A religious (and commercial) experience

The tour of some of Mumbai's markets yesterday was a major highlight of this entire trip. In just a few hours, we experienced a lot, so hang in there while I recount...

• The first area we walked through was a mainly Hindu area, and one of the first places we visited was a temple devoted to Krishna. We got to hear some chanted prayers, and our guide, Sandhya, told us about the Hindu zodiac and associated deities. We also saw some cows living in the temple grounds (Krishna is associated with cows.) There were also numerous shops selling devotional items like prayer books, small shrines for in-home use, and all kinds of decorative garb, crowns, and jewelry to deck out your Krishna figure at home. Sandhya got a kick out of showing us the dress-up items and compared it to dressing a Barbie doll, which I appreciated as a former Barbie aficionado. We didn't get to see Krishna in the main temple, though, because it was still during his afternoon nap (no joke). Sandhya said that he is treated as a member of the family, so the same courtesies (like nap time) are paid to him as to others in the household.
  
• We also saw the rebuilding of a Jain temple, which was intricately carved in marble and was quite a stunning sight coming around the corner. Something I find amazing is that the temples and other religious buildings are in the middle of other buildings, so they don't have full, street-facing facades. They are either tucked away in the middle of some open-air walkway or towering above the surrounding businesses, often with gates at the street through which to enter the interior.


• We stopped by an animal sanctuary, which mainly houses cows but also injured pigeons, ducks, and geese. Sandhya didn't want to waste a chance to pay her respects, so she got some grain balls in a dish (not sure what they're called, something other than grain balls for sure, but they were about 2-3" in diameter and wet), and we helped her feed the cows. It was difficult to get to the small ones, as the big ones would nose them out of the way. Unfortunately, as it is a sacred site, we could not take pictures once inside, so you will just have to go visit to check it out. I did get a photo of the cow-themed frieze above the entranceway:

Another interesting thing in this area were the resident astrologers who live in small cubicles along the market path and provide horoscopes for a fee and/or an offering of clothing or some other gift. There are stalls across from the astrologers' cubicles that have clothing that people can purchase as offerings. At the end of our Hindu devotional tour, we visited the Mumbadevi temple, which was built in the 18th century. Mumbadevi is actually the goddess after whom Mumbai is named, so it was nice to see the city's namesake. Once again, we could not take pictures once inside, but we got a few snaps from outside. It really doesn't do the temple justice, though, as it's very intricate and colorful, with a great deal of work in silver as well. One of the more entertaining things that we saw was a priest sitting at the shrine of Anna Purna (another goddess venerated within the temple), talking on his cell phone. Sandhya noted that it was a shame that we could not capture that on camera. I was just grateful that the Hindus seemed so open to having us come through their ritual spaces, and Sandhya was very helpful in explaining background and beliefs. She made an offering to Anna Purna while we were there and received in return a prasada, or a portion of the offering that has been blessed by the goddess.

• The hordes of people everywhere, the lack of a firm concept of "personal space," the extended families living close together in small living spaces (Sandhya said about 10 people in a two bedroom apartment was not out of the ordinary), and the multiplicity of deities in Hinduism all seem to be different pieces of the same picture. I am realizing just how individualistic the US is, and how the concept of "many" is something that we don't really comprehend the way that it is here.
  
• We stopped by a restaurant for a snack and some tea (which here comes spiced and sweetened, with milk mixed in as well.) We had dosa, which is a large rice-based crepe filled with a spiced potato mixture, some potato fritters, and gulab jamun for something sweet. The tea was lovely and had lemon grass and mint in it -- very refreshing.
  
• We got to see markets for jewelry, kitchen cookware, spices, and clothing/fabric. We actually didn't buy much because we were a little overwhelmed, but we did get some masala spice for tea. I got a picture of the man who sold us the masala -- he held it up for us to smell first, which was nice. I think he actually liked having his picture taken, as after the photo was captured he smiled, not realizing that I'd already taken it.
• We also saw people selling pottery, as well as a man whose specialty was sharpening knives (see photos of both below.) There is a ton of entrepreneurship here, and people set up stands in front of all of the shops. Most of these makeshift shops are not legally licensed, and we saw areas that had temporarily cleared of vendors due to random municipal patrolling, which prompts a quick cleanup and getting out of sight until the authorities have passed.
• We also got to see the Jama Masjid mosque, which is over 200 years old. The sect that maintains the mosque is the Konkani, and they are easily distinguished from other Muslim sects by their dress. Rather than wearing entirely black clothing and veils, the Konkani women wear distinctive and colorful embroidered clothing, which you can see in the picture below. Of course, we were not allowed inside the mosque since we are not Muslims, but it was beautiful from the outside.
• On the drive away from the bazaar, Sandhya pointed out a Parsi (Zoroastrian) fire temple as well. I was pretty excited to see it since the Parsi population is quite small and I read a book a few months back in which the main character was a Parsi. (Sadly, our pictures are all blurry since we were in the car.) Sandhya explained that Parsis are a pretty exclusive group -- not only can you not enter their fire temples if you are not a Parsi, but if a child is born to a Parsi mom but the father is not Parsi, then the child is not accepted as Parsi.


• Also in the car after the main part of the tour, Sandhya was sharing that she has been helping her brother's wife find a bride for her son (she said that about 80% of marriages are arranged in India.) The brother's family lives in Thailand, so finding a good Indian match is proving difficult. I guess they've signed on with a professional matchmaking service online, and they've found a few prospects and arranged for meetings, but to no satisfactory end (marriage) so far. Mark and I found it really interesting that not only are parents doing a lot of the steering with marrying off their children, but they are doing what American singles often do and enlisting the help of the internet to help them network.