Up On the Roof

हरे क्र्सना हरे क्र्सना क्र्सना क्र्सना हरे हरे

हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे

23 March 2011

Today we went up on the roof to hang out the laundry. Did the bedding today so there was too much for the little line on our veranda. We took pictures all around our building. Hope you like them...

Facing toward the main road coming into Mayapura. You can see 2 lines over head from the clothes line. Fascinating isn't this?

 This is facing the south end of the temple complex. You can see one of the several guesthouses, this one named "Vamsi Vadhan" building. Many of the Australians were staying in here this festival.

In the background here you can see a large crane which is part of the new temple construction. You can just make out the new floor for the actual temple room. But it is hard to see...

Again facing direction of temple, south boundary

 Here is in front of our building, for now, and you can just see the Ganges River.

Facing the main road into Mayapura. As you can see, there is a lot of construction going on here to accommodate all the new residents. Very noisy and dusty during the days.

Our new "Fernvale Road"

Dad took this picture of the guys on the bamboo scaffolding .

The neighborhood

More from the neighborhood.

 Another dad shot of the truck. It is interesting to watch them deliver the gravel and sand. Once arrived they hammer down a long steel rod near the front of the truck to the bottom of the gravel and then mark and measure how much gravel there is. I'm thinking they are confirming the depth of gravel to ensure some wasn't dropped off elsewhere on the way! Then the load is shoveled out by hand. No dump trucks here.

Another picture where you can see the large crane and new temple room floor in the background.

So, nothing else really exciting to report today. I have been sick pretty much since we got to Mayapura with a head cold that settled in my chest after arriving here in the Bengal heat and humidity from Vrindavan's cold, dry winter. I saw an ayurvedic doctor the other day and am taking his medicine which seems to be working very well.. This is my second day home without going out, but at least I felt well enough to do the laundry, which is all by hand of course, so I must be getting better.

Last week was Gaura Purnima, Lord Chaitanya's appearance day, which is why there is such a big festival this time of year, here in Mayapura which as I explained previously, is his place of birth. This was a wonderful festival day with at least 50,000 people from all over India and the world coming here. There was a big  hek (bathing of the Deities) in the gardens outside under 3 temporary pandals or stages. I don't as yet have pictures or video but I will look it up on YouTube later and see if anyone posted there. I was very fortunate. Again, they gave special permission for the Prabhupada disciples to go up first and bath the Deities with special ingredients. From here I stayed there and helped with the many other people who purchased tickets to go up there, otherwise it is very very crowded. Afterward, Jayapataka Swami, who has been living and managing Mayapura for 40 years and who is now paralyzed on half his body, invited the Prabhupada disciples up on the roof for a special feast of 32 preparations from India, Italy, US, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Portugal. It was quite amazing and filling after fasting all day.

Our simple bedroom picture taken from the door...

         Another angle from the veranda door. On the right is the bathroom door.

From the bedroom door onto the veranda where we sometimes hang our laundry.

The sitting room

           Another angle of the sitting room with a large bag full of soft toy dolls, some of which I got for the little grandkids.

 The kitchen.

Well, later today I will be checking out another apartment in one of the pictures above, a yellow building with  6 floors. This apartment is on the 5th floor, no elevator, but has a/c, fully furnished with fridge so if we take it we can have milk and left-overs and be able to fall asleep earlier without having to wait for things to cool down! Yeah!