Today was the second of our field trips and we were accompanied by the Indian students. Our first stop was a shop called Kalanjali in which we were able to find the most exclusive examples of Indian crafts. It is a gift store selling a variety of products, produced using a different traditional craft techniques, including furniture, sculptures depicting Hindu gods and goddesses, small ornaments, textiles, fashion and home accessories. Next door was also a clothing shop were we where once again able to find traditional Indian clothing and textiles.
We were all fascinated by everything we had seen and also were able to see a loose connection with particular aspects of our own culture.
After a hard morning sightseeing, a visit to McDonalds in Hyderabads biggest shopping centre was essential. To work of the Big Mac calories, the Indian hosts insisted on a visit to the amusement area in the shopping centre where we all got lost in the “Hall of Mirrors” and the “Fear Tunnel” and also experimented with a form of “Karaoke Dance”.
Next, we visited a Hindu temple, Birla Mandir in which we experienced almost all the rituals of Hindu religion. We purchased a coconut which we presented to a specific god, an old man at the temple accepted it on our behalf, he broke it in two realeasing the coconut milk and finally we were returned to empty husk, which we ate.
After leaving, shoes and other possessions (cameras, phones etc. sorry no pictures) at the entrance we climbed many steep steps, passing a variety of gods which we had to worship on our ritualistic tour of the temple. There are 3 main gods in Hindu culture, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Shiva the destroyer,all the other gods and goddesses are the reincarnation in different forms and rolls of these three. At the top we were treated to a spectacular panoramic view of the city. The biggest god was half muslim, half hindu, called Sai Baba, he was very ornate and colourful and each visitor was offered a spoonful of a sacred liquid substance which they drank and also used to dampen their hair. At the altar of each god, different coloured dyes were available to apply as a “Tikka” (similar to the “Bindi” spot applied in the middle of the forehead). For us, the most interesting experience of the temple visit was sitting down cross-legged and meditating in front on one particular god, until we were warned by a police man and asked to move on.
After the temple, we proceeded to Lake Hussain Sagar where we took a boat trip to see a huge monument of Buddha, here we took some rather interesting staged photographs.
On returning to the city, we had invites to a classical Hindu dance performance by Radha-Raja Reddy in a weekly dance festival, it was a further interesting insight into another aspect of Indian culture. The performance was very dramatic and expressive, it was based on Indian mythology.
A mexican restaurant was our choice for the evening, based purely on the hygenic outward appearance, several students even experimented with the Indian dishes on offer. On returning to campus, the students were very shocked to see that Angela had finally arrived.
We were all fascinated by everything we had seen and also were able to see a loose connection with particular aspects of our own culture.
After a hard morning sightseeing, a visit to McDonalds in Hyderabads biggest shopping centre was essential. To work of the Big Mac calories, the Indian hosts insisted on a visit to the amusement area in the shopping centre where we all got lost in the “Hall of Mirrors” and the “Fear Tunnel” and also experimented with a form of “Karaoke Dance”.
Next, we visited a Hindu temple, Birla Mandir in which we experienced almost all the rituals of Hindu religion. We purchased a coconut which we presented to a specific god, an old man at the temple accepted it on our behalf, he broke it in two realeasing the coconut milk and finally we were returned to empty husk, which we ate.
After leaving, shoes and other possessions (cameras, phones etc. sorry no pictures) at the entrance we climbed many steep steps, passing a variety of gods which we had to worship on our ritualistic tour of the temple. There are 3 main gods in Hindu culture, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Shiva the destroyer,all the other gods and goddesses are the reincarnation in different forms and rolls of these three. At the top we were treated to a spectacular panoramic view of the city. The biggest god was half muslim, half hindu, called Sai Baba, he was very ornate and colourful and each visitor was offered a spoonful of a sacred liquid substance which they drank and also used to dampen their hair. At the altar of each god, different coloured dyes were available to apply as a “Tikka” (similar to the “Bindi” spot applied in the middle of the forehead). For us, the most interesting experience of the temple visit was sitting down cross-legged and meditating in front on one particular god, until we were warned by a police man and asked to move on.
After the temple, we proceeded to Lake Hussain Sagar where we took a boat trip to see a huge monument of Buddha, here we took some rather interesting staged photographs.
On returning to the city, we had invites to a classical Hindu dance performance by Radha-Raja Reddy in a weekly dance festival, it was a further interesting insight into another aspect of Indian culture. The performance was very dramatic and expressive, it was based on Indian mythology.
A mexican restaurant was our choice for the evening, based purely on the hygenic outward appearance, several students even experimented with the Indian dishes on offer. On returning to campus, the students were very shocked to see that Angela had finally arrived.
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