Palitana + Talaja – The current Aeon is considered an age of decay

9. December 2024

 

 

If you want to make a pilgrimage in Palitana, there are around 3,500 steps and 600 metres of altitude to climb! Not only many Jains wanted to do this, but we did too. The steps, not the pilgrimage. But first to Jainism. It’s a pretty strict religion when it comes to not killing other living beings. This is the first principle (ahimsa), which results in very specific food rules (not only no meat but also no ingredients that you pluck out of the ground and thus kill the plant, i.e. onions, potatoes etc. as opposed to apples, for example). They also take great care of micro-organisms – and those who are particularly committed to this always wag a pom-pom at everything they set foot on and wear face masks to avoid accidentally inhaling living creatures. Trade and banking are very suitable professions, but farming is not at all.

 

There are mainly two different orders or sects among the Jains, the moderates and then the extremes. The extremists renounce everything, including clothing. That is why they are also called ‘the air-robed’. They also practise physical passivity and fasting. You are unlikely to see these people. They had their own section in the large temple complex, but there was no one there.

 

The religion has 4.4 million people worldwide. We went up the mountain with some of them. We started at sunrise, which was pleasantly cool. The path was full of steps, so low that the climb was quite pleasant. For some it was too much and they let themselves be carried. The carrying parts are called doli. Many walked barefoot. In between there were shrines and places with drinking water.

 

Temple at the start

 

most expensive Doli Variaty

 

other Doli-system

 

Shrine

 

drinking water

 

Walkers

 

Walking in the morning was a very good idea, the temperature was pleasant and there was a fresh breeze at the top. Soon there was a beautiful view of one of the many temples.

 

Temple

 

In India, various sites are populated by several religions, here is a Muslim shrine or something, where you usually go first. However, not many people seemed to know that, we were there alone. So with those who live there. There were several small cells around a kind of tomb/shrine of a saint (Dargah) where you could sit sheltered from the wind, which various men did. People had put down things that symbolised the problem they were being helped with, such as asthma. Raghu donated money and had a ceremony performed. The men were happy that we stayed so long and even poured us tea.

 

Dargah

 

Asthmafeature

 

ceremony (finished)

 

cell

 

cell-sitters

 

And then there were countless temples (around 800) waiting for us, all beautifully designed. And once again, photography was forbidden or you were not allowed to use your mobile phone at all under penalty. This time I understood the reason – people come to make pilgrimages and that doesn’t fit in with mobile phone activities. However, we weren’t pilgrims – and so I couldn’t resist taking about 5 pictures.

 

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You could have made more of a pilgrimage and walked round the whole range of hills. That’s 215 kilometres. But that would have taken too long for me. I liked it all very much, the landscape, the buildings, the people, the atmosphere, the walking, the company. But the downhill section left my calves aching the next day. On the way, there were sometimes little conversations like whereabouts. A 12-year-old girl was on a 99-day pilgrimage. A lady lives in Boston, but likes to be ‘at home’ on holiday. And so on. Here is a picture of Raghu, me and guide Kuldip:

 

after the temple mountain

 

We jumped into the car (without the guide) and set off – Diu was our destination. However, we were quickly delayed, in Talaja there was a signpost to Buddhist caves. I wanted to see that! So we went there and discovered caves, but without any Buddhist features. Above it was a Jain temple. It was guarded by a gentleman who made sure that no non-Jain went inside. He had no idea about the caves or Buddhism. Afterwards I read on Wikipedia that they dated back to Buddhist times. But there was actually nothing to see.

 

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Here, too, there was another encounter with various happy young ladies:

 

many ladies

 

And then we travelled to Diu, which is by the sea. It’s a very special place and I’ll tell you about that and many more experiences in the next blog post. One was a very very Indian story….

 

Oh yes, the title: a quote from the Wikipedia entry on Jainism.