My July 4, 2010 - Black Buddha and the Sun Temple

This evening I had a pleasant surprise visit by Deepak and his friend (I'm terrible with remembering names, I'll call him Mr. --). Deepak asked how I was doing and if there was anything I needed. He also asked when I wanted to see the ruins and told me the best time to visit. I told him that I wanted to walk into town but was told it wasn't safe. He told me it would be safe during the day but not at night. I asked Deepak about buying materials for the village school children and he said we could do this toward the end of my stay here in Nalanda.

market

After he left, I grabbed my camera and headed into the village. I stopped at the vegetable stand which I had seen the evening before. I asked if I could take a picture and bought a banana. Then I kept walking. Previously, I had turned right at the fork in the road, so this evening, I turned left. I promptly came to a wonderful family that wanted their picture taken. I took their pictures and gave them all stickers. Then this man came up to me as I was trying to talk to another little girl. He kept trying to get the girl to talk to me, so I thought he might be her father or teacher. She was shy and he indicated as much, so I kept walking. He walked with me and told me about the museum just up ahead. Then he said many other things I didn't understand. Luckily, Deepak and his friend, Mr. --, came riding up on his friend's motorcycle. Deepak told me that his friend would drop him off and then come and take me to the Sun Temple and Black Buddha. They left and the man I was walking with wanted my cell phone number. I declined by saying I didn't have one and then he shook my hand hard and long. I was glad when Mr. -- returned.

I hopped on the back of his motorcycle straddling it like a guy would and held on tight. Mr. -- rode very slowly, so I relaxed and enjoyed the ride. We stopped at the Sun Temple and I worried about leaving my shoes outside, but Mr. -- told the kids to watch them (I think). He showed me statues of Shiva and Shiva's wife and other Hindu gods from the eighth century (I think). One shrine was supposed to take away leprosy. They offer milk to the gods in the small, warm room.

When we walked back out, Mr. --, told me that a place next to the Sun Temple was his house and pointed out his mother sitting in a doorway. I nodded my head to her.

We then rode to the Sun tank, part of the Nalanda ruins and then to a new Jain temple, with huge statues and beautiful shrines. The guard wanted me to sign the guest book and make a statement about how I liked the temple, so I did so. As we had ridden to the temple, I saw a motorcycle with a woman riding side saddle pass us by, so I asked Mr. -- if I should ride side saddle. He said it was okay, so I sat down side saddle behind him on the motorcycle. It was a little discomforting right when he pulled away due to a different balance point, but I very quickly acclimated to this new seating arrangement. It actually appeared safer, because I could easily hop off, and my right foot didn't need to be resting on the exhaust pipe!

Lastly, we visited the Black Buddha shrine where Venerable Tomsan was visiting. He is a monk visiting Nalanda from Thailand that I had met on my first day at Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Deemed University. We took pictures in front of the Buddha and then some small children wanted their pictures taken. One girl said she was hungry, so I gave her my banana. Then they said they wanted money, so I gave one girl a 2 rupee coin. An older boy gave me a sad face and said he wanted one and that I should give a coin to each of the other kids. Mr.-- said something to them and I said “Nahin” or nay for “No.” We then headed back to my guest house.

Mr. -- was a wonderful tour guide. I thanked him in Hindi and went into my guest house.