Indian Odyssey
A Perfect Ganesh by Terrence McNally
West Yorkshire Playhouse, 1996
All the romance, mysticism and mystery of the East come together in India. Visitors who intend to get the most out of their trip arm themselves with as much information as they can about what they hope to see. Katharine and Margaret in A Perfect Ganesh have done just that. Here are some of the highlights from their discursive itinerary.
1 - Bombay
Bombay, now more commonly known as Mumbai, is the richest, most industrialised city in modern India, the subcontinent’s Manhattan. Originally comprising seven swampy islands ceded to Portugal, which became part of the wedding dowry when Catherine of Braganza married Charles II in 1661, they were joined into one entity in the middle of the last century. The consequent rapid expansion of the city led to an unchecked influx of hopefuls all seeking their fortunes, with the result that the country’s most thriving business areas are now but a stone’s throw from some of the most squalid urban areas on Earth.
An Indian Arch of Triumph, the Gate of India, built of yellow basalt in 16th-century Muslim style, was completed in 1924 to commemorate a visit by George V several years before, in the days when Bombay was India’s principal port. It represented the symbolic entry point to the subcontinent for those arriving by boat.
The Towers of Silence are holy to the Parsis. As this religion holds earth, fire and water to be sacred, they do not bury or cremate their dead but instead leave their bodies at the Towers to be devoured by the birds of the air – same say vultures, others claim merely crows. Ghoulish sightseers are sternly discouraged.
Elephanta Island lies in the bay ten kilometres north-east of the city and contains four temples believed to have been carved from the living rock some fifteen hundred years ago. The cave walls are decorated with sculpted reliefs illustrating the life of Shiva.
2 – Ajanta
Ajanta in the Maharashtra region is famous for its rock-hewn architecture along the outer bend of the Waghore River. Around 200 BC Buddhists started carving sacred sites into the hillside, completing twenty-nine caves in all. There are twenty-four viharas (cells or monasteries) and five chaityas (prayer halls), all richly decorated from floor to ceiling with exquisite paintings and sculpture. When the religion moved its base to nearby Ellora, the complex was forgotten until its sudden rediscovery by a British hunting party in 1819.
At Ellora itself a further thirty-four rock buildings were sculpted. Hindus started work on the site in 900 AD in imitation of the Jain caves begun a hundred years before that. Here can be found the most amazing structure of all: the Kailash Temple, modelled on an original at Kanchipuram, is an enormous building carved out of the rock from the top down complete with halls, windows, figurative sculpture and wall reliefs.
3 – Udaipur
The “City of the Sunrise” in Rajasthan is otherwise known as the Venice of the East. Set on Lake Pichola, its elegant and romantic buildings rival the most sumptuous palaces of the Moghul Empire. The lake itself was enlarged by Maharana Udai Singh after he had founded the city in 1567, though it has never been particularly deep, and in droughts it can even dry up altogether allowing access by foot from the islands to the shore.
The world-famous Lake Palace covers the entire surface area of Jagniwas Island. It was built by Maharan Jagat Singh II in the 1750s and is now one of the most luxurious hotels in India. The other island in the lake, Jagmandir, contains a palace completed in the 17th century. Some say that the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan got some of his inspiration for the Taj Mahal while staying here in 1623. Maharana Singh’s own City Palace on the eastern shore is the largest royal complex in Rajasthan, and its main part is now preserved as a museum. If Udaipur is the Venice of the East then the City Palace is its Versailles.
4 – Jodhpur
The place which gave its name to the riding breeches is, after Jaipur, the largest city in Rajasthan. Set on the edge of the Thar Desert, it is the most impressive fort in an area famous for them. It was founded in 1459 by Rao Jodha of the Rathores, whose kingdom was once known as Marwar, or the land of death.
The city is dominated by the massive fort at its centre, which is turn is ringed by ancient walls. There are eight gates into this old town which forms a maze of tight alleyways and streets. Looking down from the ramparts of the fort you can pick out the houses of the Brahmins which have been painted blue to distinguish them from the rest.
Today the Old Palace houses a huge collection of ceremonial howdahs and other royal regalia.
5 – Jaisalmer
This wonderfully romantic and well-preserved medieval desert fort is known as the “Golden City” because of the effect the setting sun has on its ancient stone walls. Built in the mid-12th century by Rawal Jaisal, its outer walls are braced by a total of ninety-nine stout bastions. Within, the main palace is seven storeys high, surrounded by an intricate mesh of narrow lanes barely dividing the tight press of houses, temples and palace outbuildings. The magnificent havelis or mansions of the merchants are still there too, testament to the riches that came to the city by dint of its being located on the main trade route from India to central Asia.
6 – Jaipur
Jaipur, the Pink City, is the capital of Rajasthan and lies three hundred kilometres south-west of Delhi. Founded by Jai Singh of the House of Amber in 1727, it swiftly became a leading centre for jewellery, banking and industry. At his death, conflict over the succession led to the gradual break-up of the Raiput region, and all the old palaces have now been turned into luxury hotels.
It is a place famous for its lavish and colourful festivals. Holi is one of the biggest, celebrating the arrival of spring. On Holi eve, the wicked witch Holika is burnt in effigy and the following day celebrations begin, consisting in much throwing of coloured water and powders. Also popular is Gangaur, lasting eighteen days, during which the women pray to Parvati for a happy married life. Teej, a festival of swings, is another excuse for the locals to dress up in their brightest finery. In Rakhi young women tie coloured threads around their brothers’ wrists to seek their protection.
The Old Town is still largely intact, built on a grid pattern of nine unequal rectangles centred on the old palace and divided by broad roads. The walls are pierced by eight magnificent gates.
The Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh Museum still houses many superb examples of the region’s high-quality textiles – zari work (embroidering with gold thread) has always been popular with the ruling classes in northern India. Also to be found here are the world’s two largest silver jars, made to carry holy water for the Maharajah’s visit to England in 1902. Each is over five feet tall and nearly fifteen feet round.
7 – Khajuraho
Khajuraho was once the capital of the Chandella Empire in modern Madhya Pradesh. It is now famous for its Hindu and Jain Temples built between the 10th and 12th centuries. Eighty-five were thought to have been raised originally on the site of a legendary sacrifice made by Chandravarman, the son of the Moon God and Hervati, of which only twenty-two now remain.
The temples are characteristically built on high platforms, representing the Kailash range of mountains in the Himalayas, the traditional home of the gods. Many are over one hundred feet tall with a pyramidal structure symbolising growth, from the broad mass of unfocused desires at the base rising to the soul merging with the sublime at life’s end.
Built out of red, buff and pink sandstone, most are dedicated to Shiva, and their exterior walls are thick with bands of sinuously sculpted figures running into their hundreds. Many groups reflect the high standard of culture enjoyed by the Chandella dynasty, with lots of music and dancing, reading, fine jewellery and clothing depicted. Others show scantily clad couples in close embrace, or engaged in more frankly erotic activity. Sex for the ancients was seen as a natural and enjoyable part of everyday life and so was celebrated like any other pleasurable pastime. Its presence in art also suggests the belief that spiritual awareness can only be fully achieved once the desires of the body have been satisfied.
In the 15th century, the Chandella dynasty declined and the entire Khajuraho complex was deserted to be taken over by jungle and wild animals. It was not until the mi d-19th century that the site was rediscovered and reclaimed to become one of the most popular spots on the travellers’ trail.
8 – Varanasi
The “Eternal City” Varanasi on the left bank of the Ganges River is the ancient place of pilgrimage for Hindus. Once called Benares after the local maharajahs who were in power when the British arrived in the 18th century.
Varanasi is now famous for the steps down to the river known as ghats where the faithful come to bathe and wash away their sins first thing every morning. There are over a hundred of these bathing places, each with its own name, presided over by a temple or shrine dedicated to a specific deity.
The most holy place of all is the Vishwanath Temple built in 1775 and located half a mile from the Dashashwamedha Ghat at the end of a long alley. So popular is it that the alley is frequently choked with the faithful and needs to be controlled by the police. Cremations take place at the Manikarnika and Harishchandra Ghats. The ashes of the dead are said to be instantly transported to heaven the second they touch the waters. Services here are conducted by a group of priests known as Dom Rajas, who light the funeral pyres from the Fire of the Lord of the Cremation Grounds.
There is so much custom that the street vendors on the main routes to and from the ghats do a roaring trade. Their colourful wares include silks, utensils, prayer beads, lamps, ornaments, carvings, spices, figurines and all manner of sweetmeats.
9 – Sarnath
Just ten kilometres to the north-east of Varanasi, Sarnath is where Buddha preached his first sermon on the eight-fold path of life after achieving the state of nirvana around the 6th century BC. The Mauryan King Ashoka later erected a pillar to peace on the site, whose lion motif became the symbol of India when the country gained independence in 1947.
10 – Agra
If any one building can symbolise India in the romantic imaginations of the thousands of travellers who journey there, the Taj Mahal at Agra is it. Standing on the west bank of the Yamuna River two hundred kilometres south of Delhi, it was built by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz who died in childbirth in 1629 after producing fourteen children. The monument was begun two years later and only completed in 1653. The main architect, Isa Khan, was from Persia, but as many as 20,000 other artists and craftsmen were brought from as far afield as Italy and France to help in its construction.
It is said that Shah Jahan intended to build a second taj for his own tomb, this one to be in black marble by way of a negative version of his wife’s, but he was deposed by his son Aurangzeb before work on it could begin. He spent the rest of his life a prisoner in the Agra Fort from which every morning he could watch the sun come up over his wife’s final resting place.
The Taj is famous for looking good from any angle and from any distance. The same extravagant care that went into its overall design has also been lavished on the close-up detail of its decorations, from the intricate carving of the marble to the patterns of the semi-precious stones set into it. The very character of the building is said to change under different lighting conditions at various times of day, though most agree it is at its most magical by the light of a full moon.
