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India Travel: To Taj or not to Taj

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Quote from fellow Über Desi blogger, Runa:

“My theory on foreign travelers to India is this: they go there looking for shit or salvation. India usually grants them whatever they are looking for. (Occasionally, they are unlucky enough to go looking for one and find the other!).”

Should you visit the Taj or not?
img: via NYT

Keeping the above quote in mind, lets look at two travel accounts of foreign travelers in India, as featured on CNN.com:

First time travelers visiting the Taj Mahal, the holy ghats at Varanasi, Sarnath where the Buddha preached his first sermon and Khajuraho, that hotbed of old school desi porn. [link]

and

Repeat travellers who avoided the Taj altogether and instead charted their course through Kolkata and Orissa, including Puri and the Sun Temple at Konark. [link]

Presenting some excerpts from the first time travelers who found both shit and salvation. [link]

At Varanasi

A few oar-strokes later, we passed the floating carcass of a goat — a ritual sacrifice and another reminder that Varanasi’s ancient traditions fly in the face of modern rules of sanitation and public health.

At Sarnath

A short drive from Varanasi is Sarnath, where Buddha — THE Buddha — preached his first sermon in the sixth century B.C. The brick ruins of Buddha’s temple look out over the stupa, a 100-foot high circle of dark stone.

At Khajuraho

Many of the central carvings around the temples show sex acts, including one that would require an extremely strong left leg. One theory is that the erotic carvings were made to demonstrate the Kama Sutra to the illiterate.

The Taj Mahal

Today, a major threat to the mausoleum is pollution, so you cannot drive close to it, and visitors must either walk, rickshaw or take an electric car the final mile.
Once there, you put on light disposable slippers to walk around the giant marble tomb. Early morning visits are the least crowded, but realistically, there’s always a crowd.

Traffic

It took me a while to translate, but Indian horns are completely different from U.S. horns.
In New York City, for example, a horn blast usually means: “Yo! These cars aren’t moving. I hate this. YO!”
Here’s what a honk means in India: “Ah, hello. I’m about two inches from you, so if you jiggle the wheel even slightly we’ll both end up knocked into that rickshaw carrying a family of seven, the man pedaling 22 crates of live chickens, and a cow. Thanks much!”

At least he got that part right.

The following are some excerpts from the travel diaries of the repeat travelers who attained salvation by skipping the Taj Mahal. [link]

On the streets of Kolkata:

The city swept us into the bustle of sidewalk merchants, cycle rickshaws and elegant Ambassador cars.
The impossibly clean subway system shuttled us to the Maidan, the city’s large park, which opened up into a panorama of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visiting for the annual Makar Sankranti festival, which often falls in January.
Bikash brought us to the Indian Coffee House for Bengalis’ favorite pastime - chatting. My brother and I sipped hot, milky coffee, ate buttered toast, and peppered Bikash for details about Calcutta’s role in India’s independence movement and about everyday life for the city’s residents.

On to Puri and Konark

We began in Puri, a coastal city where we ate well and took an enjoyable stroll on the beach along the Bay of Bengal.
From Puri, we hired a car to take us to Konarak, the site of the ornate Sun Temple, which has been called one of the finest Hindu temples ever constructed. The chariot-shaped monument is adorned with carvings of dancers, lions, gods and couples in erotic embrace. Sanctioned guides give energetic, if slightly confusing, tours of the 13th century monument. But lines were short and access was easy, making our visit to the Konarak temple a reminder that India’s allure can be had without the crowds of the Taj.

And a few pointers for first time travellers

India without the Taj: Our itinerary included Calcutta and the coastal cities of Orissa such as Puri and Konarak. We flew from Newark International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany, and then nonstop to Calcutta, on Lufthansa. Any good travel agent can also handle rail, flight and hotel arrangements, but we chose to make bookings ourselves over the Web.

On a personal note, I enjoy reading travel accounts of foreigners because on some level they sound like mine or some of my friends when we visited India after a prolonged interval. On some level, I get some perverse pleasure out of it, because some travel accounts resemble “Those Inscrutable Americans” in reverse. It is my opinion, that India travel is not about the Taj Mahal or temples or forts, it is about the people. Either way and whatever the reasons be, I hope you enjoy these travel accounts of India from various perspectives.

Also read, An American Conservative in India, if you liked this one.

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