For those that don't know ..
The Ellora group of caves date from about the 6th to the 11th century ce, and are carved from the solid basalt of the hills. The rock was slowly chipped away, then rock remaining in place was carved by artisans into rooms, pillars, friezes, statues etc. This was then covered by a plaster and painted. In a few areas the plaster and paint remains.
The caves include Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu imagery, depending upon the years they were made.
Hot day and only saw a few of the caves...but all so interesting both in terms of history and craftsmanship.
The rhesus monkey population has really grown in this area as food is available in trash piles.
The other day as we were entering the front door of the Hanifl Center a large male rhesus came flying out. He had come in the front door, gone downstairs to the dining room, opened the refrigerator, taken out a bowl of jam. He was heading outside when he was startled by entering humans, so dropped the bowl.
This was a more relaxed day. We packed and reorganized our stuff for the next leg of this trip, then walked to Kulri Bazaar to pick up the glasses that SF had ordered. We stopped for lunch at a new place called the Urban Turban. Good food and funky decor.
In the late afternoon the group got a tour of houses of worship in Landaur bazaar. .a Sikh Gurdwara, a Mosque, and a Jain temple. . All very interesting as I'd never been inside these before.
Then to another grand dinner at a hotel near Picture Palace. .goid thing we have been walking so much!
Today the hiking group heads by car into the mountains, and most of the rest of us fly to Aurungabad for more exploring.
Left to right .. pumpkin raita, stinging nettle spinach, mixed dal, pahari aloo dish, rice pudding. Center..pahari red rice, millet chappati.
All traditional local cuisine, all tasty and simple (not loaded with ghi or other sources of richness). The owner explained the health benefits of each dish.
A very special meal!
Wake at 4:55 am to the sound of the call to prayer from the mosque in Landaur bazaar. Lay in bed til 5:30. Walk out into the garden and look at the lights on the hillside and down in the Dun. Listen to the song of the whistling thrush.
Dress, breakfast of omelet, toast, Prakash's plum jam, chai.
Walk with classmates up to the chakkar, take the back side in hopes of seeing the snows (too cloudy). Walk all the way to the east end, then down past Oakville to the Hanifl Center. Quick stop there for bathrooms and to fill up water bottles.
Down to Tehri Road, through the village of Jabbarkhet, and in to the Jabbarkhet Nature Preserve. Walk to the top of Flag Hill with young naturalist. Gather and soak in the views and take pictures. Walk back down.
Lunch of Garheali thali in Jabbarkhet (picture and description to follow ).
Stop at Hanifl for tour and description of programs by Kutty.
On to tea at Oakville hosted by Steve A. Get to wander about beautifully restored 19th century British bungalow.
Back on chakkar to west end and a 15 minute rest at cottage of friend MG. Walk around to Rokeby's for a class dinner filled with conversation, laughter, and love. Walk back down to Ivy Bank. Over 19000 steps on my pedometer !
My classmates with spouses and two grandchildren arrived yesterday afternoon .. a group of 26 of us. SF and I had left school early and so were back at Ivy Bank in time to greet them. Some of the hardier folks headed up the hill to the chakkar to visit familiar places and see the views.
We ended the day with a grand dinner from the small Ivy Bank kitchen. . Rice, aloo gobi, bhindi, chicken and mutton curries, tandoori chicken, naan, dahi .. with Amul ice cream and brownies for desert. Wah wah!
I finally am able to post individual photos, but I won't push the system to do both photos and text in one post.
Yesterday (Friday) we stayed at school all day. CW has arrived to work with me on the archives, which is a tremendous help. She will be here through next week.
In the evening we went to the first part of the high school talent show. . Lots of enthusiasm and a fair amount of talent! The school continues to support strong musical talent.
Just after we got back to Ivy Bank the rain started and it is still pouring at nearly 7 am. We had hoped to walk into the bazaar as far as Cambridge Book Depot but may have to change our plans.
There were two periods of rain in the night, one so heavy as it thundered on the tin roof that it startled us. SF is discovering the joys of putting on clammy clothes, and of wash thst never quite dries.
I have been posting a few pictures almost every day but with slow Internet connection the postings have failed. Hopefully the posts will go through one of these days.
SF and I have kept busy this week, she with helping out in classrooms and I with archives work. We've also been doing a lot of walking..about 1 1/2 miles each way to the school plus the sharp uphill climb from Tehri Road to the guest house.
Some pictures on a cloudy morning. We woke to a lot of thunder at 5 am. The garden, building, and rooms are our accommodation at Ivy Bank. The little garden is a wonderful place to look out at the view .. 360 degrees from the hillside to the north, to the rising sun peeking ovrr the top of the hill, to the Tehri hills, Witch's Hill, the Dun valley and the town of Mussoorie to the west.
After last night's rain, this morning was clear enough to show the Dun and the Siwaliks beyond. SF and I walked up to the chakkar (road going around the 3 crests at the top of the hill). The snows were not visible, but we could see the Nag Tibba range. Much to S's delight we saw a lot of both rhesus and langour monkeys. We stopped at Prakash's store and bought a few things, and then went on to Rokeby's for lunch.
A few more classmates have arrived so we had a nice visit and dinner together.
The picture is of what we called a Bible fern ... usually one of the first kinds to dry up at the end of the monsoons.
We walked into the bazaar today. I was just going to go as far as SF felt like walking, and we ended up going all the way to Library Bazaar (ca 4 miles). We took our time along the way with stops at Goel Stores, Ram Chanders, Hamers, and Cambridge Book Depot; then had lunch and took a taxi back to the top of Mullingar. The clouds have moved in and Witch's Hill is barely visible.
We went to the school this morning to check in in the alumni office and see people. I was able to greet many of the staff whom I've gotten to know over the last 6 years. We also ate lunch on the newly remodeled and magnificent dining room.
SF and i made it to Landaur. The Shatabdi trin was about 90 minutes late getting in to Dehra Dun, but the driver from Kulwant's was waiting for us.
Landaur is cool and cloudy right now.
