drove past this land and it was here that I saw a man tending to his property, his house a simple shack behind him. This picture is what prompted my previous blog post.

Second stop: Udayagiri caves are archaeological caves near Vidisha, carved when the city was a provincial capital of the Gupta Empire (4th- 5th century AD). According to our tour guide, the Gupta dynasty was the Golden period in Indian history.

Pictures from Udayagiri Caves. I will not do each of these justice by describing them. My notes from the day are half-written and nonsensical. Although I can say, they were quite amazing to see in person.

Udayagiri Caves- 4th and 5th century AD.

Udayagiri Caves

Udayagiri Caves

Udayagiri Caves

Udayagiri Caves

CSC India17 + Greg.

So there are pretty much no cats in India. I have yet to see one. I've seen many dogs. And unfortunately you cannot just pick them up and cuddle them like you would back home.

And the end our first day in Bhopal, let me take you to our hotel, a venue that used to be a palace :)

From their website: The marvel "Noor-Us-Sabah" meaning -"The Light Of Dawn" was built in the 1920's by H.H.Hamid Ullah Khan, for his eldest daughter Begum Abida Sultan. Considered to be one of the best residential Palace in the erstwhile Bhopal Estate, its white palatial building & architecture reflects the regal times & grandeur of a bygone era.

And when you step into the hotel, you can see the type of detail that we were surrounded by:

Not to mention the cold face towel, welcome flowers and water upon arrival. (Or are we just easily impressed after a sweaty day of bouncing around a bus?)

Oh how I love pretty shiny things :)

Which explains why I love chandeliers so much and want one in every room of my future palace. I mean, house.

How beautiful this was- to be able to walk out on to theopen air terrace.

Stunning

Now, what could possibly take away from this beautiful ambiance? ....

.... Some interesting night time entertainment...

 The rooms made up for it:

My hallway into the room

I was one of the few (if any?) to get a double bed (mwhahaha)...I mean "Oh".

I really like having a good desk in my hotel room. It pleases me for some reason.

The story of the hotel

View of Bhopal in the morning, from my balcony.

And this is the end of Day 1 in Bhopal. Apologies that this blog post turned out a little common and 'touristy' but I wanted to share some of these images/videos with you in the order in which we experienced India. I have some cool stuff to share (for those of my fb friends- like why I am posting pictures of our CSC team being interviewed and followed around by a film crew) but that will have to wait until I've shared these stories in the correct chronological order :)

There is another fun story that I want to share about April Fools Day that occurred here in the hotel you have just seen, but I need to get some photos from my fellow CSCers to be able to tell the story. So stay tuned!

If you didn't like this blog post, you might want to skip Bhopal Day 2. But I promise there will be regular blog entries so that I can catch you all up on where we are at in this assignment to India. We are now 2.5 weeks in and I am getting a little sad because this is the first time I have seen what the end of the assignment will look like and that means this experience will soon be over :(

Well, it is coming up to 2am and I have yoga at 7am but I was getting a severe case of feeling guilty because it had been a while between blog posts so I wanted to stay up for as long as I could. And now one is done, I bid you good night.

"Thinking is the place where intelligent actions begin. We pause long enough to look more carefully at a situation, to see more of its character, to think about why it's happening, to notice how it's affecting us and others"- Margaret Wheatly.

#ibmcsc #citizenibm