Encore Day 026 Siauliai - Bauska

I took too many pictures today. Because I came across two impressive sights - one of them was planned, the other was not.
The planned one was the hill of crosses, which is surprisingly a hill covered with crosses. About 200.000 of them. And every day pilgrims add more. It is quite an important pilgrimage site. When I was there several bussloads of pilgrims and tourists from different countries where there with me. Even though it was quite crowded it is impressive - the crosses come in all sizes and materials and every now and then there are beautiful pieces of art amongst them.
Once I moved on I stumbled upon the unplanned sight, somehow the pagan counterpart to the hill of crosses: an open air museum of baltic gods in a village called Naisiai. Noone there except some locals buying beer in the shop nearby and me. Very interesting place - for a long time there has been a distinct baltic culture which is very different from the surrounding slavic and germanic cultures. The museum was basically a path along wooden statues with lithuanian/english explanations. I took my time to see them all. Some attributes reminded me of Germanic, Greek or Roman gods or figures from fairytales, but most of them were very distinct. This museum is a beautiful project, too bad that noone seems to go there.
For the rest of the day I had to cycle fast, I wanted to reach Latvia today - and I made it. And I got good news: now it is for sure, I will have a visitor in Riga who will join us on the way to Helsinki :o)

Encore Day 025 Tytuvenai - Siauliai

Still some headwind today. But a bit less than yesterday. Just after getting started I made a stop at the church/former monastery complex of Tytuvenai. In the church a worship was going on. And the church was full. It was wonderful. In such moments I wished I was more religious - but of course you cannot choose what you believe and what not - and I am pretty strictly agnostic. Still, I see something utterly beautiful in the dedication to the divine, be it by attending church service or by the fact that the church is the most beautiful building in town. It somehow is a very nice approach to keep each individuals house humble and put a lot effort into a place where everybody comes together to worship something higher.
After such divine experience the fight against the headwind was much easier. Anyway, I didn't have to go so far today and in Siauliai I found a ridiculously cheap youth hostel, which I have all for myself.
Please keep your fingers crossed tomorrow morning: only if our possible cycling companion passes her exam, she will be able to join us on the way to Helsinki :o)

Encore Day 024 Jurbarkas - Tytuvenai

Headwind all day. Well, and sometimes for a change: headstorm. Not fun. Too tired to write much more. In late afternoon I crossed Lithuanias most important pilgrimage site. Only one of five places in Europe where the catholic church acknowledges a manifestation of the Virgin Mary - interestingly on a clearly pagan stone. The (former) pope was here. Now we were, too.

Day 317 Shatrunjaya

This is one fantastic place! A 500m hill topped by a sea of Jain temples. A temple city. Like 800 something temples. And nothing else.
In fact I was mentally prepared for a small disappointment: when I first was here 9 years ago we went during monsoon and I remember that half of the place being flooded added a lot to the atmosphere. But also now, in dry season: no disappointment, it is still an absolutely amazing place. Definitely one of my 2 or 3 favourite places during the whole trip! It is strange that me as a really not religious person always tends to like religious places the most. Mmmh, but if I had to choose a religion, Jainism would definitely be one of my favourites: a very strong focus on Ahimsa (non-violence towards all living beings), a cosmology with a self-regulating universe without a creator-god, acceptance of other religions,... - good stuff!
The ascend was hot. And quite different to the other holy mountains I have climbed recently: here the way is not lined by stalls, only a few water sellers. At one of the water places I met Mansi, a jain girl from Mumbai. She is here with her family and a group of about 50 people. They are doing the real thing: climbing Shatrunjaya 108 times in 45 days! That's 2*2 * 3*3*3 times. Though I have no idea of what significance is this. Anyway, even climbing one time was quite an ordeal for me. And I am probably in the best shape of my life. They are doing it 2 to 3 times per day. Without eating during the day. Incredible. Once on the top I could witness some aspects of Jain worship, which included reciting/singing prayers, offering rice, turning some strange metal-flag-turning device while watching the Tirthankara through a small mirror and jumping in front of the Tirthankara with two flywhisks in hand (this could well be the mythological origin of modern cheerleading). The 24 Tirthankaras have been human beings who achieved enlightenment - some of them mythological (Rishabha, the 1st Tirthankara was 1500m high and lived for some Quintillion years), some of them historical (Mahavira, the last Tirthankar was a contemporary of Buddha). The iconography of Jainism is also remarkably similar to early Buddhism: in some temples the Tirthankaras are only devoted by footprints. If there are full body status they only come in two positions: standing naked or in lotus seat.
Thanks to Mansi I got to know some of the lesser known aspects of the temple city, like a small black somnambulant Tirthankara figure who flies to the main temple every night (though noone has witnessed this as this abode of the divine is off limits for us mundane beings after sunset).
I took several hours to wander around. Befriending a construction worker gave me the chance to get into the uppermost level of the main temple. Even though usually noone is allowed to go there even this level had some beautiful carvings (and many many bats). I saw many temples I had missed last time, some very old, some very new and colourful. Just when I thought I had seen all possible temple varieties I happened to step into one with beautiful stained glass and a forest of Tirthankara-crowned marble pillars. I am sure I also missed a lot this time - but even though I might not make it to the full 108 times, I will certainly return.

Day 308 Champaner

Today: no cycling, but hiking. Up the 700m Pavagadh. There would have been.ways to cheat - but I did not cycle all the way here to take a bus and a ropeway up a mountain. On the lower half the way passed through remains of the old Gujarati capital of Champaner: fortifications, gates, etc.
Half way up the mountain my path finally crossed that of a past me - the bus stand there was where we started the ascend of Pavagadh back in 2003. I was surprised to find a ropeway going from that busstand nearly to the top. But later I found out that it must have existed in 2003 already, it just fell out of my memory. Anyway, I took the pilgrims path flanked by many food and drink stalls, toy stores, traders selling pictures of gods and self-proclaimed holy men and women, some of them cursing you if you did not give them bakshish. Well, on one hand these might be very dangerous curses: the hill and the temple on top is dedicated to Kali, the black goddess of destruction !!! On the other hand I am very happy to be cursed by guys whose only holyness lies in collecting rupees. According to Hindu believe we are living in the worst of times, the black age, the Kaliyuga anyway - but there is hope: in only about 400.000 years the golden age will start, yay!
In the main Kali temple on top, the godess is not depicted in full, but rather just as a pair of (squinting) eyes. However, you can see Kali in some smaller temples a bit lower. There are also some older jain temples around, most of them in ruins. Throughout the whole way I was surprised how few other pilgrims were around - I remember it to be much more busy - bu the last time I've been here was on a weekend. On the way down I seriously considered buying one of that funky Kali pictures - my goth heart said yes, but something else said me that having such thing around would really not be a good omen for anything you could possibly do.
Once I got down I rested a bit and then explored some of the famed mosques in and around the royal compound of Champaner - nice stuff, but nothing compared to what I've seen in Iran.