The first place on my list today was the Shivoham Siva temple! I may have a slight temple obsession following my palace obsession of course so I was very excited! The temple was structured in such a manner that they sold a spiritual activity package for 150 rupees where you went through a series of activities and rituals. Of course Tanya and I didn't truly understand each one but were there for the experience. The whole temple was plastered with cheesy posters with written sayings about God. There were so many propaganda posters about God it almost came off as a meme but I will be respectful and say no more. Past the gates the first thing we saw was a massive marble Ganesha with a big marigold lanyard around its neck. Beyond that we entered a man-made cave with all sorts of lights and sculptures inside. The caves were very narrow and honestly more scary than anything else. The walkway twisted and turned in the dark with a loud booming voice saying things about God. At last we made it out of the cave and partook in another ritual where we poured milk over a marigold. In front of us stood the massive statue of Lord Krisha. It was so big and towered way above us all! The Krishna statue was definitely the biggest thing to see at the temple. It was very well framed with the surroundings and unique from other temples I had been to previously.
There was another cave and both Tanya and I were done with caves but I said we should do it for the experience anyways. This one went through the mountain behind Siva and was much shorter thankfully. At the other end there was a ritual where we were handed coins to throw in the stream and a candle to light and place in the water. I think the candle lighting was by far my favorite ritual! Following that a priest handed us an incense stick which we lit and placed in a bed with the others. I really enjoyed going through each of the activities since it made it more of an experience rather than just a temple to look at. I think if I were to do it again I would definitely do it with someone who could explain everything to me.
Tanya and I were going to go to another temple but she seemed very shaken up from the experience so we decided to go to the kombucha taproom instead. We reached the taproom only to find out it was closed today! Instead we decided to order kombucha at home and head to the next place on our agenda today - Leela palace!
Leela palace is actually a hotel but a very grand one! The entire thing is pink and gold which was stunning. I thought we would get stopped by security but Tanya told me this is the one place I could talk super loud rather than shut up since my foreign accent would actually act in my favor. I completed the assignment and we made it inside. I was obsessed with the palace! Everywhere I looked there were high arched ceilings in the Islamic art style. The palace gardens in the back were also so beautiful and lush. It was like a little tropical oasis in the back. I absolutely loved the palace and guess I know where I will be staying next time!
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