One of the great highlights of my journey so far has been the opportunity to travel with Deepak and Yves as they explored several local villages. Their intent is to document Buddhist areas, using kite photography when possible, and to educate the villagers regarding the importance of keeping the heritage.
On this day, 24 March 2011, we traveled to many villages near the Phalgu River. Unfortunately, my Hindi isn’t strong enough to remember all of the names of the different villages, so they will have to remain unnamed until I can get clarification from the experts! As I took nearly 400 photos---thanks to my little digital camera---I have decided to narrow down the selection for my blog. What follows are many blogs (Exploration) of the same day, with pictures and events from the many different villages.
I hope that I have more opportunities to explore further.
Our new local village guides led us on a hike to the top of the mountain to visit a Hindu Shrine. Along the way, we spied much evidence that this area was a quarry site and that stone cutting was done here. Following a narrow path, we came to some stone steps and met a Pundit. He led us up to the shrine. Looking at the surrounding view, Deepak asked questions and was told about other Buddhist artifacts in the area. We hiked back down, now with an aim to find these other artifacts.
Back at the vehicle we drove towards a main road and came across some major construction. A dam was being constructed. During the digging for the dam, construction workers uncovered some ancient artifacts. They left these in a pile. Exploring this area, pottery fragments, stone cuttings, and a statue were found. Leaving the fragments and whatever marvels might be underneath this dirt mound behind, we headed for the opposite side of the mountain where Deepak went in search of another Buddhist statue laying in a field.
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| Evidence of stone cutting |
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| A bird's eye view from the top |
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| Local guides and Pundit |
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| The shrine at the top |
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| Back down from the mountain we were shown this shrine. |
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| Statue and other stone cuttings unearthed by the dam construction workers. |
Next blog…tea break
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