Day 16 – Amazon Learns When a Beggar is not a Beggar

Ajay, our intrepid driver had devised a revised plan for our trip to reduce our anxiety from the bumpy roads.  He proposed an early visit to a Jain temple to make our trip to Udaipur less onerous.  On route to Sardagarh Fort, we stopped for a visit to a unique temple dedicated to a faith that eschews all idolatry and glorification (worship of idols).  That should have been our first hint.

Just outside of Ranakpur is a temple of tremendous importance to followers of the Jain faith.  Aside from the hype about the shrine, what stuck in our craw was the strange list of restrictions on entry.  These included such oddities as no females menstruating, no begging, no footwear (normal for shrines), no photography of deities (who are they) and several other silly restrictions. We did not see anyone inspecting for sanitary pads or begging but there were guards blocking all but pilgrims from ascending the dais around the main shrine.

No sooner were inside the temple, then we were accosted by a guy purporting to be a Jain priest, son of the high priest of the temple, offering to pray for us.  What followed was a ~2-minute chanted prayer and a request for a donation to help him survive (he takes no salary in his role).  We politely refused.

Later we were each accosted by other “priests” offering other religious services in exchange for donations to their livelihood.  I separated myself and observed that the “priests” only approached foreign tourists in the scam.  If it hadn’t been for menopause, who knows what I might have done to expose the hypocrisy of this temple.

We turned in our audio tour machines, retrieved Amazon’s passport and moved on.

Ajay got us Sardagarh in good time and we checked into our room.  Amazon went exploring while I hung about the suite and met two other Canadian couples staying at the resort.
Later we enjoyed a couple of beers on one of the patios and even later dined after dark in intimate surroundings sharing the space with the 11 other guests. It should have been an easy night’s sleep but hopping from hotel to hotel every 2 days takes its toll with Amazon doing her “princess and the pea” routine on a regular basis. 

 Sardagarh Dining Hall

 Sardagarh Parakeets

Jain Temple Again