We have had a full day of step wells – more about those later on, since there is a step-well every 20 km in Gujarat, so many, many photo opportunities. But these images struck us as different takes on women’s issues – the first from an eleventh-century temple to the Sun God (the woman giving birth is the point of the photo, in case you think it’s something else), and the second and third (one explains the other) taken outside our hotel.
Reminds me a bit of a temple in Assam which was built because when Shiva cut up his dead wife’s body and scattered them to the four winds (no I can’t remember why), her vagina ended up on the hilltop where the temple now is. It’s all red and the priests or whatever dress in red. There’s a strange relationship with female bodies and blood. Glad to hear there are step wells. Seen them in Madhya Pradesh.
Sorry. Didn’t mean to sound so pretentious and competitive
Not at all!
These dismemberment stories are sort of gripping – make theGrimm bothers seem quite cuddly..
These are fascinating! Please do not limit your posts to photos. I LOVE the comments!
Safe travels, my friends.
Ken
I’ll have to make sure Sue does the script as far as possible so that you get the full-on irony …. which is in fine fettle, as you can see by her comments. Hope you got back to NY safely. XX
Thanks, Ken – so far , the biggest hazard is crossing the road which we’ve managed to do TWICE on our own ( we usually go in the slip stream of a very old lady). Progress!
Wonderful, we must be in sinc as I’ve just taken a photo of a Mayan monument to breastfeeding outside a health centre!
Wonderful – we must be in sync as I’ve just taken a photo of a Mayan monument to breastfeeding outside a health centre round the corner from our hotel! Keep the photos coming xx
We could make it a project for a photography exhibition, when we get round to it!
This morning we went to the Ladies’Temple in the old city – fabulous and all the ladies so warm and friendly.
How fantastic and so relevant given what’s going on in Kerala vis a vis access to the temple for women of menstruating age. Bit puzzled by the valet parking sign on the peepal tree – couldn’t they have stuck it on something a little less holy!
Unless valet parking is a euphemism of some sort – hope not…
We liked the fact that the tree was in the entrance to the hotel and completely unavoidable! Not sure what the auto-rickshaw (ie tuk-tuk) drivers make of it, though.
Off to a fantastic start…
Indeed! I think you should come next time!
Action packed I’d say, including today’s gripping ( yes, really ) tour of Calico Museum and early morning walk through the old city.