1 Year in India: Boat trip to the Jagannath Mandir

A few days ago, Japa mentioned that he was getting together a group of people to take a boat trip to the Jagannath temple in Rajapur to see the deity there. Lord Jagannath is a wooden idol form of Krsna, with his brother Baladeva and sister Subhadra, and the temple They're in are well known for delicious lunches every day. There was no way I was going to miss out on that! You can take a 30minute rickshaw or 10 minute bus to get to Rajapur, but what better way to get there than cruising down the Ganga and Jalangi on a boat right!?

Some of you have probably seen some photos on facebook, but for those who haven't, let me talk you through the day... ...

We were all meeting at Prabhupada Ghat (translation: the place where the boat leaves from) at 10.30am. To get to the actual boat that was tied up the the bank of the Ganga, we had to walk across this rickety bamboo bridge that looked like it could hold only one person at a time. The water underneath wasn't very deep, but that wasn't the point, it was muddy and icky and no one wanted to slip and fall. (Thats Anotonia by the way in the photo to the left.) I ended up carrying Ishaan across, which was a lot harder than it sounds, especially when the last part had nothing for me to hold on to. A pure balancing act, and I'm proud to tell you I survived.

We then spent the next hour or so cruising down the Ganga and then Jalangi rivers, towards Rajapur. Ishaan was excited to have so many people's laps to jump on, he kept going from one person to the other. It was a very peaceful ride down the river (aside from the motor on the boat)... the sun was shining, the birds chirping, I was surrounded by friends and I was on my way to lunch. What more could a girl ask for. I think the photos below speak for themselves... ...

Right: Dylan and her best friend Ishaan... kindred spirits those two. Below: The view of the Jalangi as we cruised down.

Yoginee and Ksana

Ishaan with Japa

Watch out Shari, there's a guy behind you checkin you out! :D

Ksana (medium posquito), Abhay (big posquito) and Ishaan (little posquito)

When we got to the other side, A few people jumped off and dragged the boat up to the banks. First it was one person... and then a few others.

Finally Ksana got her big girl muscles in on the action and pulled the boat up further.

Dasa tried to help Yogi climb down, and I didnt actually see what happened, but I think he slipped, and then she slipped... and he ended up with mud all on his dhoti.

After we left the boat, it was about another 20 minute walk to get to the Jagannath Mandir. Ishaan made himself comfortable on Dylan's shoulders and off we went.