The Pilgrimage

My first solo adventure in India was a great success. After all, any weekend to which I can apply the phrase “circumambulating the ancient stupa” is, in my opinion, a good weekend. I had learned about Sanchi, a Buddhist pilgrimage site, in my Asian Art History class last year and it was one of the places in India that I was really keen on going to. It just so happened that I no one else was quite as interested in going, so my weekend trip to Sanchi also became my first attempt at traveling alone in India.

To get to Sanchi, one must go through Bhopal, a smallish city in Madhya Pradesh, a few hours north of Hyderabad by plane. I would never have anticipated that at any point in my life I would be able to boast of being the only single Caucasian female traveler in any given city in the world, but I think I can safely say that I held that title this weekend in Bhopal. The city is neither large, nor touristy, nor pretty to look at, so my presence there generated a lot of confusion. I was asked, in seriousness, more than one time, “What are you doing in Bhopal?” I wondered the same thing myself when I landed there. I felt a little like I had traveled through time to a dingy, shadowy, more depressing era. To be fair, I read later that I was staying in the ugliest part of the city and that I completely missed the pretty part on the other side of town. Ranjeet, my hotel, lacked the “Mediterranean Atmosphere” that Brenda’s guidebook told me it would have. It also lacked such luxuries as soft mattresses or light bulbs in the bathroom, though it did include a working TV and an inexplicable salt and pepper shaker set on the bedside table.

I pretty much arrived and went straight to bed on Friday night, but Saturday morning I set out early to go to Sanchi. Breakfast in the hotel was scheduled to start at 7am, but the confused doorman told me, in fact, that it would not be served until 10. Instead, I ate at the only restaurant I could find which didn’t appear to actually be open when I walked in. There were also about 100 items on the menu, of which, one, “The Veg Sandwich,” was available. Filled with sandwich, I set out on my way.

I was actually quite concerned about finding my way to Sanchi which is about 2 hours away from Bhopal. I had no real plan for getting there and I was growing more concerned about communication since, without the tourist industry of other cities, people in Bhopal seem to speak a lot less English. Luckily, my Hindi comprehension and reading skills are just good enough that I was able to recognize signs for things like “Bus Stand.” After the initial panic of wandering Bhopal alone with no direction wore off I realized a quick solution for my situation. I generated so much attention and curiosity from locals on the street that all I had to do was say “Sanchi?” a few times and before I knew it I was on a charming little pink bus heading North for 25 rupees (50 cents).

After 2 hours of sitting on the bumpy bus being stared at in disbelief by every other passenger, I hopped off in the middle of nowhere. I was expecting a small village at Sanchi, or perhaps a whole town, but what I found was just a deserted crossroads in the middle of expansive farmland. One road leads to/from Bhopal and the perpendicular road leads up a steep hill to the Stupa. I only really knew I was there when I said "Sanchi?" a few more times and the other passengers shooed me off the bus.

The Great Stupa of Sanchi is the oldest standing religious monument in India and one of the oldest Buddhist pilgrimages in the world, dating from the 3^rd century BC in the reign of Emperor Ashoka. It is known for really elaborately carved sculptures in pristine condition. Even so, it doesn’t generate a lot of tourism. Even on a Saturday I was one of the only visitors there. My guidebook told me I would feel like an explorer discovering something secret and grand, and cheesy as that sentiment may be, it really is the best explanation for the feeling. I had a 2000+ year-old monument on the top of a hill in the middle of the scenic Indian countryside all to myself on a beautiful, peaceful day, so yes, I allowed myself to feel a little like Indiana Jones.

I circumambulated the ancient stupa a few times and admired the sculptures. You can tell it’s a really early Buddhist monument because there are no actual images of Buddha, he is usually just represented as a tree. There are also a lot of really old pre-Hindu images like these “Yakshis” or tree-spirits.

After making my Art History teacher proud I explored the rest of the area which includes the ruins of a Buddhist monastery (you can see where the little cells were!), and the remains of one of Emperor Ashoka’s famous edict pillars.

Pilgrimage completed, I made my way back down the hill to the road hoping the bus to take me back to Bhopal might appear. I had no reason to believe that such a bus existed, and had no alternative plan if it did not, but I was only waiting about five minutes before it showed up to take me back to the city.

After a long bus ride and a late lunch I took a little stroll around Bhopal, but was unable to find the particular bazaar that I had been looking for (maps are useless without street names or landmarks) so instead I hopped in a rickshaw and visited the Darul Uloom Tajul Masajid. There are three beautiful, historic mosques in Bhopal, but the sun was going down and I only had time for one so the decisive rule of “eeny-meeny-miney-mo” led me to this one. It’s pink! Very nice.

I was going to eat dinner in my hotel, but when they told me they didn’t have the first three things that I tried to order I decided instead to go back to the place where I had had my before-hours breakfast. Here, I played my favorite game with Indian restaurants which is to choose whichever item in the “veg” section I have the least understanding of and hardest time pronouncing and order it. This game had been 100% successful, always resulting in something delicious up to this point. The dinner (some kind or rice thing) was ok, but the dessert “Rasgulla” was a spongy, gross mistake.

In the morning I flew back to Hyderabad. On the four hour flight they feed you 2 meals (which, as I described in an earlier blog, are actually delicious on Indian airlines)!

I now have a very successful pilgrimage and my first solo trip in India under my belt. And now…back to school.