Life as an Honorary Man

Dr. Nuckolls told us when we were back in Provo that we would enjoy a great deal of special treatment thanks in part to the connections and friendships that he and Dr. Krinshnayya have carefully maintained over the last 40 years, and in part to our foreignness…when we discusses the caste system, Dr. Nuckolls told us that foreigners tend to have their very own caste…we usually eat meat, so that places us lower than Brahmins, but the novelty of BEING foreign counts for a whole heck of a lot. This puts us girls in an even more interesting position of being, in Dr. Nuckolls’ terms “honorary men.” Because of our connections with Dr. Krishnayya, the king, the doctor, and other uppity ups, we are permitted to eat at the same time as all the men, enter temples with them, etc. …..Nice.

The first few days have felt like a lifetime because each experience is so saturated with newness that we have to drink in every detail, making each minute seem a thousand times longer…

Ok so… On Tuesday, Jan 8^th, we took a trip a few miles north to the Simhachalam Temple with the king of Viziagaram’s personal Ayurvedic doctor (the king really doesn’t have any political power anymore, but he call still pull some very handy VIP status perks).

sorry...I'm struggling with the rotate function on my camera...

He showed us around the grounds at first and took us to a beautiful tree he claimed was 15,000 years old with really interesting carvings representing various Hindu deities. According to the doctor, if someone has any zodiac troubles (for example, if they were born under an unfortunate zodiac sign and they were unable to marry, have children, have healthy children), they could reverse these troublesome situations by walking around the tree 21 times, wrapping a thread around it as they went.

Immediately after, we went to the Taunchering Hall where people make a vow to God and fulfill their part of the covenant by sacrificing a portion of their vanity (their hair). It was kind of dark and cold, and there were a bunch of crying babies (parents often have their babies’ heads taunchered to secure blessings for them), so it was initially sort of an uncomfortable, but Eva had heard about this opportunity before we left and determined that she would get her head shaved. It didn’t take long at all for the barber/priest to cut off her locks, and it was actually an interesting spiritual experience for her…She hadn’t originally intended to shave her head for spiritual purposes, but she was attracted to the idea of having that sort of liberating experience and she told us later that from this experience, she realized that there really is truth in all religions.

Ever since then, Indians see that she has shaved her noggin, figure that she made a vow at
, then respect us all the more because we are trying to really experience their culture and understand.

Hoorah for instant Hindu street cred.

Because she had been touched by a barber (more caste distinction?), Eva was instructed to go wash her head in the natural springs on the side of the temple. They’ve carved these really beautiful lion heads into the rockface and the spring water comes straight out of the lions’ mouths and people come to bathe in the “sacred water.”

She is one lovely baldy

Dr. Nuckolls also told us that in prior years, a fisherman caste called the Jalaris (Dr. Nuckolls has worked very closely with this group for years and years) used to make annual chicken sacrifices on top of the structure that sits just above the spring, right above where the Brahmins would hold some of their sacred rituals….Reportedly, a journalist got a picture of these two rituals at the same time not long afterward, the Jalaris’ activities were moved someplace far away….oh man, I think I’m getting a little dry… I’ve found that I’m beginning to sound like Dr. Nuckolls….I certainly wouldn’t mind the endless wealth of knowledge and perfect diction, but …..I think I’ll pass….Also, he has the most uncanny ability to happen to step into ANY photo you would ever want to take. It doesn't matter where he just was....he'll be in your picture with his flourescent orange BYU hat and suspenders.

Anyway, because of our supa sweet hook ups, we got to skip a huge long line that leads past the door of the inner sanctum of the temple and actually go INSIDE. We stood on one side of the alcove housing the deity and the priests reached through to us to present plates filled with candles and marigolds, which we were to touch briefly and then tap our eyes, apparently conferring a blessing. Both Dr. Nuckolls and Dr. Krishnayya received strips of embroidered fabric that had previously been placed around the deity, which is apparently a very great honor, reserved for kings, presidents, and other dignitaries. We also had a private performance by the temple musicians who played sitar, table (drums), and flute for us. It was really cool to see the rituals, the art, the sculptures (Narasimha is the lion-man incarnation of Vishnu and one of the more famous accounts of his life is his disemboweling of a demon child….so the sculptures are impressive but sometimes unnerving)

, and to have such exclusive access, but my favorite part of it was watching the household staff who had come along as they performed the rituals and such. It gave me a really cool perspective on how sacred it is for them.

At one point during our tour around Simhachalam, we placed little votive candles around a shrine to Krishna and a man was standing by, apparently helping everyone put them in the right place. When one of the girls, Lauren, finished placing her candle, he reached down, rubbed her feet, then touched his eyes, as if he were praying or making obeisance to her/ her feet. The best Dr. Nuckolls and Krishnayya could figure was that the man thought she must be an incarnation of some goddess. Kind of weird, but hey, at least it’s a free foot rub.