Inside the temple

As soon as we entered this temple, I wanted to be alone and have total silence around me. Being there in that dimly lit temple with the huge Buddha’s statue in the middle of it, you can feel a kind of peacefulness gently reaching out to you. I wasn’t lucky enough t enjoy that peace of mind for too long. It was being shattered by the man In charge of that place. I won’t blame him, he was only being helpful by letting us listen to the echoes when he chanted Budham Saranam...loudly. I just stood there with my eyes closed and saw all these monks walking slowly and chanting this manthra all around me. I can never forget that experience. Then he took us out and knocked on a pillar that made tabla sounds.

We also saw a father and a little girl, not even 5 years of age, sitting meditating in a place inside there. It was so different from the group of youngsters who were making loud noises and jumping all over there. They didn’t seem to have had any respect to this place. Some of them where trying to climb on top of a pillar to pose for a picture. Another group was walking and eating vada and I saw the empty snack bags left on top of a wall inside the cave.
If you don’t have respect for these places why bother visiting them?? Why destroy the peaceful atmosphere in those sacred places?.

But I must admit, the people who are taking care of these places are doing a great job. They are on the move always and are keeping the place extremely clean. I am proud of them. Thanks a million for trying to keep these places clean.
I can say I have never seen anything as beautiful and elegant and wonderful like the Ellora caves before…