Mangalore, India

Saturday, December 12th
Route of the Ancient Traders
Day 32
M/S Nautica
Mangalore, India
Mostly Sunny - 94 Degrees

We docked this morning at the Port of Mangalore, an industrial port at the confluence of the Netravati and Gurupura rivers. This region of India exports vast quantities of iron ore, but there is not a lot to see in Mangalore.

India is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. The vast majority of Indians, more than 80%, are Hindus, but many other religions are represented and make valuable contributions to the culture, including Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. These are all religions we know well, or at least know of, except maybe for Jainism.

Jainism is an ancient dharmic religion that prescribes non-violence for all forms of living beings. Each individual is responsible for advancing their soul on the spiritual ladder to divine consciousness. Any soul which has conquered its own inner demons and achieved the state of supreme being is called Jina.

Mangalore is a launching point for a Jain pilgrimage and we are hoping to make our own progress toward Jina today.

The jungle in Mangalore is lush and the road going through it is hilly, curvy, and rough. Traffic was thick and the road was narrow. We would accelerate up a hill, only to round a bend and come to an abrupt halt as we met oncoming traffic. We were in the back of the bus - up, down, left, right, start, stop... We finally arrived at our first stop looking green, and it was all up hill from there.

Karkala is the site of a monolithic stone statue dedicated to Lord Gomateshwara of the Jain faith. It is one of the largest monolithic statues in the world at 42 feet tall, weighing in at 80 tons. It was erected in 1432 atop a huge granite rock, 212 steps from ground level. The effort it required for Tres to climb to the top in 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity was second only to the effort it must have required to haul the statue up there in the first place. But we made it, and felt small standing at the feet of the God.

Our next adventure was more refreshing. We made a stop at Soan's Farm, founded in 1926 by a Swiss-German missionary society, and known for innovative agriculture. They greeted us with fresh, cool pineapple juice, the sweetest we had ever tasted. We had a tour of the farm, and then left to continue our Jain pilgrimage.

Moodbidri is home to the 1,000 Pillar Temple, Tribhuvana Tilaka Chudamani Basadi. Built in 1430, this is the largest and most ornate of the Jain temples in the region. No two columns are alike. We didn't count, but we think 1,000 is a major stretch.

We got back on the bus for the wild and windy drive back to the ship. On the way, we passed a massive garbage dump extending for acres in both directions from the road. There is an incineration plant here, but the backlog must be measured in years. It will take an act of God, maybe the end of the world, to burn off the refuse. The stench invaded the bus and was slow to leave. It made the bumpy ride that much more stomach-churning, but we were thrilled to have passed this way. It was our only indication in our travels through India that any garbage has ever been collected and removed.

Next Stop: Cochin, India