Waiting Gives the Devil Time

I was breakfasting on nuts and yogurt this morning and I saw a note from my brother. He was telling me of his trip to Greece and how he almost didn't go to the Acropolis due to some hurdles and how glad he was he did. I was mullinbg between going back to bed and going out in the world and this seemed to be the prod I needed.
I went out and found a rickshaw to the Hanuman temple. On the way I saw some strange things. A horse eating burning garbage on the side of the road. The men above riding inside a garbage truck. It was a long ride; they took me to the wrong temple- the more famous one instead of the nearby one whose name I had written down and showed to the guy.
On the way he quizzed me in the typical Indian fashion. How many kids do you have? Really? Why not? What kind of work do you do? When do you get up in the morning?
We get to the temple and it is more laid back than the others. The street is lined with vendors, but they were easy to avoid and I kicked off my sandals and mounted the stairs.
I had to seek an audience with the higher monks to take pictures, so of course I did. The were gracious and polite and allowed me to take some shots. I went around to the main temple to see the giant carved Monkey God.

I didn't shoot much because I hate to intrude. Instead I sat down with my back against a wall and chilled with Hanuman. The temple was nearly empty when I arrived, but within minutes I was completely surrounded by amused looking worshippers. There was plenty of space to be, but they all gathered around the big white Westerner, chuckling and conversing with each other, sitting right next to me. This was perfectly fine by me as I understood it to be good natured curiosity and interest, not an invasion of my space. I could just smile back at them. I pointed at their squirming kid and declared that he was Little Hanuman. This got much agreement and they gestured that I should take a picture of the rowdy tot. Of course I obliged and they were all in agreement that I had done the right thing.

The temple is up some steps and from there you can see Iskon and other temples in the area. You could also see the men working on the lower roof of the temple. You can make out in the shot the vendor stalls on the street below. By then I was late to get back for work, so I bought some little statuettes of Hanuman and Ganesha like the ones on all the cabbies dashboards. Oh and a Shiva Linga too, just in case.

On the way back I had him stop at a Krishna temple. This whole building is completely covered in this wild array of characters. Also on the compound was a 20' tall Ravana getting stabbed by Rama on a tiger. Ravana has some ko-ko-koogly eyes.

Of course my rickshaw guy spoiled the gig by giving me the hard sell on visiting his patron's shop. I may go later in the trip; they sell the sandalwood Dancing Shiva's that I like. And I hear the price there cannot be beat.

Overall; psyched that I went out before I could talk myself into sleeping more. Thanks, Joel!