Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by! In my language "Kaazhchakal" means sights. I am not a professional photographer or a writer and these are just some of my thoughts, observations and experiences. All these photographs are taken by me, unless mentioned otherwise. I hope you like these notes and find the time you spend here interesting!
“He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” Thus starts the story of Santiago and one of the most famous novels in modern literature – The Old Man and the Sea. This novella marked the highest point in Ernest Hemingway’s literary career, and such was its impact that the committee specifically mentioned this book when they awarded Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 (a rare occurrence as the Nobel Prize is given for lifetime work and not any specific work). It is believed that Hemingway conceived this story during his time in Cuba, from the various stories he heard from the locals. Hemingway had a deep love affair with Cuba and even today, when you visit Havana after sixty years of his death, you find that Hemingway still lives on in Cuba.
Hemingway is one of my favourite authors and in my travels, whenever I have come across a location connected with Hemingway, I have always made it a point to visit the place. I have been to his house in Key West[1] and to the bar he used to frequent in Venice. Thus, Hemingway was very much on my agenda when I landed in Havana. The first day itself, I went on a tour of old Havana with a guide and came across Hotel Ambos Mundos where Hemingway used to live when he first arrived in Cuba in 1932. This is a beautiful building in the heart of the historic and picturesque old town. Supposedly, Hemingway moved from here to a house outside Havana in 1939 when the view from his fifth-floor room was obstructed by a new building that came up.
Very close to Hotel Ambos Mundos is La Bodeguita del Medio, a bar that claims to have invented the cocktail Mojito. Hemingway used to visit this bar (though not frequently) and they have a board that is supposedly signed by him. His biographer Philip Greene says it is unlikely this was actually signed by Hemingway as there are differences in the signature. In any case, La Bodeguita does brisk business because of this connection, and I too was a visitor there. The Hemingway connection must obviously be very profitable for them, given the high price (compared to going prices in Havana) they charged for my Mojito. Frankly, it did feel like a bit of a tourist trap.
There is another restaurant and bar that Hemingway did use to frequent, named El Floridita, which is also in Old Town and just a short walk from Hotel Ambos Mundos. El Floridita holds the distinction of being the inventor of the cocktail Daiquiri. Unlike the La Bodeguita, this place had a different charm with the rather lifelike bust of Hemingway that you see at the end of the bar (sculpted in 2003 by Cuban artist José Villa Soberón) and it does feel like you are in his presence. For me it was magical to sit at the bar and have a Daiquiri thinking of Hemingway and the times he must have spent at the bar. As mentioned, I had been to Harry’s Bar that Hemingway used to frequent in Venice. When I was there, I was having a Martini thinking about him and his novel “Across the river and into the trees”, parts of which he wrote in Harry’s Bar (the bar itself is mentioned in the book). However, my meditative musings at Harry’s Bar were rudely interrupted by the arrival of four, rather loud Americans who set about complaining about the bar promptly and about how it lacked a view. I was quite irritated and left quickly. Thankfully, El Floridita was a very different experience. People were friendly and there were many photos of Hemingway including a photo of Hemingway and Castro. Supposedly, that was the only time they met, during a fishing competition. However, Castro was quite an admirer of Hemingway and was instrumental in ensuring that his house was preserved and converted into a museum.
In 1939, Hemingway moved out to a farmhouse called Finca Vigía, which is just outside Havana. After Hemingway’s death in 1961, this was converted into a museum through the active intervention of Fidel Castro. Hemingway had wanted the house to go to the people of the locality after his death. It is now preserved as it was when Hemingway left Cuba in 1959. Unfortunately, you cannot enter the house itself as it is roped off; it seems visitors were carrying off memorabilia from the house and so the authorities banned entry for everyone. It is a small, unimposing house with an outhouse attached to it.
Hemingway was an avid hunter as well and often went to Africa on hunting trips and you can see some of his trophies on the walls. Another interesting aspect is that the house is filled with books, and you see them everywhere including the bathroom! There are about 9000 books in the house.
Uniform that Hemingway wore in the Spanish Civil War.
As anyone who has read Hemingway can make out, fishing was an important part of his life. In 1934, he acquired a yacht and named it Pilar. It was the nickname of his second wife, Pauline, and also the name of one of the characters in “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. He spent a lot of time on this boat and even used it to search for German U-boats; well, at least, that is what he claimed but Hemingway being the colourful man he was, there were allegations that this was just a fast one he pulled to get some extra gas rations. Whatever the case may be, he was very fold of Pilar and many of his works have been influenced by his experiences aboard this boat. When he left Cuba, he gifted the boat to his captain and friend Gregorio Fuentes, who donated it to the people of Cuba. Pilar is now on display at the museum.
Hemingway used to frequent a small fishing village called Cojimar, which is a short distance away from Finca Vigía. One of his haunts was the restaurant La Terraza de Cojimar and that was my next stop. This is a beautiful restaurant right by the sea and there is a corner table that Hemingway used to sit at. It is now cordoned off and Hemingway is still there in the form of a small bust. The walls of the restaurant are lined with photographs including a couple with Castro.
Hemingway spent a lot of time here with Gregorio Fuentes and also met a lot of fishermen here. It is likely he got the spark for The Old Man and the Sea from Cojimar. A story involving an old fisherman and a giant marlin had been part of the lore of the fisherfolk in Cojimar for several years. There is a photo of an old fisherman in the restaurant, and some say that Hemingway’s character is modelled on that man though my guide didn’t seem to agree with that. This restaurant is mentioned in the book quite a few times (The Terrace), including at the end where a woman sitting in the restaurant along with her friends, sees the spine of the fish.
Hemingway considered The Old Man and the Sea to be his best work and he revised it countless times before he was happy for it to be published. Just before he wrote it, he had published “Across the river and into the trees” but that hadn’t been received well and Hemingway was hurt by the criticism. Personally, I was surprised to hear that this had not been received well as it remains one of my favorite Hemingway books. The Old Man and the Sea was a response to the critics and I read somewhere that Santiago was Hemingway himself, showing the critics that his skill and craft was still second to none. His first novel “The Sun Also Rises” was published in 1926 and it took him another 26 years to get to the pinnacle of his literary career with The Old Man and the Sea, while writing a series of great books along the way.
Hemingway was a man of the masses and was friendly with everyone around and the fishermen at Cojimar were no exception. When he died in 1961, they were so saddened that they decided to build a monument for him in Cojimar a year after his death. They were poor and had no money but somehow found a sculptor who was willing to make the bust free of cost. However, there was still the problem of finding money to buy the metal needed to make the statue. They solved that by melting the propellers and other fittings of their own fishing boats!
I don’t think a grander monument can ever be built for a writer and off the top of my head, I couldn’t think of many writers who would have been honoured like this, by the masses. But then, that was Hemingway and his relationship with Cuba and its people. He lived life to the fullest, much like his style in writing – direct and without frills. He mingled with everyone regardless of who they were, and they loved him back in return; so, Hemingway lives on in Cuba.
Muziris has a magical ring to it and is one of the few names that sound better to me in English than in Malayalam. It is somehow mystical and its relevance in Kerala history beckons one to make a visit. So, off I went last week to have a look at the Muziris Project. Ideally, I think one should spend two days here, taking in the sights at leisure but I had to fit everything in one day.
Cheraman Perumal, the then King of Kerala (Bhaskara Ravi Varma says Wikipedia), travelled to Saudi Arabia in the seventh century along with some Arab traders and met Prophet Mohammed. He then converted to Islam and died at Oman on his way back to Kerala. He had sent some letters through the Arab traders who were travelling with him, instructing the authorities to whom he had handed over his kingdom when he left for Arabia, to provide all help to the traders. Malik Dinar, who was one of the traders sought help to build a mosque and that is how the Cheraman Juma Masjid came to be. This was built in AD 643 (the date is contested though) at Kodungalloor and thus, is the oldest mosque in India. The mosque had undergone several reconstructions, which damaged the original structure built in traditional Kerala style. I was told that one of the reconstructions made it into a hideous structure like the new concrete mosques that we see everywhere. Thankfully, when the Muziris Heritage Project was launched by Kerala Tourism, they understood this aspect and have now restored the mosque to its original design. This work has been going on for many years and is still not finished. Without a doubt, it is the most beautiful mosque that I have seen in India.
Inside the mosque, you can see the graves of Habib Ibn Malik and his wife. He was the nephew of Malik Dinar and took over the mosque from Malik Dinar. The mosque is quite small and there are carpets on the floor for devotees to pray. Photography is not allowed inside the mosque.
The building is very beautiful and very well proportioned. There is a pond behind the mosque for ablutions. The authorities are now digging under the structure of the mosque to make more space for devotees.
Next stop was the Kottappuram market and the fort. There is a nice walkway along the banks of the Periyar river, where the market ends. Just next to the market is a beautiful square. This must have been where all goods were unloaded after being brought on boats through the river and then distributed. All this has now been developed as part of the Muziris Project. You can still see some old buildings in the market.
The Kottappuram Fort is quite near to the market but there is nothing much to see there. It was built in 1523 by the Portuguese and then it changed hands going through the Dutch, Hyder Ali and the Travancore kings. You can just see a couple of walls and there is no information whatsoever to explain the significance.
My first memory of the word Kodungalloor would perhaps have been associated with Bharani. It is in my list – to be at the temple on the day of the Bharani festival. Since I was at Muziris, I wanted to see the temple. It stands on a reasonably large plot of land and with enough trees that have resting places built around them. It was very calm and peaceful when I visited and I tried to imagine how it would be on the Bharani day with all the mass hysteria and the women all in a frenzy; it would be quite a sight.
I clicked a couple of photos and then someone told me that you need special permission to take photos inside the temple compound.
Paravur is just a few kilometres from Kodungalloor and is the seat of the famed Paliam family. They were the ministers of the King of Kochi and thus, had amassed huge wealth. They own a lot of property in Paravur and it seems the partition deed of their family, executed in 1956, is one of the biggest partition deeds in India. As part of the partition, two buildings have been brought under a Trust and is open for the public as museums. One is the palace that the male head of the family, called Paliath Achan (the minister) lived in, and the other is a traditional Naalukettu that the ladies of the family lived in. The buildings are maintained very well with detailed explanations provided for visitors. The Muziris Project has also appointed guides who take you around the buildings and they explained in detail about the history, the houses etc. The palace was built by the Dutch in gratitude for the help that Paliath Achan extended to them to beat the Portuguese. Hence the construction has significant European influences like very thick walls. The buildings themselves were more functional than ornamental. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the buildings; I don’t understand why they don’t allow photography in such places, a pity indeed.
Next was the visit to synagogues. Muziris had a significant Jewish population and in this vicinity itself there are three synagogues even now – Paravur, Chendamangalam and Maala. The Paravur Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues in India and it is believed to have been built in 1105 AD by Malabar Jews. They were the earliest Jewish settlers in India, and it is rumoured that they were sailors from King Solomon’s period. However, the earliest that Jewish settlors can be traced back to, as per records, is 70 CE. So, they have been in Muziris area for more than 2000 years with the last Jew emigrating to Israel a few years back. The next set of Jews arrived in the 17th century from Iberia, and they were called Paradesi (foreign) Jews and the synagogue they set up in Kochi is called Paradesi Synagogue. The Paravur Synagogue was torn down by the Portuguese and then reconstructed in 1616 AD. This is the largest synagogue complex in India and the influence of Kerala architecture is quite visible. You enter the complex through a two-storied gate with some rooms (padippura), the upper floor of which is connected through a covered walkway (over a courtyard) to the main part of the synagogue. Women entered through this part and were separated from men as they stayed in an upstairs gallery. This was news to me as I have not seen this separation in any other synagogue. Later, I saw the same architecture in Chendamangalam Synagogue as well.
The main area consists of a hall where there is a raised wooden platform called the Bemah or Tevah. This is a structure in the middle of the room, and it faces the Ark, which is a wooden structure along the wall that is closest to Jerusalem. The books of Torah were stored inside the Ark. The original Ark (from 1100 AD) used to be there at this synagogue, and it has since been removed and taken to a museum in Israel. A replacement Ark is in place now. The ceiling is from 1616 and is still surviving. It looks very solid with nice workmanship. The synagogue is not used for worship and the last service was conducted in 1958. Jews from Kerala left in large numbers after 1950, after the formation of the state of Israel and it seems that for prayers to take part in a synagogue at least 10 male members should be available and since the numbers dropped because of the migration, the synagogue ceased to be in active service.
There was a group of American Jews visiting the synagogue the same time as us and they started singing some hymns. That was quite a nice experience – to listen to those songs in a temple that must have reverberated with such worship centuries ago. Muziris Project has provided guides here as well and they were also quite impressed by the singing. I asked the Americans about the separation between men and women in the synagogue and they said it was a practice followed by conservative Jews.
Much to my irritation, photography was banned within the Paravur Synagogue as well and I had to be satisfied with a photo of the building from outside.
Chendamangalam Synagogue proved to be an exception to the silly “no photography” rule, and I was very thankful for that. This one also had a padippura though it was connected directly to the main room of the synagogue as there was no courtyard. The Ark, Bemah, ceiling and the upstairs gallery were all well maintained. This was also constructed by the Malabar Jews in 1420 AD. There were a few tombstones displayed in the yard of the synagogue. These tombstones were taken from the nearby Jewish Cemetery.
Muziris Heritage Project is a prestigious project of the Kerala Government to promote tourism and to protect our heritage. They have done a commendable job in maintaining many of these sites and providing guides everywhere as mentioned above. The guides themselves were quite enthusiastic and ready to help and explain. There was also some amount of information displayed in the Paliam houses and the synagogues. Unfortunately, not enough attention is being given to marketing or publicising information about these places. A guide at one of the synagogues told us that even during peak season they get only about 50 visitors in a day. This is because an average tourist doesn’t even get to hear of this. For instance, when I searched in Google for “Sights to see in Kochi” Muziris didn’t come up at all in the list of 30 provided by the first two listings – TripAdvisor and Thrillophilia. It is a shame that a location with such potential is being wasted like this. Any one of the four buildings – the two Paliam houses or the synagogues – is by itself enough to attract a good number of visitors. In addition are the possibilities of beautiful inland waterways. Government has bought a few boats, and these are slowly rotting away as they are not used at all. At the Kottappuram Fort, there is an office structure that has enough space for an Information Centre, but nothing is available there. A very sad situation indeed.
As I drove back from Muziris, I was a bit sad as I reflected on the current situation in India. Muziris is a showcase of how we lived in harmony between all religions. Within stone’s throw, you have a very old temple, mosque, church, and synagogue. There was a lot of give and take between the religions and the people and subsequently, in their customs. For example, it seems that the Malabar Jews used “thali” when they got married. They even had prayers in Malayalam. From that period of co-existence, we have come to a situation of separation of minds and people and even possible ghettoisation. Very sad.
I have been to places all around Cuba, like Miami, Key West, Nassau, Santo Domingo and Kingston but never made it to Cuba itself. So, when I went to US this September, I made it a point to hop across to Havana for a quick five-day trip. As one of the last few Socialist regimes still surviving, Cuba has always been a fascination and my interest was in trying to understand the life there. This meant I did not go to any of their famous beaches or popular tourist destinations like Varadero. I spent all my time in Havana, except for a day trip to Santa Clara to visit Che Guevara Mausoleum, trying to talk to the locals. My Spanish is limited to “Como Estas”, “Muchas Gracias” etc. and so I could have conversations only with those that could speak with me in English, even if they weren’t fluent in it. I was told that all Cubans learn English in School but since they have no reason to use it in daily life, most of them cannot hold a conversation in English.
The most striking aspect of Cubans is their friendliness; they are genuinely nice people and want to help. Strangers will start a conversation with you and even if they want to sell you something and you tell them you don’t want to buy, they are not put off in any way and carry on the conversation with you. The only limiting factor is language. I wandered by myself through old Havana and parts of Central Havana with my camera dangling from my shoulders, but never did I feel threatened or in any danger at any point of time. Of course, there was a good level of poverty to be seen and people were trying to sell you something or the other (mostly cigars and local currency), but I never felt hassled or in any discomfort even though I didn’t know the local language. One genuinely felt they welcomed you and wanted you to be comfortable. This is very unlike the experience in other Caribbean countries I have visited as you always had to be on your guard in those places. South America is a completely different experience as you really are in danger in many cities – I remember going to a fine dining restaurant in Lima where they provided me a chain to secure my laptop bag to a chair while I ate!
Havana is well known for its classic cars. These are mostly cars that the Americans left when they moved out of Cuba after the revolution. Many are from the fifties and sixties and are beautifully maintained. With the privatization happening in the economy, you are allowed to operate one such car as a tourist taxi; you cannot operate more than one vehicle. They offer you two-hour cruises around the city and I set off in one as soon as I reached Havana. I could also see some old cars that were not maintained so well, and these were operating as shared taxis. I was in a green 1955 Dodge Custom Royal, which had a V8 engine (and thus a gas guzzler at 4 km per litre of petrol). The ride with the top down (when it wasn’t raining) was quite fun and is a “must do” activity in Havana even if it can be a bit of a hit on the wallet. Halfway into our ride, we ran out of petrol and my driver called his friend for help and he arrived in a yellow 1950 Cadillac, with a big can full of petrol. When we stopped for coffee, I saw a beautiful pink car and during the next four days, I saw many beauties on the road.
Similar to the arrangement with cars, you can convert one house to a hotel, and these are called Casas. I stayed in one such Casa as I had read on the internet that government hotels are not so good, and all the hotels are government owned. When I arrived in Cuba, I learnt that there are some hotels that are owned by the government but operated by some international (not American) chains. I was happy that I stayed in the Casa as their service was very good and it was a very cosy arrangement. They organized taxis, provided me a SIM card, organized guides etc. and so it was smooth sailing. The Casa itself was about 4 km from the Old Town and I walked to the Old Town on one of the days. On the footpath I saw some artwork and on enquiry, I was told that some artist had donated his work to be installed on the footpath; I thought that was quite interesting.
Right on the entrance to Havana Bay is Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (Morro Castle) which was built in 1589 to protect the city from raids. This is a nice castle that is well preserved and can be visited for a small fee. There are a few buildings inside with a small museum, which was rather dimly lit. The guns are not well preserved and were rusted and that set me thinking of whether guns would ever fall silent and rusted in our world. In a few days, I was reminded that will never be so with the start of the latest Israel-Palestine conflict with Israel butchering thousands of innocent people.
To me, the main attraction was the lighthouse and the caretaker allowed me up the lighthouse after some persuasion. It was my first time inside a working lighthouse, and it provided panoramic views of the city.
One of my key interests in Havana was to visit the Museum of Revolution as I was keen to see artifacts related to it. Long ago, I had read a book on the Cuban Revolution and had read that Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and about 80 men had boarded their yacht Granma and had landed in Cuba to conduct the revolution but within a few days, their strength reduced to about 20. Yet, undeterred by this adversity, they went about their task and finally were successful in overthrowing the dictator Batista and establishing a socialist regime in Cuba. I was astonished at the determination of these people to have held fast to their dream and against such odds and persisted. Unfortunately, the Museum itself was closed for renovation (seems it has been going on for six months) and so I could not visit it. I had to console myself by visiting a small section of the museum that displayed various vehicles used by the revolutionaries, including the Granma. The yacht was designed to accommodate a maximum of 25 people, yet 82 people were on board when the crossing from Mexico to Cuba was done in 1956. I simply could not figure out how 82 could have lived on board this small yacht during the seven days it took to reach Cuba. It was kept inside a glass cage and because of condensation, photos weren’t clear. They didn’t have any big force, or much equipment and it was motivating to see what a small, dedicated band of people could achieve with meagre resources.
Revolution was indeed a good thing for Cuba, if I were to compare Cuba with other Caribbean or Central American countries. There is a level of social equality and gender discrimination seems to be non-existent. The kind of glaring and jarring inequality that we see in places like India is not seen and that is something very soothing. I also gathered that there is no starvation or unemployment or homeless people in Cuba. This has all happened because of the Revolution and the Socialist structure that was set up by Fidel Castro and his team. Yet all is not well as I could see that people are not happy. I spoke with a few people, and this is the impression I got. Of course, I spoke with just a handful and that is no true cross section of the society, and it is likely that some of the views maybe biased. There seems to be a shortage of everything from food to medicines to anything that people would want. People say that there is no starvation, but they are on the brink – they can’t eat what they want, they eat what they get. Supposedly, the ration suffices for about two to three weeks and for the remaining part of
the month, they must buy food or manage somehow. Some of the comments shook me up a bit and I reproduce some of those below:
“I am only surviving and not living, what kind of a life is this?”
“I have worked hard for thirty-five years and all I have to show for it is a small apartment outside Havana.”
“Health care quality is not very good as equipment and supplies are not there (but Doctors are very good).”
“Housing is a problem as people continue to live in the old houses they were in, when the revolution happened and there are not many new houses and so, often, there are 3-4 generations living in the same house and that means about 10-15 people in a small house.”
“I think Communism will fade out from Cuba as well as it has failed to create an economy; for instance, Cuba was a big exporter of sugar and coffee, but these are imported now. The only question is whether it will be a peaceful transition or a violent one.”
“I had thought I would never want to leave this country but now I want to, if I have a chance.”
“Fidel was good when he started out as he was a revolutionary but then as he got older, he became conservative and that was bad; every revolutionary becomes conservative as he gets old.”
“There is no middle class in Cuba only the powerful class and then the poor and very poor.”
“Market should be opened up as a free market is essential for the health of the economy.”
“Communism can only help meet the bare necessities of life and not people’s aspirations or wants and human nature has aspirations and wants.”
It seems that the situation got much worse after COVID; so much so that some folks told me there are two Cubas – one before COVID and one after. Tourism has been a mainstay for the economy, and it has dipped significantly with the number of tourists falling from about four to five million a year to one or one and a half. The American embargo is definitely the important reason for the difficulties being faced by Cuba, but I gathered that there is an opinion that the Government has also failed in moving with the times and being able to utilise the resources that the country has. For instance, Cuba was once an exporter of sugar and coffee but now is an importer. The black market is very rampant and good many people are engaged in it. It was depressing and sad to see people struggling like this and I hope the Government will rally around and make changes as needed because nobody deserves this.
A very interesting aspect I came across in Cuba was about religion. Catholicism was banned after the Revolution but since 1992, there has been a gradual easing and three Popes have visited Cuba in 1998, 2012 and 2015. Most of the slaves in Cuba were brought from Nigeria and they practiced a religion called Yoruba and as was the custom with Spanish colonies, the slaves were all forcefully converted to Christianity. This is a common feature you see in all countries in Central and South America, with the terrible result that indigenous cultures have been wiped off. However, the Yoruba never gave up their belief and associated the Catholic saints with their gods in Yoruba and thus a new Afro-Cuban religion called Santería was born. So, while they seemed to be praying to the Christian saints, they were actually praying to their Yoruba gods. They also continued many rituals and when I was by a river, I saw some people engaged in some ritual. The Communist Government did not ban Santería outright, but the practitioners did go through some hassles as they needed police protection to conduct rituals and they were denied membership of the Communist Party. However, the government promoted art forms associated with Santería as it was felt that could help forge a united Cuban identity.
Today, Callejon de Hamel is a small alley in Central Havana that celebrates Afro-Cuban culture and Santería. Here you find murals, sculptures and on some days of the week, music and dance, all celebrating the Afro-Cuban culture. A Cuban painter, sculptor and muralist named Salvador Gonzalez Escalona painted the first mural here in 1990 and started off Callejon de Hamel as we see it now. He basically converted a slum area into a thriving location for art and culture. Salvador himself lived here till he passed away in 2021.
It is a very small street but filled up completely with art. There is small house of worship where you can hold Santería rituals. It was kind of deserted when I went there, and a couple of tourists came in and left quickly. I was a bit nervous but ventured into the house of worship, without knowing what it was. When I went into one of the rooms, I met Jose, who is a guide there. He spoke excellent English and spoke to me at length about Santería and their beliefs. It is a polytheist religion and there are gods connected with various different qualities and situations (like Hinduism). Practitioners had to pray to the relevant God to get over their troubles. I am significantly over-simplifying it as it seemed to be a very complex religion based on what Jose said. He said he has been studying the religion for some years but hasn’t fully understood it yet. I saw some paintings of gods there and these had shapes of birds and such other natural elements. It is a very ritualistic religion and observance of rituals is deemed to be very important. For instance, initiation into the religion is a strict ritual with practitioners having to live by themselves for a period, wear white, not have sex, not be photographed etc. I saw a girl in white walk by and Jose told me she is undergoing the ritual. Jose introduced me to a priest and when he learned I am from India, he said he knows of Hinduism and that he has statues of Shiva, Ganesha and Brahma in his house. There is a small bar there as well, which is run by Salvador’s widow and Jose, and I sat there for long time talking about various things. I found to him to be very intelligent and sharp, and the conversation was most enjoyable. It was my last day in Havana, and I left in regret that I had missed their music.
The only time I ventured out of Havana City was to go to Santa Clara, which was about three hours’ drive from Havana. This is where a wing of the revolutionary forces led by Che Guevara won a decisive battle over Batista’s forces and it was this defeat that convinced Batista to flee the island. Che was killed in Bolivia and in 1995 a soldier revealed that Che’s body lay beneath Vallegrande’s airstrip in Bolivia. After two years of searching, Che’s body was discovered in 1997 and it was brought to Santa Clara and cremated there on 17 October 1997. Subsequently a mausoleum was built in memory of Che. There is a small museum inside the Mausoleum which showcases Che’s military uniform, and some of his personal equipment like weapons, medical equipment etc. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the museum, and I couldn’t take any photos. Outside the Mausoleum, there is a huge statue of Che with one arm in a sling (his arm was in a sling during the battle of Santa Clara) and holding a rifle in the other.
Though it is a very small museum, I spent a good amount of time there. Here was a man who was a true revolutionary – a man who became the symbol of resistance to power and authority, anywhere in the world. Someone who stepped down from power and a life of comfort and went to fight for the cause he believed and, in so doing, lost his life. A symbol of hope for all that fight injustice; so much so that protesters everywhere wear T-shirts with his face printed on it. I had read somewhere that his photo was the most reproduced image in the world. There was no one like Che and I doubt whether there will be anyone like Che in the future as well.
Tren Blindado is a national monument in Santa Clara dedicated to a decisive encounter that led to victory in the final battle of the Cuban Revolution. The Batista government had sent an armoured train to Santa Clara with 373 soldiers with arms and ammunition and necessary provisions. At the foot of the Loma del Capiro (a small hill in Santa Clara), eighteen revolutionaries led by Che Guevara attacked the train. They used Molotov Cocktails which made it impossible for the soldiers to get out and when the officers tried to move the train, Che bulldozed the tracks using a bulldozer he had taken from the university in Santa Clara. After a few hours, the soldiers and their officers surrendered and the arms from the train fell into the hands of revolutionaries who used it to capture Santa Clara. Thus, 18 revolutionaries defeated 373 soldiers – that is the power of conviction and commitment to a cause.
The monument itself was constructed by a Cuban sculptor Jose Delarra and it consists of an obelisk dedicated to Che and the cars from the derailed that have been converted into a museum and the bulldozer that they used to derail the train. The museum itself was closed for renovation and someone at the site told me that it has been closed for many months. Thus, there was nothing much to see at the site.
Museums being closed seems to be a regular feature in Cuba; I had mentioned earlier about the Museum of Revolution being closed and now, Tren Blindado. Yesterday (Tuesday), I had gone to visit the Museum of Fine Arts and that was also closed, and I was told that it opens only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In my travel experience, this was the first time I was coming across a museum that was open only three days a week. Quite near the Museum of Fine Arts is the house of the Spanish Governor of Cuba and that is a museum as well. The same story repeated there, and I could only visit two rooms. For a country that relies so much on tourism, the Cuban government is doing a pretty bad job on this front and if this is any yard stick to go by, it would be inefficient in other areas as well.
I have not covered the Old Town and Hemingway’s legacy in Cuba in this post as that would have made this too long; I will write separate posts on that. The positive aspect I like about the current situation in Cuba is that there is no starvation and homelessness, very little crime and inequality. This is quite unlike the situation in some other Central American countries and is an outcome of the Revolution and Socialist policies that followed. However, it must be remembered that change is the only constant and it is imperative that the policies be changed appropriately to meet the new realities of today’s world. For the sake of the Cuban people, I hope this happens soon.
On Friday (28th), we bid adieu to Thimphu and started towards Punakha. Thimphu is at an elevation of 2300m above sea level and Punakha is lower at 1250m. However, on the way, one has to go over the Dochula Pass, which is at 3100m. This is one of the highlights of the region, especially as you can see eight or nine snow clad peaks in the Himalayan range on a clear day. At Dochula, there are 108 chortens or stupas called the Druk Wangyal Chortens which were erected in memory of the Bhutanese soldiers that lost their lives in an action in clearing out Assamese militants that were holed up there. This happened in December 2003 and the fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who was ruling at that time personally led the action. The chortens are built on a hillock and the one at the top is big whereas the others are fairly small. The chortens are quite beautiful and the colour combination is just fantastic.
Dochula is often foggy and chilly and it was no different when we arrived. While that was a disappointment from the perspective of not being able to see the peaks or having great light for photography, the ambience was somewhat magical. The chortens and the slight mist and the cold was a wonderful feeling, marred only by the reasonable sized crowd of tourists. In Bhutan, on clear days, the sky is amazingly blue with some wonderful clouds. Hence, photographs tend to have a special feel of depth and life. I was thinking that photographing Dochula on such a day would be just great, but it was not to be.
I was quite taken up by the patterns that the chortens presented and we walked up a small hillock on the side. There are some caves on the hillock where one can meditate looking at the chortens and the mountains. The white chortens with red bands in the middle and the slate roof all kind of made me feel that I was in some sort of a mystic place. On the back of my mind, I knew this monument is only 20 years old but the images from every angle were quite mesmerising for me. Needless to say, I took many pictures, and we spent quite some time there. Sonam (our guide) said that we could stop once again on our way back from Punakha to Paro, if it were a clear day and we left with that hope.
I had referred to the Divine Madman in the earlier post. He was a Tibetan Buddhist monk named Drukpa Kunley and also referred to as Kunga Legpai Zangpo or Drukpa Kunleg, who came to Bhutan in the fifteenth century and was a controversial figure, to say the least. He believed that there was no need to be uncomfortable with pleasures such as sex and shun them while on the path to enlightenment. In other words, celibacy and self-denial were not required at all to gain enlightenment. It seems that women sought blessings from him, and they were often granted in the form of sexual intercourse. He didn’t ban other pleasures either and I read somewhere that he was quite humourous and was given to wine and song as well.
In Bhutan, holy men are associated with some miracle or having subdued some terrible demon. Drukpa Kunley is said to have overpowered a demon at Dochula and some distance away from the chortens stands a monastery named Chimi Lhakhang, on the spot near where he fought the demon. In that monastery, a wooden phallus that he brought from Tibet is displayed. This is also called the Temple of Fertility as it is believed that if childless couple pray and walk around the monastery holding the wooden phallus, they would be blessed with a child. Sonam, of course, had a firsthand experience to narrate of an American scientist couple from NASA (I was amused by the reference, given the claims that we hear back home of NASA approving this and that) who were blessed with a child after they visited the temple. The Divine Madman advocated painting phallus symbols on houses and carving them on roof tops to ward off the evil eye and you can see this in many houses in Bhutan, especially in this region. All handicraft stores sell wooden phalluses of different sizes and colours and they do make an interesting sight in the shop window!
Chimi Lhakhang is located at a short distance away from the main road and you trek through a village and some fields to get there. It is a very small unassuming temple and the wooden phallus that the Divine Madman brought from Tibet is displayed there. Since photography is not allowed, I could not capture that interesting image of a phallus inside a temple. Of course, Hindus have the Linga inside all Shiva temples but that doesn’t really resemble an actual phallus.
I was thinking that Drukpa Kunley must indeed have been a very extraordinary man, to have been able to preach and establish this drastically different line of thought in a religion like Buddhism where denial of all pleasures is a core practice. I have often felt that the practice of celibacy, especially, is at loggerheads with nature and so was quite impressed that 700 hundred years ago, a man could successfully advocate this approach. It was clear that he was well respected and accepted given the importance he has in Bhutanese history. He also seemed like someone who was accepted more by the masses than the official clergy. I feel there might be some connection between the practice of worshipping the Linga and what the Divine madman preached. There must have been some line of philosophical thought that ran parallel to the established stream, which focused on knowing and taking the pleasures in your stride, thus knowing them and then subduing them as opposed to denying them in total and thus never knowing or feeling what they actually mean. Drukpa Kunley left a lasting impression on me, and I would have loved to meet him and have a conversation with him about whether enlightenment comes from denial or from knowing the pleasures and then overcoming those.
After lunch at a restaurant that tried to make a chicken burger and KFC type chicken, we headed to the Punakha Dzong (Punakha Fort). We did not find any of the chains such as McDonalds or KFC or Starbucks in Bhutan and all restaurants seemed very local. The set up in most restaurants was quite basic and nothing plush. I digress, back to the Dzong! Punakha Dzong is the second oldest and the second largest Dzong in Bhutan but is perhaps the most majestic. It was built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified Bhutan as a country in the 17th century. He was born in Tibet in 1594 and moved to Bhutan in 1616. He then built various dzongs in Bhutan, starting with Western Bhutan and then extending his reign all over. He is a much-revered figure in Bhutan, and you can see his picture and idol in various monasteries. The Punakha Dzong itself was built in 1637-38. It was the seat of the Bhutanese Government till 1955 when the capital moved to Thimphu.
We caught our first sight of the Dzong from the road. It looked majestic and breath taking from across the river with the jacaranda trees in full bloom, adding to the already wonderful colour combination. Such images really set off the photographer in me and I keep clicking away only to realise later that I had taken multiple copies of same or similar images! That is the joy of photographing such buildings.
The Dzong is located between the Pho Chhu (male) and Mo Chhu (female) rivers and these merge to form a new river called Puna Tsang Chhu, which finally crosses into India and flows into the Brahmaputra. I couldn’t understand why they are referred to as male and female rivers. You cross the Mo Chhu River using a covered wooden bridge to access the Dzong.
The Dzong itself is a very impressive building with three courtyards with the final courtyard housing the most important religious buildings – the temple and the building with holy relics. In the first courtyard, you can see a banyan tree that was planted by Jawaharlal Nehru when he visited Bhutan. The courtyards and the buildings are just breath taking and impressive with the wonderful colour combinations and beautiful structures. Sonam said that work on the Dzong started in 1637 and finished in 1638 and when I pointed out that it was a very short time frame, he said that the architect was a special person who just dreamt of all the plans and design in his sleep one night and proceeded with the construction without getting any of it on paper.
The temple is located in the third courtyard and many monks were sitting inside and praying. As soon as we entered, they started beating their drums and blowing various pipes and other instruments and we sat there in the hall for some time. It was something magical and somehow spiritual to listen to it and to see all the orange / red robed monks inside that brightly coloured temple. The atmosphere was beyond words, for me. The next in line to be the Chief Abbot was also there.
The body of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal is kept in this building and according to Sonam, it is still in the same condition as it was when he passed away. Of course, only the King, Chief Abbot and the caretaker of that building are allowed inside and so, no one else has seen it. It seems that any cleaning or such work that is required to be done has to be carried out by the caretaker or the King and no one else. Sonam claims to have seen the King do this work himself.
From the Dzong, you walk past the cremation ground to access the second largest suspension bridge in Bhutan. This bridge is about 160m long and is over the Po Chhu River. It is quite well made and given the length of the bridge I was expecting it to swing like crazy but the stay wires on both sides kind of ensured that the bridge was relatively stable.
Khamsum Yulley Namgyal Chorten, or simply Namgyal Chorten, is a short drive away from Punakha town and was built in 2004 by the Queen Mother to bring peace to the world in general and for the prosperity of Bhutan. From the road, you have to walk up a hill for about 45 minutes to reach the Chorten and it is quite a delightful walk. You walk through fields for some time and then start climbing. The scenery is just fantastic, as can be expected of Bhutan.
The Chorten itself is beautiful and you can climb on top of it, unlike most other Chortens. This meant we could see beautiful views of the Punakha valley and the Mo Chhu River snaking its way through the valley.
On the way back, we met an old man selling some fruits by a field. We bought a few oranges from him, and he agreed to pose for a photo. Sonam was of the opinion that he must be selling these fruits (overpriced, said Sonam) for drinking money as children always take care of the parents in Bhutan and as mentioned earlier, if there were no children, the King would provide.
Our last visit at Punakha was Sangchhen Dori Lhuendrup Lhakhang Nunnery, which was built by the father-in-law of the Fourth King. It is on top of a small hill and was very close to the hotel we stayed in. There are 120 nuns there as inmates now. One interesting point I heard from Sonam was that nuns and monks are paid a salary and they are also paid when conducting religious rights. It seems they often come from poor families and thus they act as a source of income for their family. Looks like the system here is such that these people continue to be part of the commercial aspects of society and not far from it as we often think they are. The stupa here is of Nepali design with two eyes painted on it.
On the way from Punakha to Paro, we did pass through the Dochula Pass but it was another cloudy day and so there was no opportunity to see the peaks. After reaching Paro, we spent some time walking around the quaint little town. Mountain Café is often given positive reviews in various travel websites, and we went in there. They have two outlets in Paro – one which serves only veg and the other that serves both veg and non-veg. Sonam had been talking about masala dosa and how popular it is in Bhutan, especially when they can get it from Indian Army canteens and this set me up to order a masala dosa at the café and I must concede that it was quite okay even though the masala tasted different.
In the evening, we stepped out to the river flowing behind our hotel and the view was just gorgeous. The water was ice cold and very clean. As is often the case with rivers in the Himalayan valley, the riverbank was fully of large round stones, and it was quite difficult to walk. The setting was very peaceful, and I cannot stop talking about the sky and its colour. On a sunny day, it is such a fantastic blue and looks so interesting with the white clouds.
Thus far, it had not rained during our visit though the weather forecast had predicted rain. We were told that weather forecasts are not reliable at all in Bhutan, but Paro was showing rain for the remaining two days and I was very apprehensive about what this might mean for the trek to Tiger’s Nest. Sonam was quite clear that the visit would have to be cancelled if it rained. We had decided to play it by the ear and take a call on which day to use for Tiger’s Nest, based on the weather that day.
The first day after we arrived at Paro itself was reasonably clear and we set off that day itself to Tiger’s Nest. This is the most iconic temple in Bhutan; its proper name being Paro Taktsang. Guru Padmasambhava is believed to have flown up here on a tiger (supposedly one of his consorts converted herself to a flying tiger) and meditated at this spot. Guru Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th century is highly revered in Bhutan (and elsewhere) as some believe him to be a reincarnation of Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama) himself. Supposedly, the Buddha, during his last days, told his very close disciple Ananda that after eight years of his death, a great guru would be born on a lotus. This increases Guru Padmasambhava’s importance as his arrival was predicted by the Buddha himself. Later, Tenzin Ragbye, ruler of Bhutan from 1680 to 1694 and who is believed to be a reincarnation of Padmasambhava himself, built the temple at this site. Given the location of this temple, it must have been quite a task. It was partially destroyed by fire in 1998 and restored to its current form in 2005.
A quick drive took us to the base from where the climb starts and since it wasn’t raining, I was in high spirits. The trek itself is a bit of a task as you have to walk more than five kilometres and that too upslope all the time. In addition, there are about 400 steps to go down and another 400 to climb up, as you get to the temple. There is a restaurant at midway point and supposedly, the first half of the climb is more arduous than the second. I had read somewhere that the climb takes about three to four hours. After our trek to Namgyal Chorten, Sonam had complimented us on our fitness; according to him, we finished the trek quicker than most people. He was confident that we would finish this trek in three hours. We were a bit suspicious that all this praise from him was kind of a booster dose for our confidence to tackle the trek to Tiger’s Nest. After you buy your ticket, you encounter people renting out walking sticks. It is a good idea to get one as it can be of great help on the way. Sandhya got one but my pride didn’t allow me to. You can also rent horses for the relatively low price of Rs. 1200/- per rider and these horses would take you to the half-way point. You need to walk back yourself as it is risky for the horse to carry a person on the way down. Needless to say, we never even considered that possibility and after a mocking glance at those talking with the horse handlers, we set off on our way.
The way up is through an enchanting pine forest and that itself is an experience. Soon, we came up on a small temple. I don’t have the ability to describe the beauty of that place. Had I the time, I would have sat there for hours.
Rather quickly, the weather changed, and dark clouds and the sun started playing hide and seek. I decided to give up worrying about whether I would get a good photo and take it as it came. Through all this the Taktsang Lhakhang and its mountain towered above us with clouds hanging around it, giving it a mystic air. It was almost as if someone was looking down on us.
The path was easy in a few spots but mostly, it was quite steep. Horses take another route that is less steep, but we didn’t go that way as there were good many horses on that path that day. We could see people of all ages attempting the climb and some looked quite elderly. Sonam said that many only go up to the half-way point and pay their respects to the Lhakhang from there. The climb to the temple is supposed to cleanse you and the effort is a demonstration of your commitment. This is why many Buddhist temples are built on hill tops, said Sonam. We figured that we were in for a pretty good cleansing that day and continued the climb, punctuated with many stops to catch our breath. In just about an hour, we reached the café at the half-way point and sat down for a welcome coffee.
Tiger’s Nest and its mountain is visible from the café and it is an awe inspiring sight. We met an American group who had been staying in the same hotel as we were, in Punakha, and one of the girls told me that there is another climb to a small temple just before reaching Taktsang and that it gave an opportunity to view the Taktsang from above. She said there was only one person there and she was suspecting that she was not supposed to go there. We asked Sonam about this place, and he said we can go there if we wanted and added that they only take European tourists there as Asians and Indians would have been tuckered out by their climb to the Taktsang itself to attempt any other climb. We decided to give it a try if we had the energy after visiting Tiger’s Nest. It started drizzling and so our stay at the café got a bit prolonged. Soon the rain subsided, and we set off on our way after clicking a few pictures.
Soon, one of the guides who was accompanying a Vietnamese group joined us as he found himself in a funny situation where he and the group had no common language in between them and a climb up the mountain was not conducive for sign language. The effect of him joining us was quite a bit of a hit on our ego as he and Sonam were talking all the time and carrying on as if they were out for a stroll in the park; and this, while we were keeping all communication to a minimum and trying to keep the panting down. They consoled us saying that they do the trek about once a week and so were quite used to it. Soon, we came to a small temple built to mark the location where the 67th Chief Abbot was born.
Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the first viewpoint, where the Taktsang revealed itself at reasonably close quarters. These images are the most popular across internet when you look for images of Bhutan. It is truly a very uplifting and somehow satisfying experience to look at the Lhakhang after such a steep climb. You feel truly rewarded.
After the viewpoints, you start descending the steps on to a bridge, from where you can see a waterfall.
The bridge connects two mountains, and you then climb up about 300 steps to reach Tiger’s Nest. There are nine temples in the complex, eight of which are dedicated to Padmasambhava and the ninth one is dedicated to the local deity. Bhutanese believe that if you go to the temple of any local deity, you must visit it each year thereafter. There are such local deities in most temples, and we had been avoiding them for this reason. In one of the temples, you can see the entrance to the cave in which Padmasambhava meditated. It seems the cave is opened only for one day in a year and entry is restricted only to Bhutanese people and Buddhists.
Sitting inside a temple on the mountainside, at such an altitude is very, very pleasant and an enriching experience. We spent some time inside a temple meditating, as Sonam called it, and I could easily understand why monks choose such surroundings. The peace and tranquility cannot be explained.
It drizzled a bit when we were in the temple complex, and we started on our way back after that. We reached the point to climb up to the other temple and debated whether we should go up. Sonam seemed uncharacteristically reluctant; he being quite enthusiastic otherwise. In any case, we decided to try and it and went up some steps from where we could see a small temple and a steep iron ladder leading up to the temple at the hilltop. At this point itself, we were looking down on Tiger’s Nest and Sonam’s reluctance seemed to increase. When I pressed him, he said the rain clouds were looking ominous and if it started raining, the descent would be very difficult. He also said that the café would close by 4 pm and we needed to get there well before, to get lunch. Clouds were darkening and we reluctantly decided not to go up to the other temple and went back.
It started raining as soon as we reached the café and on hindsight it was indeed a good decision that we did not carry on to the other temple. The climb up and the walk down had sapped our energy and I had made the mistake of not carrying any chocolate bars and it was not available in the café. So, suffice to say that we were ravenous by the time we go to the café and but naturally, I found the lunch to be very good. It didn’t look like the rain was going to stop and so we decided to start the second leg of the descent without waiting as it would become dark otherwise and there were no lights on the path. Since the horses had stopped plying by then, we took that path. As I was worried about the camera getting wet, I took up the one small umbrella we had. I had slung the camera bag in front of me on my chest and this meant I could not see where I was putting my foot down and, in some parts, the path had become slippery because of the rain. So, the descent took a bit more time for me and I found Sandhya and Sonam waiting for me at the car park by the time I got down.
Thankfully, we didn’t get too wet and, on the way, back in the car we were discussing about how lucky we were that the weather gods allowed us to visit this wonderful place. Tiger’s Nest was definitely the highpoint of our trip to Bhutan and in my opinion, no visit to Bhutan is complete without it. It not just the majestic beauty of the place, it is also the peace and tranquility you find there. An exceptional experience is all I can say. We were also quite elated that we were able to finish the trek without much difficulty. Overall, we had taken about two and a half hours to get to the top with half an hour of stoppage time at the café.
Next day morning, we started with the Kyichu Lhakhang, which is one of the oldest monasteries in Bhutan. It was built in the seventh century by a Tibetan king and in the seventeenth century, it came under the patronage of Ngawang Namgyal. It is set in a beautiful garden and according to Sonam, one important aspect of this temple is that the idol here is that of Siddhartha Gautama (the current Buddha) but the idol is draped in the dress of the future Buddha (Maitreya).
This temple also had a space which Sonam called as “like your Nagas in Hindu temples”. This was just a rectangular structure with roof on it. Sonam said some people claim to have seen cobras here. We had seen similar spaces in other temples too. I found this to be quite interesting, as it spoke of some connections between religions and possible give and take, especially as I didn’t see the snake as an object of worship in Buddhism.
Next up was another monastery where the master Thangtong Gyalpo fought a demon that had taken the shape of a turtle and subdued it. Sonam showed us a cavity of one wall and said that was the mouth of the turtle. This monastery is called Jangtsa Dumtseg Lhakhang. It has some sort of a charm though it is very simple in design and appearance. There are 108 prayer wheels around the temple and Sonam said that many local people come here and go around the temple 108 times. We did see many walking around with folded arms.
We then drove a short way up the hill side from where we could see the Paro town and it does look so beautiful.
Paro Rinpung Dzong was a short ride away and this was built by Ngawang Namgyal in 1644 after demolishing an older dzong that stood at this site. This is a fairly large Dzong and was decorated pretty much like the others we had visited.
There is a small entrance hall and the walls of that hall are decorated nicely with pictures and since this was not inside the temple, photography was allowed. There is a painting of the Buddhist circle of life here. Those born with elements of rooster (greed), pig (ignorance) or snake (anger) are in the lower half, because of these base elements. These are depicted in the circle in the centre. It is believed that everyone who is born is part of this circle. They go out of the circle when they become Buddha i.e., achieve enlightenment. The Bhutanese believe that human form is the best form to achieve enlightenment and it takes several rebirths for one to become a Buddha except for some very gifted individuals. They believe very strongly in reincarnation, and they say that every master before he dies, writes down the signs by which his reincarnation can be found out and passes it on to his chief disciple. Thus, they speak of many people who are alive even now and connect them with stalwarts that have passed away long ago. This belief seems to be very deep rooted and seems to be taken without question.
That brought us to the end of a wonderful trip, which was truly an experience. Bhutan doesn’t have anything overly exceptional to show off, except may be its natural beauty. The monasteries are not too very old (as most have been rebuilt) and they are not very sophisticated in architecture like the temples in India; not a single site is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. There are no flashy, swanky buildings or art galleries or even sports like para gliding (as this may cause people to glide over monasteries and that is taboo). Yet, the country and its people have a special charm, and you cannot but lose yourself in it!
A country that has intrigued me for years but one I have had no reason to visit in any official capacity – Bhutan. Suddenly the stars aligned, and Sandhya and I set off to visit Bhutan in the last week of April; 26th, to be precise. As first-time visitors, we planned a leisurely itinerary and limited our trip to the oft-visited touristy districts of Thimphu, Punakha and Paro.
The first visual that comes up when one thinks of Bhutan is the Tiger’s Nest monastery and indeed Bhutan is all about monasteries and the wonderful natural beauty of the Himalayan countryside. As Sonam (our guide) mentioned on the first day itself, if you are looking for nice cities and modern amenities, Bhutan is not for you; nor will you find art galleries and such or locations with deep historical significance (except monasteries). Yet, the overall charm that Bhutan weaves over you is just exquisite.
It is indeed well known that Bhutan accords greater priority to quality of life than mere economic progress and so they track Gross National Happiness as their Key Performance Indicator than GDP, as almost all other countries do. I was curious, and a wee bit skeptical, on the applicability of this concept on the ground. Just a few days there, even as a tourist, helped me understand what a difference it has made for the country just because they kept GNH as their most important focus from the 1970s. This is not to say that Bhutan has not seen its fair share of repression, human rights violation and ethnic cleansing and that too, as close as the nineties. The Lhotshampa people who constituted between 25-35% of the population had been uprooted and most of them expelled from Bhutan as part of the ethnic cleaning in the nineties. Bhutan is a monarchy still even though they have been transitioning slowly to a democracy with a Parliament and a Constitution. The King is the most powerful political figure even now and is the final authority in matters like national security. The day-to-day administration is handled by the Parliament, and I understood that the King could be impeached with a two-thirds majority in the Parliament. The King seems to be very well respected, and you can see his photographs everywhere; the next most visible person being the Jé Khenpo (Chief Abbot), the highest religious post in Bhutan. I was a bit cautious in my discussions with Sonam on Royalty and politics, especially as he seemed very loyal to the King, and I need to mention the caveat that we didn’t go into Southern Bhutan (where the Lhotshampa issue happened) or have exchanges with many local people. Yet, overall, people looked happy and content.
This could be because of their significant to commitment to Buddhism (people are very religious) and also because the government follows policies to ensure that everyone gets a chance to come up. For instance, free education and health are provided by the government and that too at all levels (not just schools). Sonam said there is not a single beggar (and we didn’t see any) in Bhutan and that if someone doesn’t have land or a house or children to look after them, the King will provide for them. Wherever we went, people looked quite happy and friendly. They were courteous and happy to pose for photos and all, the only hurdle being that of language as elderly people didn’t seem to know English. Another indicator of being content and patient was seen on the roads where people drive with consideration for others and there was almost no honking or disrespectful behaviour and this even though the roads are twisting and turning all the time because of the terrain. We didn’t see many bikes around even in the city and Sonam said most people have cars. Of course, it is not overcrowded like Kerala or most of the Indian cities as there are just seven hundred thousand people in Bhutan, which has an area of about 38,000 square kilometres.
If there is any significant wealth inequality in Bhutan, it isn’t evident. Sonam said that there are not many people in Bhutan who are very rich and nor are there who are very poor; most people are in the average bucket, he said. By the look of the towns we visited, it looked to be true. The whole country is very clean and well maintained but you do not see many swanky buildings around. Restaurants are all kind of in the mid-range and you don’t see very expensive ones and even the five stars (food, not accommodation) weren’t expensive as compared to India. Similarly, the cars are mostly Maruti or Kia or Honda or the odd Toyota and I probably saw only one BMW and one Mercedes during the entire trip and those two were both Government owned cars. Going from India where inequality is so evident and in your face, this is a wonderful change and the awareness, that no one is deprived, itself lifts you up. In addition, the Bhutanese are quite connected with nature, and they are quite tuned into environment protection. Bhutan is a carbon negative country, and it seems their Constitution stipulates that sixty percent of the land area of the country must be under forest cover all the time – the current cover being 71%. To me, this kind of summed up why the Bhutanese are happy, and I attribute that to the policies of their King and the Government and to how the people practice their religion. The operative word being “practice” as I have seen other Buddhist countries that are totally strife torn and nothing like Bhutan.
Bhutan’s policy is to make tourists spend money and not on increasing the number of tourists. Hence, the 50-minute flight from Calcutta to Paro costs 4-5 times the amount you spend for a similar flight between two Indian cities. Of course, there are only two airlines that are allowed to fly into Bhutan – one owned by Bhutanese government and the other by a Bhutanese businessman. Every visitor to Bhutan must be accompanied by a guide and they must hire their own transport. I felt these restrictions have been devised to generate local employment. Further, every Indian tourist must pay a tax of Rs. 1,200/- per day and this goes up steeply to USD 200 for people from other nationalities. Same is the story with hotels where Indians get a preferential rate (which itself is much higher than what you spend in India for similar class hotels) as compared to other nationalities.
We landed in Bhutan on a bright sunny day after a short flight from Calcutta. We were greeted in traditional style by our guide and the driver by draping the “khadar’ on us. It is a long piece of white cloth made of silk measuring about 6 ft by 1 ft. This seemed to be a very touristy thing and we were greeted similarly in all hotels that we stayed. Paro Airport is the only international airport in Bhutan, and it is a nice and small airport and so you are out of the place in a jiffy. As per our itinerary, our plan was to go to Thimphu from the airport, a drive of about an hour and a half. Our first port of call was a coffee shop, and that building was our initiation into traditional Bhutanese architecture. Straightaway, I fell in love with the buildings in Bhutan. One of the items on offer was butter tea and I pounced on the opportunity to taste it since I have read about it many times in travelogues of Himalayan travellers. Sonam had warned that it might taste like soup, and I didn’t believe him; turned out he was right.
Within half an hour of leaving the café, we reached Tamchog Lhakhang – a temple dedicated to the 13thcentury Tibetan saint Thangthong Gyalpo. It seems that travellers were finding it difficult to cross the river and so Thangthong Gyalpo built a bridge using hand wrought iron chain links. The iron used was very durable and the bridge survived till 1969, when it was washed away in floods. The current bridge that we see was rebuilt in 2005 using some of the old materials. Gyalpo was a blacksmith and an architect, and he built many such bridges in different places in Bhutan. The iron chain link bridge cannot be used anymore and there is a foot suspension bridge that can be used to cross the river, to go the temple located on the other side. This is a private temple, and we did not visit as Sonam said we would visit enough and more temples in the days to come!
Near the temple there is a small room with some prayer wheels. On the floor, we found a lot of cone shaped objects. Sonam told us that in their version of Buddhism, there are a lot of rituals to be conducted after death. One of those is to create 108 such small cones (he referred to them as tcha tcha) which are made by mixing the ash after cremation with clay and then these votives are placed in different locations that have positive energy – for instance, a cave overlooking a river. The number 108 is special for Buddhists as that represents the 108 negative characters in humans – such as greed, anger etc.
It seems another practice is to make 108 white prayer flags and place these, in memory of the dead person, in a site overlooking the river, mostly in hill sides. You can see such memorial prayer flags in many different places of Bhutan. Once the flags start to tear, they are taken away.
Sonam told me that Buddhism has too many rituals to be followed after death and that it is very expensive. He was even opining that some people are becoming Christians because of this exorbitant expense! Currently 85% of the population are Buddhists, with 12% Hindus and 3% Christians, with freedom of religion being guaranteed by the King. The version of Buddhism followed in Bhutan is Vajrayana Buddhism.
By and by we reached Thimphu and after the usual welcome ceremony, we headed out for lunch. There we discovered a Bhutanese curry Emadatshi – made with chilli and cheese – which was just wonderful with red rice. Red rice is grown in the Thimphu area, and it is a bit smaller and tastier than the variety we get in Kerala.
After lunch, we visited the Memorial Stupa in Thimphu, which is also known as Thimphu Chorten. This was built in 1974 in memory of the third King of Bhutan who passed away in 1972, and it was renovated in 2008. Most stupas contain relics of holy men but this one doesn’t, and it only has a framed photograph of the third King. The building is quite beautiful and nicely decorated.
It is located centrally within the city and so accessible to all. It seems that old people spend a lot of their time in this place, praying and prostrating before the idol.
There is a room with giant prayer wheels and another glass walled room for butter lamps. Lighting butter lamps is an important part of worship, and you can see butter lamps in most monasteries and temples and often, these cause fires resulting in extensive damage to the building itself.
Photography is not permitted inside any temple and so we couldn’t capture any of the nice idols or paintings inside. The inside walls of temples are decorated with good many paintings depicting important incidents and people associated with the faith. The main idol and other idols take up a lot of space and is generally tall. The main idol inside this Chorten is that of Padmasambhava who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th Century. He is shown in many forms and good many are the ‘wrathful’ forms that he took on, to fight evil spirits. It is interesting that each male idol has a female figurine sitting on its lap, in what is almost a position of coitus. Sonam explained that the male is not complete without the female and that is why they are always shown as a pair.
Next was a visit to the Buddha Dordenma statue, said to be the largest Buddha in a sitting posture, located on a hill that overlooks the Southern approach to Thimphu. This statue is made in bronze and inside it there are 100,000 smaller statues that are 8-inch tall and another 25,000 that are 12-inch tall. The statue was made in China and the whole project that started in 2006 and finished in 2015 and is said to have costed about USD 100 million. The statue towers over Thimphu and you can see it even from the road to Punakha.
On the top of the hill the structure stands tall and, on the courtyard, there are statues of many Taras (angels). The views from the courtyard are quite nice and on a clear day, it is simply breathtaking.
With that we ended sightseeing for the day and came back to the hotel. Since our hotel was centrally located in the city, we ventured out a bit later to see the town. Thimphu is a very quiet place with hardly any sound of traffic as the number of cars are quite low to start with and Bhutanese obviously do not labour under the misapprehension that the horn is some sort of a communication device and entertainment piece all rolled into one, as Indians do. There are no traffic lights in Thimphu (and so the whole country) and there was only one traffic island with a policeman whose gestures were more like that of a dancer. There is a central square called the Clock Tower Square which is very beautiful and there are some cafes which are ideal locations to drink a leisurely coffee and watch life go by.
Next day started with a visit to a Takin reserve. Takin is the national animal of Bhutan and Bhutanese believe that this animal (that resembles a cross between a goat and an antelope) was created by the Divine Madman (more on him later) to convince other monks about his powers. The reserve itself is not much to write about and what I found interesting were the pine trees and that grew abundantly in the reserve. I didn’t take any photos of the Takin but did take a few of the pines!
Next, we visited a place called Simply Bhutan where they gave us a taste of the local liquor (Ara) and Bhutanese lunch. Since this was a complete tourist trap, I don’t think there was anything genuine about the whole experience there. The only thing of interest is a four-hundred-year-old window that had a nice feel to it.
We also visited the National Institute for ZorioChusum, where they teach the thirteen traditional arts and crafts in Bhutan, Folk Heritage Museum (where a traditional house is preserved as such) and the Royal Textile Academy. There was nothing of great significance in these places. At the traditional house, I noticed that the prayer room is as big as the only other room they have in the house. When I asked Sonam, he said that every Bhutanese house has an altar and a temple kind of room in their house and if it is a two-bedroom flat, one bedroom is dedicated for this; such is the importane they accord to that room. They pray every day and on holidays, people visit monasteries and temples. In short, they are a very religious people. I was a bit surprised to note that even young people are as religious, given that they are comfortable to be in relations like living together as opposed to traditional marriage.
Windows in Bhutan are very beautifully and intricately painted. It seems that houses have to maintain a particular exterior design as per building rules. So, everywhere you turn, you are greeted with beautiful buildings with wonderful windows. Even the roof colour is regulated with government buildings having red roof and others having blue or green colour. The courtyard inside the Royal Textile Academy is just brilliant with windows set out in blue.
On Sonam’s advice, we skipped the Tashichho Dzong (seat of the government and King’s Palace) as he felt it was not worth the time and effort. We were also a bit tired with the not-so-interesting visits that day. Overall, Thimphu could have been finished in a day as there is nothing much to see there. However, the leisurely pace was relaxing.
Pattadakkal and Badami have been on my list of places to visit for a long time and after the unprecedented and completely unanticipated experience of the world shutting down, I thought a road trip was in order and set out from Bangalore on the afternoon of the first day in October. After a rather long drive that involved torrential rains and me losing my way, I eventually arrived at Badami. This is a very small town with limited options for accommodation and completely centred around the attractions such as the Cave Temples, Fort, Mahakuta Temple and Banashankari Temple.
Badami is located in Bagalkot district in Karnataka and was the capital of the Chalukya dynasty between the 6th and 8th centuries AD. It was known as Vatapi at that time and there are some inscriptions that show that King Pulakeshin-I made some fortifications on the hill nearby, in the 6th Century. Sandstone cliffs surround Badami on three sides and that is possibly why Chalukyas chose Badami as their capital and moved there from Aihole. The Chalukya empire was at its peak during the reign of King Pulakeshin-II and it extended from Kanchi (Tamil Nadu) to the banks of the Narmada river and from Orissa in the East to the West Coast. A guide told me that the classical song “Vatapi Ganaptim Bhaje” is connected with Vatapi (Badami) and an internet search (Wikipedia) confirmed that. Muthuswamy Dikshithar wrote this song and it is dedicated to the icon of Ganapati that the Pallavas brought from Vatapi after they defeated the Chalukyas in battle. Pulakeshin-II was killed in that battle.
Supposedly, the name Vatapi changed to Badami over the years because of the almond colour of the sandstone rocks that you find everywhere in Badami. Truly, these rocks are of a beautiful reddish-orange colour and stunning to behold.
I was mostly interested in the Cave Temple and the Fort and set out early in the morning to view the Cave Temple. I knew that early in the morning, light would not be enough for any photography inside the caves but my plan was to enjoy the caves in relative peace before the crowds started coming in (especially as it was the Dussehra holidays) and come back later for photography. That proved to be a wise decision as there were very few people in the Caves at that time and the ambience was so very charming and relaxing.
The caves have been carved out from a small hill and there are steps that lead up to the caves. There are basically four caves – the first one being dedicated to Shiva, caves two and three to Vishnu and the last one to Jain Theerthankaras. The Chalukyas were Vaishnavites but they constructed Shaiva and Jain temples as well.
Right next to the Caves is a huge lake called Agastya Lake and this was probably the water source for the capital. The lake is named after Sage Agasthya and there is a myth that the lake was brought to Earth from the heavens by Garuda and hence the water has the power to cure illnesses and cleanse all sins. Wiki says that the lake is man-made and is from the 7th Century. The lake is used quite a lot by the citizens for their everyday life and I could see many people bathing and washing clothes. From the Caves, you get a beautiful view of the Bhoothnath Temple on the shores of the lake and the Fort on top of the hill.
After breakfast, I set out to visit the Fort and Bhoothnath Temple. Autorickshaws ply from the Cave Temple and they take you through very narrow roads inside the village to the foot of the hill and the lake. The surrounding areas of the Cave Temple and the lake are rather dirty with pigs roaming around everywhere. However, the Archaeological Society of India is doing a good job in maintaining the monuments themselves as they are all very clean.
My first stop was at the Bhoothnath Temple. There are two, one small one close to the hill and another a bit far away at one side of the lake. In reality, these are temple complexes as there is more than one temple in any given location. However, none of these temples are used for worship now and are maintained by ASI. This means that these temples don’t have the normal eye sores that you see in temples that have active worship, such as bright, glitzy boards, steel bars and such.
Bhoothnath Temple was quite deserted when I got there except for the guard that ASI had posted there. The temple is almost at water level and so, would definitely be flooded when water rises in the lake. There are three or four small temples in this complex and the carvings on the walls are intricate and amazing. There are some carvings done on the surrounding rocks as well. The colour of the rocks add to the beauty of the temples and with the designs used, they are just mesmerising.
Behind the temple, the rocks rise up and there is a nice waterfall flowing down from the top. I am sure it would look majestic when there is enough water.
Next stop was the Fort. This was the abode of the Chalukyas and was built in 542 AD. It was destroyed by the Pallavas when they defeated the Chalukyas in battle. When Badami came under the rule of Tipu Sultan, he rebuilt some of the fortifications. You can walk up the hill using a paved pathway that has many steps. It is not a difficult climb at all and as I mentioned earlier, ASI has maintained it quite well. There are not many buildings left standing and the two important ones are two temples – Lower Shivalaya and Upper Shivalaya. The idol of Vatapi Ganapati was originally located in Lower Shivalaya before the Pallavas carried it away.
Lower Shivalaya
Upper Shivalaya
Granary on top of the hill
There are some doorways along the path and it is very evident that the fort could be defended very easily by a handful of soldiers, given the structure of the pathway. The time eroded rocks on both sides add significantly to the experience.
On the top there is a round structure that had cannons installed for defence. Given the style of the architecture, I guess this must have been constructed during the time of Tipu Sultan. At the top of the hill, very near to Upper Shivalaya, there is a Durgah that has the tomb of Sayyid Hazrat Badshah (I couldn’t find out who this person was).
By this time, it was past noon and I headed back to the Cave Temple. After the fall of the Chalukyas, Badami came under the Deccan Sultanate and later Tipu Sultan and there are some evidences of Muslim rule, such as the Durgah mentioned above. Yet another is the charming Markaj Jumma mosque, built by Tipu Sultan, that is right next to the Cave Temple and hosts the tomb of Abdul Malik Aziz, a governor of Badami.
As is often the case with Archaeological sites in India, one will not be able to understand any detail about the caves if one doesn’t engage a guide. Sure, there are some small boards put up outside but those don’t have enough information and are often quite confusing. This is a real pity as most people do not or cannot engage a guide and so miss out many of the wonders and these sites are often so rich in history and culture. It would be great if the ASI can introduce a relatively cheap method like audio guides so that people can immerse themselves into the great experience that these amazing sites can provide. Since I knew that a guide is more or less mandatory if one were to try and get some understanding about the caves, I engaged one. Of course, these guides do also add some “interesting” bits from their side as well and I have often heard the same sight being explained in two different ways by two different guides; all the more reason for audio guides!
All the four caves have been carved out of rock and there are no joints anywhere in any of the pillars or statues. In other words, nothing has been worked upon outside and then brought here and fixed. It is assumed that each cave might have taken 12-15 years to finish. Data is available only about the third cave, which is the most ornate, as there is an inscription on one of the pillars in it. This cave took 12 years to finish, from AD 576 to 588. The first cave that was excavated was Cave-1 and then Cave-2 and so on.
By the time I got back, there were a lot of people visiting the caves, as can be seen from the photo below, which shows the façade of the first cave. This cave is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Dancing Shiva statue with eighteen arms with Ganesha and Nandi shown nearby
Dwarapalaka
Harihara – Vishnu and Shiva coming together, with symbols of Shiva shown on the right side of the statue (such as Nandi) and those of Vishnu on the left side
Mahishasuramarddini
Statue of Ardhanaareeshwara with Sage Bhrigu (the skeleton like figure) and Nandi shown on the side of Shiva and a female consort on the side of Parvati. The guide told me that Bhrigu had become skeleton like after he was cursed by Parvati but that was not how I remembered the story and internet too confirmed that it was Lakshmi who cursed Bhrigu to be doomed to poverty. According to the puranas, Bhrigu had set out to find who among the three gods – Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu – was the greatest and when he arrived at Kailasa, Nandi did not let him enter as Shiva was busy making love to Parvati at that time. The enraged sage cursed Shiva that he would only be worshipped as a Lingam (phallus) along with a Yoni to depict Parvati. Perhaps, it is this story that the sculptor wanted to convey through this work. This story about Bhrigu is quite interesting and once again points to the richness of the Puranas which often did not follow any hierarchy with Sages being superior to Gods themselves, at times, while the Sages spent their lives worshipping those Gods. They provide so many such sly entry points to paths that lead to the questions on what is supposedly the main theme.
Adisesha shown with five heads in the ceiling of Cave-1
This Nandi has been brought from outside and is the only structure in the caves that has not been carved out of the rock and is free standing
Shivalinga in the sanctum sanctorum of Cave-1; however there is no worship in the temple
A climb up a small set of steps takes one to Cave-2, which is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Statue of Trivikrama is seen at the entrance to the cave and Vamana can be seen holding an umbrella. There is intricate work in the ceiling with a design of four swastikas joined together in a never ending pattern and also a circle with twelve fishes in it. One can only marvel at the effort and care that must have been put in, to carve these out of rock. One mistake and the piece would go bad and there was no opportunity to replace the piece as everything was carved out and nothing was joined. There is no idol in the sanctum santorum of this cave and same is the case in Cave-3 as well.
Cave-3 is also a few steps away from Cave-2 and this is the cave with the most intricate carvings and its history is fairly well documented because of the inscription mentioned earlier.
It seems that most of the sculptures were painted in the olden times but almost all of the colour has been lost. They must have used vegetable dyes and this must be why the colours were lost over time. In cave 3, we can see some notches on the floor and the guide said this was the palette for mixing the paint but I am not too sure. Currently you can see some colour only on one small section of the ceiling in Cave-3.
Remnants of paint on the ceiling
Trivikrama statue in Cave-3
Eight armed statue of Vishnu as dwarapalaka
There are two very large, beautiful statues at each end of the corridor as we enter the cave; that of Vishnu seated on Seshnag (Anantha) and of Prasanna Narasimha at the other end. Supposedly, the pose of Vishnu sitting down on Anantha is very unique as he is normally shown as reclining on the coils of the snake.
Vishnu seated on the serpent Anantha
Prasanna Narasimha
The quality of the work in this cave can be seen from the fantastic designs on pillars and also from the beauty of the statues. Some of the statues are carved out like stays to the ceiling on top of the pillars and you can see hollowed out spaces as well. They had even carved out some work on the inside of the awning of this cave as well. One can only marvel at the patience and the dedication of these sculptors. Each of these caves took more than 10-12 years to complete and I wondered at what would have been the motivation of kings to support this work over such a long period; especially when you consider that average lifespan at that time must have been around 50 years or so. Maybe it was a desire to leave something for posterity to remember them by.
Ornate designs on pillars
Work on the awning
There is also one statue that is a kind of social commentary. Here a couple is shown in an inebriated state, particularly the lady. She has had too much to drink, her dress is falling off and she is vomiting, with a dog eating the vomit. This statue has been kind of damaged a bit and so I thought the guide was making the story up till I went to Aihole and heard the very same story from another guide there and saw the same work on a pillar inside a temple; that one is much clearer and the story is quite evident. This just goes to show that women drinking alcohol was common in ancient India and it is indeed strange and comical that the self-declared custodians of Indian culture are completely scandalised if they hear of any woman having a drink in modern India. I had read somewhere that what these fellows are peddling as Indian moral values are actually Victorian values and morality and I am inclined to believe that, given their general ignorance and biased interpretation of history.
There is also a statue which plays a trick with the angle of view. When you look at the statue from one side, it is that of a dwarf.
The same statue when viewed from an angle behind the dwarf, looks like a monkey with the earpiece of the dwarf resembling the snout of the monkey.
The last stop was Cave-4, which is kind of separate from the three caves. It seems that in olden times, a wall separated this cave from Cave-3. It is almost unfinished and there is not much by way of intricate designs here though there are some large statues.
Statue of Bahubli
Status of the twenty third Thirthankara
Idol of Mahaveera, the twenty fourth (last) Thirthankara, in the sanctum sanctorum
I spent more than four hours at the cave, walking to and fro and gawking at all the work. The interiors of the caves were generally plain and most of the work was in the corridors. The beauty of Badami cannot be described in words, at the very least I am quite incapable of it. I was very glad of my initial visit early in the morning as it provided me an opportunity to immerse myself into the ambience without all the disturbance from large numbers of tourists that appeared after lunch. I would definitely recommend Badami and one should spend at least a day here, just to visit the Caves and the Fort. There are also other attractions like Mahakuta Temple and Banashankari Temple. I did go to Mahakuta Temple and that is quite nice too but it is no match to the wonders of the Caves.
This book is non-fiction yet reads like fiction; a work that is historical and at the same time, philosophical. The book consists of interviews with several people from the erstwhile USSR, conducted over twenty years from 1991 to 2012. These are all first-person narratives and the author doesn’t appear anywhere except for some remarks about the narrator. As you read through the stories of the people that came out into the streets to topple the mighty Communist machine, you realise that they weren’t against the ideals of Socialism, they did not want Capitalism, they wanted to hold on to the dream of equality and fairness; yet the cruelty and oppression of successive authoritarian regimes starting with Stalin, made them do it. Mindless, unspeakable cruelty meted out in the name of an ideology that was supposed to be one of the most humanitarian. In my assessment, the revolution of 1991 was not against Communism but against corrupt, authoritarian rulers like Stalin.
Yet, no sooner had they toppled Socialism, than they were faced with the beast they had unleashed – Capitalism. People were like deer caught in the headlights of a car, with no experience or knowledge of how to live in a strange and harsh world they found themselves in. Ultimately, there were no winners, only victims. They caused a revolution and the new system did not do anything to help them; nothing changed for most and life became worse for many, some wanted the old system back, some felt there was no difference.
The human being is a very complex and often difficult to understand entity and that comes through clearly in many of the stories. How does one understand a factory director who was jailed and tortured by the Stalin government for ten years but whose one fervent wish, after being released, was to somehow get back into the membership of the Communist Party; a mother who thinks that the Party was right in sending her son to prison because he made a casual remark against the State. Raw stories of broken people, maimed for life, hollowed out frames; in short, a modern-day Gulag Archipelago. People suffered before the revolution and after the revolution; Communism was gone and Capitalism was in but people continued to suffer as before, their lives and dreams shattered.
Svetlana Alexievich deserves great credit for this book. She is a presence throughout the book, but she hardly intervenes. There are no interview questions and the stories are set as monologues. Of course, the author must have selected the interviews she wanted to record and reproduce and the order of the narratives carefully. The book is quite big (about 560 pages) and I read a review which said that it could have been made shorter by skipping some of the stories, but I felt that all the stories were required. Some of them felt similar but they really drove the point home; you had no escape, they were drilled into you. Overall, a very good book!
Moscow has been a very familiar name since childhood and one had heard about the Red Square, Kremlin etc. from a young age. In November 2019, I had an opportunity to spend a couple of days at Moscow. The fascination with the USSR and consequently Moscow, had started with some of the Soviet publicity books that I had read when I was young. Kerala, with its Communist roots, was always interested in the USSR and the stories of the October revolution, Lenin etc. were quite commonplace.
Naturally, my first port of call was the Red Square. Given the Communist history of Russia, my impression was that the origin of the name Red Square must have been connected somehow with the revolution. However, I understand this is not the case. This has been the main commercial square in Moscow since many centuries and it has been called so since 1662 or so. It separates the Kremlin (palace of the Tsars and currently of the Russian President) and the historic merchant area. This has been a very important location in Russian history and many ceremonial activities including coronation of the Tsars took place in the Red Square.
This rather large square borders the Kremlin on one side and the main attractions are the most famous icon of Russia, the St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s mausoleum etc. There is a very large department store (called the GUM) that occupies one side of the Red Square where the erstwhile commercial quarter was located. This store is more than a hundred years old, I understand.
On one side of the Red Square is the Kazan Cathedral. After defeating the Polish army in 1612, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky entered the Kremlin through the Red Square and in commemoration of that success, he built this Cathedral and consecrated it in 1625. The original building was of wood and burned down in a fire in 1632 and was rebuilt using brick and consecrated in 1636. It was considered as one of the most important churches in Russia and on the anniversary of liberation of Moscow from the Polish forces, the Tsar and the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church used to lead a procession around the Red Square. As part of removing religion from public life, Stalin ordered the demolition of the church in 1936 and a temporary building to host the offices of the Communist International was constructed on the site. After the fall of USSR, this was the first church to be reconstructed (1990-1993) and has been made to look like the old church.
St. Basil’s Cathedral is arguably the most reproduced image from Moscow and is regarded as a cultural symbol of the country. It is now a museum. its original name was The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed. Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of Russia (1547 to 1584), constructed this church to celebrate the capture of two cities – Kazan and Astrakhan. The construction took six years from 1555 to 1561 and it had nine chapels with eight chapels around the central ninth one. A tenth chapel was added later, in 1588, to honour a local saint named Vasily (Basil in English). In the Soviet era, this church was taken over by the state and converted to a museum and all religious activities stopped. After the collapse of USSR, some church services have been resumed since 1997.
This building has a very unique architecture and resembles a fire rising up to the sky. Supposedly, there is no other building with a similar architecture in Russia. I read somewhere that an old mosque in the captured city of Kazan may have been the inspiration for this architecture and to the untrained eye, the building does look more like a mosque than a church, with its massive domes.
The interior of the Cathedral is very beautiful and richly decorated with icons, altars and nice paintings.
The GUM department store is a very impressive looking building and the roads outside were all decorated, possibly in anticipation of the New Year and Christmas (Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on 7th January).
The next day morning, I decided to visit one of the most popular monuments in Russia – Lenin’s Mausoleum. It seems this monument attracts the highest number of visitors in a year. Lenin’s body has been embalmed and displayed here since his death in 1924; except for a brief period during the Second World War when the body was moved to a city in Siberia as it was feared that the Germans might capture Moscow. The mausoleum stands on one side of the Red Square; the square, squat red marble tiled building on the left side of the image below. When I arrived, there was a queue waiting for the museum to be opened; Mercury had fallen below zero and it was extremely cold, with a wicked wind, but people waited patiently.
After Stalin died in 1953, his body was also embalmed and displayed right next to Lenin’s. However, Stalin’s body was removed in 1961 as part of the de-Stalinization drive and buried in the Kremlin wall along with other leaders. Photography was not allowed inside the Mausoleum and so I could not take a picture of the body. It looks as if Lenin is sleeping on his back, with a blanket covering the lower half of his body. It looks very life like and you wouldn’t think almost a hundred years have passed since his death.
Two thoughts crossed my mind as I stood there looking at the great leader’s body. This was a man who had changed the world and made a new order of society and politics possible. John Reed, an American Journalist and Communist, was a witness to the October Revolution and he saw the whole event unfold, from close quarters. In about a year from then, he published his book “Ten days that shook the world”, which is an eyewitness account of the revolution. This was an unbiased account as it was published in 1919, before the people that came to power after the revolution had any opportunity to influence what was written. As you go through the book, it becomes very evident that the two people that made the revolution possible were Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Leon Trotsky. It is also equally evident that Josef Stalin did not have much of a role in the revolution. In the whole book, he is just mentioned in two places and that too as passing references. From the two, the body of one lies preserved in all this grandeur as a sign of respect and gratitude of the state while the other, Leon Trotsky, lies buried in a small grave in a non-descript cottage in Mexico City; after he was murdered by the KGB agents sent by the usurper, Stalin.
The second thought was about the seeming absurdity of making a shrine out of a Communist leader’s dead body. In a strange way, I was reminded about the relics and preserved dead bodies of Christian saints. I am sure that the state benefits from the symbolism of Lenin’s dead body but somehow I felt it was not in keeping with what this great leader stood for. After all, he was the proponent of a philosophy which was rooted in logic and not symbolism.
Next stop on the agenda was The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This church was built in the nineteenth century and was demolished in 1931 on the orders of Stalin. It was rebuilt between 1995 and 2000, after the fall of the USSR. It is an imposing building and stands right on the banks of the Moscow river. You can walk up to the terrace there are some very beautiful views of the Moscow city from there.
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is just a short walk from the Cathedral. It has the largest collection of European art in Moscow and is a visual treat. There were works by many masters like Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso, Monet, Gauguin etc.
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba: Hans Vredeman De Vries
View of the old market in Dresden: Bernardo Bellotto
Bucentaur’s return to the pier by the Palazzo Ducale: Canaletto
View of the Grand Canal in Venice from the Fondamenta Del Vin: Michele Marieschi
The bridge across the Marne at Creteil: Paul Cezanne
Nude woman sitting on a couch: Pierre Auguste Renoir
White water lilies: Claude Monet
Luncheon on the grass: Claude Monet
A mother’s kiss: Eugene Carriere
Girls on the bridge: Edvard Munch
Young acrobat on a ball: Picasso
Spanish woman from Majorca: Picasso
Old jew and a boy: Picasso
Jaguar attacking a horse: Henri Rousseau
The muse inspiring the poet: Henri Rousseau
Mirror above a washstand: Pierre Bonnard
The King’s wife: Paul Gauguin
Her name was Vairaumati: Paul Gauguin
Gathering fruit: Paul Gauguin
What, are you jealous: Paul Gauguin
The ford: Paul Gauguin
Landscape at Auvers after the rain: Van Gogh
The red vineyard at Arles: Van Gogh
The prison courtyard: Van Gogh
Bolshoi Theatre is a very well known Russian icon with the Bolshoi Theatre Company having been founded in 1776. The company operates in various cities in Russia and the building in Moscow itself is very well known and is even featured in the Russian One Hundred Ruble note. I was staying very near the Theatre and used the opportunity to watch a short performance. This was on one of the side stages and not the main one and was an orchestra. It lasted for about 40 minutes and was quite enjoyable.
The State Tretyakov Gallery has the best collection of Russian fine art and was started by a merchant from Moscow by name of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov in 1856. Having seen some works by Nicholas Roerich in the gallery in Mysore; I was quite keen to visit this collection of Russian art. I found that many of the works from the 19th Century had very relevant and interesting social themes; especially those by an artist named Vasily Grigorevich Perov. Interestingly, the Gallery did not have many works from the Soviet era; not sure why.
This painting is titled “The appearance of Christ to the people” by the artist Alexander Ivanov. It is a huge work measuring 5.40m x 7.50m and this was the most important work in the life of Ivanov. It took him twenty years to finish this painting and he died within a few months of finishing the painting. John the Baptist is the central figure in the painting (wearing an animal skin) and points to the Christ who appears in the distance. Ivanov has painted himself into the portrait as the wanderer with a staff, sitting right in front of John the Baptist. The artist made several small works, probably as studies for the painting, and these were also exhibited at the museum.
This piece by Konstantin Flavitsky is titled Princess Tarakanova and is based on the story of a young woman named Tarakanova from Italy, who claimed a right to the Russian throne. Catherine II lured her to Russia and imprisoned her in Petropavlovskaya fortress in a cell that was known to flood every time the waters in the nearby river rose. The painting shows a desperate Tarakanova standing up on her cot as the flood waters have reached almost up to the bed. There is no evidence of whether Tarakanova was indeed killed like this but the painting caused a lot of public outcry and Ivanov was later forced to announce that he had made up the subject from a novel.
I liked this painting (The Unequal Marriage by Vasily Pukirev) quite a lot and it seems it was received with a lot of enthusiasm when it was painted as it did not stick to conventional subjects used till then, but instead chose to show a social issue that was common at that time – old, rich men marrying young women who are unwilling, but are forced into the marriage. A young man, supposedly, the girl’s lover, looks on from the back.
Painting titled “Easter Procession in a Village” by VG Perov. I quote from the description provided by the museum: “In the early 1860s, Perov created a series of anticlerical paintings. Its main theme was the clergy that forgot their duty. A bored and drunken procession carrying icons and gonfalons is passing by the viewer. The peasants with half-closed eyes are wading towards a precipice as if they were blind. Their leader, a drunken priest, who has crushed an Easter egg underfoot, has abandoned them. Not far from him we see a woman holding an icon whose image is effaced. Farther off there is a poor man carrying an icon upside down. But the All-Seeing eye on the gonfalon is there as a reminder that these people won’t escape the Supreme Judgment. The dull landscape, dissonant movements of the participants in the procession and bleak dawn emphasise the ugliness of the whole scene. The painting was removed from an exhibition of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in St Petersburg on grounds of it being an “immoral” work. Its reproduction in the press was banned, and P.M. Tretyakov was advised not to show it to visitors.”
This painting titled “Troika” by Perov was the one that touched me the most. It was painted in 1865 and in those days, peasants used to migrate to the city in search of work, because of extreme poverty and their children used to work as apprentices. Perov used three such children as his models in this painting. The boy in the middle was living with his mother and he had no father; they were very poor as well. Shortly after modelling for the painting, the boy contracted some disease and died. The mother was distraught and heart broken and she sold all her belongings and took the meagre amount she had to Perov and asked for him to sell the painting to her as she wanted to be able to see her boy whenever she wanted. By that time, Perov had finished the painting and it was displayed at the The Tretyakov Gallery. Perov took the mother to the gallery and showed her painting.
Funeral Procession: VG Perov
Yet another work by Perov that speaks about the social issues of the time: “Tea-party at Mytishchi near Moscow”. I quote from the description provided by the museum: “Ordinary on the face of it, the scene of tea drinking under the shade of a tree is transformed by Perov into an accusatory picture that deals with an acute social issue. The table turned cornerwise to the viewer with a samovar on it halves the small canvas, which is almost square-sized. The world of the painting’s characters also breaks into two parts: on one side, we see a fat, well-fed priest, on the other side – a poor old man and a boy. The impression of social drama is reinforced by the Order of the Hero of the Crimean War on the old man’s chest. At the same time, the idyllic background landscape and the circular rhythm of the painting’s composition embody the idea that justice and harmony lost should be restored in the world.”
This painting is titled “Landscape Steppe” and is by an artist named Arkhip Kuindzhi. This work was so very different from the other paintings and I was curious to note that it was painted between 1890 and 1895. I am not sure whether there were many paintings in this style at that time. I was reminded of a photo by Andreas Gursky, which is among the most expensive photos ever sold, having fetched a sum of $4.3 Million in 2011.
This work titled “There is Life Everywhere” by Nikolai Yaroshenko was yet another image that I liked a lot. I quote from the description provided by the museum: “ The topic of social contradictions was one of the most important for Yaroshenko. This painting was inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s story What Men Live By. The artist originally planned to title his work as Where There Is Love, There Is God. Prisoners have huddled up together at the window of a convict car to feed pigeons. The painting’s idea was to show humanity maintained in inhuman conditions. The central group reminds the Holy Family. Like many other Wanderers, Yaroshenko used parallels with the Gospel to enhance the social resonance of his canvas. “This speaks so much to the heart,” said Leo Tolstoy about this painting.”
This painting “Christ in the Wilderness” by Ivan Kramskoi immediately catches the eye because of the very desolate nature. I quote from the description provided by the museum: “The artist looks upon the Sacred history in the context of the issues of his day. Gospel themes and images served at the time as a way to express ideas of what was good and just. Christ’s personality was understood as the “perfect human being” embodiment; the life journey of a progressive person was a reflection of His earthly path. Kramskoi wrote: “…There is a moment in the life of every human being, who is created in the image of God however slightly or greatly, when they are in a quandary – whether to take the ruble and deny the Lord or not to yield a single step to the evil.” The painting took on a topical nature thanks to the resemblance of Christ’s pose on Kramskoi’s canvas to the pose of Fyodor Dostoevsky in the famous portrait by V.G. Perov. Both paintings were made in 1872 and both were shown at the very same travelling exhibition. Eternal, panhuman problems are the central theme of the painting.”
This is a huge work titled “The Princess of a Dream” by an artist named Mikhail Vrubel. It measures 7.5m x 14m and was painted in 1896 with the help of two others. It speaks about a love affair between Geoffroy Rudel and Princess Melisandre. Supposedly, Rudel heard about the beauty of the Princess and travelled across the sea to meet her. Unfortunately, he contracted some illness during his voyage and died at the time of their first meeting and with this, the Princess became a nun. I am not sure whether this is fiction or true story. I was not very exposed to Russian art in the past and Tretyakov definitely set that right. It was quite a beautiful experience.
Moscow has very wide roads and walking around the city itself is a pleasure. I was staying close to the Red Square and many buildings around that area were very impressive. There is some more to see in Moscow and two days were not enough. I hope to be back one day.
Montmartre has always had a romantic kind of appeal given its association with famous artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso etc. and because of its association with events like Paris Commune. I had not been able to visit Montmartre during any of my previous visits to Paris and this time, when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it and set off with my camera. The first sight that greets one as we get out of the metro is the famous Moulin Rouge. This iconic nightclub, which has even made it into celluloid, has been around for more than a hundred years and is often a prime destination for the partying crowd.
A short walk takes one to the Montmartre Cemetery. As odd as it may sound, I find it kind of peaceful to visit cemeteries, especially the old ones. One gets a strange feeling when looking at the resting places of the famous and the powerful, the dead. As Spring had not yet started in Paris, there were no leaves on the trees and that added to the ambience with the shadows and bare lines.
Montmartre Cemetery is quite large and was started in 1825 when Paris started running out of space to bury their dead. The government banned burying of corpses within the city limits and Montmartre, which was outside the city limits and also had abandoned quarries, proved to be the right setting for a cemetery. It has now become a place to visit in the map of Montmartre because of the numerous celebrities buried there like Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Degas, Adolphe Sax etc. There was a detailed map available in the cemetery which showed the tombs of the famous people buried there but it was a bit confusing and I could not locate Degas.
The next stop on my agenda was the Dali Museum though I was not very sure of how it might turn out to be as I suspected that there was an overtly commercial angle to it. The day was quite sunny and Montmartre presented interesting sights as one passed by.
Vincent Van Gogh lived in this house in Rue Lepic with his brother Theo from 1886 to 1888. Theo owned this house and continued living here even after Vincent moved on.
Montmartre once had thirty two functional windmills, of which only two have survived. These can be found at “Moulin de la Galette” and this was a popular subject for many artists like Van Gogh, Renoir, Corot etc.
The Dali Museum, though small, turned out to be quite a treasure trove. There were many sketches done by Dali, sculptures etc. “The Persistence of Memory” inspired sculptures were quite fantastic. Dali had done many sketches based on Alice in Wonderland and also a famous comic strip.
This work “Retrospective Bust of a Woman” was presented in Paris in 1933 with an actual baguette (which was then eaten by Picasso’s dog!) and it evoked mixed reactions as such objects as bread and corn had never appeared in art works before. Ants are an oft-used motif in Dali’s work, signifying decay.
The Space Elephant is a sculpture motivated by Dali’s work “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” and the “Cosmic Rhinocerous” represents Dali’s fascination with objects that have a hard exterior and a soft interior.
Alice in Wonderland was another favourite subject for Dali and here are a series of sketches that he did based on Lewis Carrolls’ book. In the sculpture, Alice is shown as a young woman, which kind of contrasts with the innocence that Carroll accorded to Alice, in his story.
There were many works based on The Persistence of Memory and I liked these the best.
Next was a work that showed Dali’s interest in Anamorphosis. On one hand, it is the painting of an insect done in great detail but the work becomes complete when one looks at the cylindrical mirror where one can see the self-portrait of Dali, shown as a clown.
These are some sketches that Dali made for a Parisian publisher in 1971 based on some old engravings. These have been modified into Dali’s own style with grotesque figures.
This is a work in a classic style but replete with Dalinian symbols like a watch, an egg, two ants and the divided torso.
In 1942, Dali produced a backdrop “The Ship Aground” which was inspired by Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet and its tory of impossible love. Dali tries to show a world torn between love and hate in the colours blue and red, emphasising the duality of passion.
Roman poet Ovid, wrote a series of three books titled “The Art of Love” in the year 2 CE. This was supposed to be a series of instructions to men on how to attract women. Supposedly, this work so enraged Emperor Augustus that he exiled Ovid (censorship and moral policing seems to have been active even then). In any case, the work excited Dali and he produced these etchings based on it.
“Woman Aflame” is famous work by Dali and I quote this interpretation from what was pasted alongside the work: “This work combines two of Dali’s obsessions: fire and a feminine figure with drawers. The flames coming from her back represent the hidden intensity of subconscious desire, while the drawers express the mystery of hidden secrets. Open drawers point to the private, subconscious of the human being. The flames are supported by crutches “generally used to support fragile soft structures” according to Dali. This faceless woman devoured by flames is the symbol of the mystery of femininity.”
Next on my list was a visit to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in the heart of Montmartre. Construction of this church started in 1875 (soon after the Paris Commune was crushed) and finished in 1914. It was consecrated in 1919 after the First World War finished. To many of the free spirited inhabitants of Montmartre, this church represented the last nail in the coffin of their freedom and they viewed this as an imposition of the will of the state.
En route to the church, I passed through the famous Place du Tertre, which was a haunt of artists in the heydays of Montmartre. Even today, one can see some artists with their tripods and easels offering to make portraits of tourists and selling their work.
Maybe because I had an impression of Sacré-Coeur as a symbol of oppression, the first image I captured of the church was this – more like a picture from the sets of a horror film!
The Basilica is quite impressive and it also offered some interesting views of Paris as it stands on a hilltop. Photography was not allowed inside the church and so I couldn’t capture any images there. It looked pretty much like other European Catholic churches with plush interiors. Entrance to the bell tower was closed and that was a pity as that would have offered some more interesting views of Paris.
After you get down from hill, a few minutes’ walk takes you to the “I Love You” wall. This is set up in a small garden and has an area of about 430 sq. ft. The phrase “I Love You” is written all over the wall in about 250 languages. I could spot Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi etc. on the wall. This seemed to be a must visit spot for the romantically inclined as I could find many people expressing their love in front of the wall.
When you wander through Montmartre, you see plenty of buildings that were associated with artists – like this one which claims to have been frequented by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet etc.
One of the quaint little delights in Montmartre is the Le Clos Montmartre a tiny vineyard bang in the centre of town spread across an area of about 16,000 sq. ft. The produce from this vine yard (about 1000 bottles of wine) is auctioned off during the annual harvest festival and the proceeds used for development projects in the area. Supposedly, this vineyard was started in 1933 to stop real estate developers from grabbing the space – I wish we had similar projects in Bangalore.
Just across the street from the vineyard is the oldest cabaret in Montmartre – “Au Lapin Agile”. It was started in 1860 under the name “Au rendez-vous des voleurs”. In 1875, artist Andre Gill painted the image of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan and people started calling the place “Le Lapin à Gill”, meaning “Gill’s rabbit”, which later on evolved to the present name. This was also a popular haunt for artists, anarchists, students, writers etc. Picasso even made a painting titled “Au Lapin Agile”.
My last visit was Musee de Montmartre, which was the oldest house in Montmartre, having been constructed in the middle of the 17th century. Many artists lived here, including Suzanne Valadon and Renoir had painted in the gardens of the house. There were many works of art in the museum with many works from Valadon.
Montmartre still retains a bit of its former anarchist spirit with graffiti to be seen in many areas.
Although I had spent a good many hours around Montmartre, I hadn’t covered all the sights. However, I could sense the spirit of Montmartre, that still lingers there – a heady mixture of art and anarchy. One could only wonder how it would have been in the twentieth century when Montmartre had its day in the sun. Just roaming around the place was great fun and I am sure I will be back here one day. For now, dusk had sent into Montmartre.
“Arbeit macht frei” is a German expression which means “Work brings freedom”. This phrase originated from the title of a novel written by Loernz Diefenbach in 1873 and in the novel, the protagonist is a fraudster and gambler who finds the path of righteousness through proper employment. An expression which can be deemed to be mildly motivating – except when you see it written over the gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp when you walk in.
It chilled me to the bone when I read it; what struck me was not the absurdity or even the cruelty in having such a slogan at the entrance to a concentration camp where innocent people where brought in just because fate played a cruel trick on them, in the accident of birth called religion. It was a kind of prescient moment for me, it made me understand how extreme cruelty can be inflicted on fellow human beings by people deemed normal. Work! Work on improving production; work on arriving at a “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem”. It was just work – how to kill efficiently; how many deaths per day will help achieve the target of extermination of a race by a certain date; what can be done to ensure that a race does not survive by ensuring that its women are sterile; how much can medical science advance if it had access to enough humans whose life did not matter and hence any type of experiment could be conducted on them – it was just work. The trick was to change the complexion of the terrible acts from what it really was to “work” and the Nazis knew this and that is why they posted “Arbeit macht frei” at the entrance to all their concentration camps. And it worked; for as George Steiner said: “We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day’s work at Auschwitz in the morning”.
Auschwitz, where approximately 1.3 million people were killed in about 3 years – that is an average of little over a thousand a day; Auschwitz, the most infamous of the Nazi concentration turned extermination camps; Auschwitz, where Anne Frank was an inmate (though she did not die there); Auschwitz, which Viktor Frankl and Ellie Wiesel survived and wrote about; Auschwitz, a timeless reminder of the depths to which man can fall!
Auschwitz (situated near the Polish town of Oswiecim) was started as a concentration camp in 1940 and it was converted to an extermination camp in 1941. The first gas chamber was constructed here in 1941 and after the Nazis became convinced that gas chambers using the poison Zyklon B were an efficient method for mass killing, the camp was extended to include Birkenau which had four gas chambers. Over 1.3 million people are estimated to have been killed at Auschwitz-Birkenau with about 90% of them being Jews. The whole area was about 40 square kilometres with a plant for producing synthetic rubber also included in this space. Most of the tour is in the Auschwitz I camp as that is what has survived, including the gas chamber. In Birkenau (Auschwitz II) there are only a few barracks left and the gas chambers were demolished by the Nazis towards the end of the war in a desperate attempt to destroy the evidence of their heinous crimes.
We visited Auschwitz on a cold, bleak day and perhaps that was fitting to the mood of what we were about to see. The guide led us through the gates of Auschwitz and we could see a row of neatly arranged brick buildings, which looked quite peaceful and even serene. These were the barracks that prisoners were housed in.
The visit started with a building that had a gruesome exhibit – an urn containing human ashes found in the camp.
There were many photographs also exhibited in that building.
The photographs were taken by the Nazis to help with documentation and were mostly about prisoners arriving at Birkenau, awaiting selection etc. A passage from Dr. Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning” came to my mind about how he himself stood in such a line upon arrival at Auschwitz. The prisoners were asked to go to the right or left. Although they did not know it at that time, those sent to the left ended up in a gas chamber within a couple of hours and seventy five percent of the prisoners that arrived were sent straight to the gas chambers. The Nazis wanted all those that could not work to be killed immediately, without having the need to “waste” resources on them. Don’t be appalled, just think of it as a demonstration of efficiency!
This image really broke my heart. If you take it out of the context, this might look like children walking in a village or out on a picnic; but this a photo of kids walking to their death. Young and innocent and yet…
Some prisoners were chosen to help with disposing the dead bodies and they were called the “Sonderkommando”. Of course, those chosen had no option but to be part of this group and some of them tried to take photographs clandestinely to show the world the reality of Auschwitz. Such an image is shown below, of mass burning of dead bodies.
The poison gas, Zyklon B, used in the gas chambers came in these canisters. Zyklon was used as a chemical weapon by Germany in World War I and was banned later. A chemist named Bruno Tesch and others made some modifications to use this as an effective killing agent this was named as. Zyklon B. Tesch was executed in 1946 for his role in this war crime as he knew that Zyklon B was being used to kill people.
Prisoners were brought into the camps in railroad wagons with 80 to 100 prisoners crammed into each wagon. Mostly, they had to leave their homes with very short notice and had just a few pitiful belongings with them. Even these were taken from them when they arrived at the camp and today we can see these heaped up, as exhibits.
Some of the stuff was used for war efforts. For instance, prisoners were shaved before they entered the gas chamber and the hair was used to make vests for soldiers. Gold teeth were pulled out and the gold reused. Of course, what use do dead men have for gold!
Initially, the Nazis used to photograph each prisoner and keep records but they stopped this when the volumes increased as Hitler moved toward the Final Solution of killing all Jews in Europe. This meant that a huge portion of the people that were killed in Auschwitz were never recorded as having arrived there as they went straight to the gas chambers. Later on, the Nazis claimed that they had no idea about these “missing Jews”, in an effort to escape punishment for this criminal act.
Facilities for the prisoners
The sadistic and ruthless criminals from among the prisoners were chosen to be guards called “Capos” and the Capos enjoyed some special privileges including better accommodation.
This is Block 10 where experiments were conducted on women to see how quickly sterilization could be done. The Nazis planned to rid Europe of Slavs after the Jews were exterminated as the pure Aryan race could then thrive and have enough space for itself. The Slav population at the time was estimated to be 100 million people and they realized that killing so many people was no easy task and so they needed a multi-pronged approach. One of the ideas was to sterilize women so that there would be no progeny. Here also, volumes posed a challenge and in Block 10, they conducted experiments on the inmates to develop efficient means for sterilization. Doctors who had taken the Hippocratic Oath were the ones conducting such experiments! Such is the power of hate peddling, the power of creating an “other” – the others are not humans anymore and thus do not deserve to be treated as such and of course, the others are at fault.
Every day, the prisoners had to assemble in a particular area where their count was taken. If there was anyone missing, the count was taken again and again till the authorities were satisfied and the prisoners had to wait in the open till then. The guide told us that this exercise went on for 9 to 10 hours at times. Many prisoners did not even have shoes and their clothing was totally and completely inadequate to meet the winter conditions when the mercury dropped well below zero. As I stood there on that slightly cold day, I couldn’t even imagine standing barefooted in the mud in those pitiful robes at minus twenty degree Celsius for hours on end. Those are hardships that can’t even be imagined.
If a prisoner was missing, his or her cell mates were taken to task, tortured or killed. The idea was to make everyone suffer if one escaped. This was a cunning method to ensure that the prisoners themselves would try to stop anyone from even thinking of escape. In such conditions as in Auschwitz, the veneer of civilization drops and man starts to focus only on the primordial instinct of survival. Dr. Frankl has mentioned about how the all pervasive thought that was foremost in every prisoner’s mind, was about food as they never had enough to eat. They were fed a coffee kind of liquid in the morning, a limited quantity of very thin soup in the afternoon and some black bread in the evening. With this diet, they were expected to do heavy labour such as creating roads, buildings etc.
Our guide mentioned that the average life expectancy of a prisoner in Auschwitz was three months! In his book “Night” Elie Wiesel speaks about how a fellow inmate advised him to forget about looking after his father and try to focus on his own survival – caring for the father being a burden in that case. Such indignity can’t even be imagined by people like us and thus the horrors of Auschwitz can never be fully understood by those that weren’t there.
Facing the square for assembly are the gallows where prisoners found guilty of serious offences were hanged.
There were tall barbed wire fences and guard posts everywhere. Anyone approaching within a certain distance of the fence was summarily shot. Yet, some prisoners did manage to escape, such is the indomitable nature of the human spirit.
Right next to the gas chamber is another gallows. This was where Rudolf Hoss, the longest serving Commandant of Auschwitz was hanged in 1946. He was the one who perfected the use of Zyklon B and proudly spoke about how they were able to kill 2,000 people in one hour. He repented before his death and in a farewell letter to his son he wrote: “Learn to think and judge for yourself, responsibly. Don’t accept everything without criticism and as absolutely true… The biggest mistake of my life was that I believed everything faithfully which came from the top, and I didn’t dare to have the least bit of doubt about the truth of that which was presented to me. … In all your undertakings, don’t just let your mind speak, but listen above all to the voice in your heart.” Sage advice and valid even today, maybe more so today!
Prisoners were led to the gas chambers straight from the train. They were told they were being taken for delousing and disinfecting and since this was standard practice in camps, nobody suspected anything else and they went along peacefully. I read somewhere that an SS guard had mentioned that it was easier and faster to get people to obey if you asked them politely instead of shouting at them. Once inside the gas chamber, the prisoners all stripped down and the chamber even had fake showers. The reality sunk in only when the gas started coming out of the faucets but then, it was too late.
Entry to the gas chamber
Plan of the chamber
Probably, this is what many a prisoner saw as the last sight of outside world before being sealed in the chamber
Inside the chamber
Furnaces for burning bodies
Birkenau is slightly far from Auschwitz and we had to catch a bus to get there. The entrance to Birkenau has a familiar look from the scenes in “Schindler’s List”.
Prisoners were brought from various parts of Europe in wagons such as these and each wagon was filled with 80-100 prisoners.
There were four gas chambers in Birkenau and most of the people were killed here as Auschwitz I had only one gas chamber. However, there are only a few barracks to be seen here today as the Nazis tried to destroy the evidence of mass killing and dynamited all the gas chambers. The fields look very green now but the guide said that when the camp was functional, there was not a single blade of grass as the camp was overcrowded and there were people everywhere.
Ruins of the gas chambers
Ash from burning bodies were dumped into ponds like these
In 1967, a monument was erected in Birkenau to serve as a reminder and warning to mankind about the horrors of Auschwitz.
The terrible despair and sense of dejection that one feels at Auschwitz is far beyond description; my writing skills are totally inadequate to the task and I have not been able to capture even a small percentage of that horror. As one wanders through the camp the question that keeps coming up is “How”. How could a people have been so cruel? How could a people have supported such an atrocity? How could normal, respectable individuals support such inhuman crimes? How could a whole nation be brainwashed to support the bigotry of a few? I think these are very important questions and these questions need to be reflected upon by peoples of various countries even now.
This is what we have to be aware of when we see people’s minds being filled with hate for the “other” (as in India, for instance). This is what authoritarian, oppressive regimes will do and we have enough examples from the past – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot etc. This is what we have to guard against when we see signs of such regimes, be it in any part of the world. During the tour, our guide said: “We preserve this as a museum because the world should know that this happened and this can happen in any country, at any time”.
This is why history is important. It teaches us to be on our guard and recognize the signs of Fascism and oppression. This is why George Santayana’s quote is displayed at the entrance to the first barrack in Auschwitz: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
Kaazhchakal 