Back in June our driver Naveen invited us to a festival down in a place called Mandya which is his wife Savita’s native place (aka: where she was born). Mandya is a teeny tiny little villiage about 2 hours South of Bangalore and because we love Naveen and his family, it seemed like the perfect excuse to get out of the city to go and explore some of India’s treasures. So Adam decided to take some time off and we made Mandya the beginning of a week long vacation to see the Southern part of India!
We left on a Saturday afternoon and enjoyed seeing some fun temples and sights as we drove! Here is one of India’s Gods Ganesh who is revered as the “mover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom.” (See wikipedia). These statues and temples are just about everywhere in India and are so fun to see as you drive.
We also like to play the game, “how many Indians can you fit into a vehicle?” game. You wouldn’t believe how skilled the Indian people are when it comes to catching a free ride!
We also loved seeing lots of Mosques!
We decided to stay our first night in Mysore where we could show the kids the palace lights at night (which we unfortunately missed) and Adam arranged for us to stay at a guesthouse near town with a lovely couple named Mark and Christine (if I remember right). Mark was from the UK and had tattoes and piercings and was a yoga instructor and Christine was from China and was expecting her first child. We had a great time staying at their home and enjoyed their wonderful breakfasts each morning!
Their home also had a great backyard (very rare in India) for the kids to play in and one of the first things they discovered was this Indian chair swing! If I can I need to figure out a way to bring one of these babies home! They are just so fun!
After checking in at the guesthouse we were all starving and so we went into town to try to find the same Chinese place Adam and I had been to before. Only problem was that we had two car sick kids! Brans ended up throwing up in the car, and then Harry threw up at the restaurant. Nice way to start out a vacation eh? Oh the joys of motion sickness!
After dinner we headed back to the guesthouse to put kids to bed and had to figure out a way to sleep everyone since there were only 2 queen sized beds and 6 people. We ended up putting Harry and Brans in one bed, Adam and I in the other, and then putting Dawson and Adalynn on some blankets and pads on the floor.
The other problem we ran into though is that it was HOT! No A/C in this guesthouse and the one fan in the room didn’t really do much. We ended up “borrowing” a second fan from the living area for the night and plugging it in as close to our bed as possible and then jimmy rigging it to hit us directly. It was heaven sent – but we still ended up needed to get a bucket of water and some wet towels to put over us to keep cool. We are definitely learning to appreciate the wonderful gift that central A/C is!
The other problem we ran into (almost everywhere we went) is that the beds here in India are incredibly hard which for Adam meant a LOT of back pain. Here he is reading out on a more comfortable couch because his back just couldn’t take the bed a second longer! Poor fella! He luckily doesn’t look too miserable. he he.
The next morning we headed out to Mandya which is about an hour from Mysore and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells, as we went. I am kind of in love with all the little villages we passed and loved seeing how the farmers in the area do their work. Its like going back in time here in India and I love it!
Once we arrived in Mandya the excitement grew even more as we got to see beautiful streets like this decorated for the festival with lights, tree branches, and flowers! So pretty!
We first met Savita’s family (brothers, sisters, and mother) at their lovely home but then were quickly taken to a larger building where all the villagers were getting together for a big feast! We were told to wash our hands, remove our shoes, and come and sit at one of these long tables where we were given a beautiful plate of dried leaves sown together (as a plate) and then served different traditional Indian dishes.
The orange sauce is what the Indian people call a “gravy” and you basically grab a small handful of that rice looking stuff in the middle, dip it in the gravy, and then eat it. Then the dish to the right is a sweeter dish that was actually very tasty and filled with macadamia nuts. We were also given some water but we were pretty sure it wasn’t purified or filtered so we felt it best not to drink it. But check out that awesome plate of sewed together leaves? Oh man do I love India and loved getting to participate in this wonderful village festival!
Two of Savita’s brothers.
The one of the left is the eldest, and the one standing on the right is a brother in law.
The villagers local well where they get their drinking and cooking water.
After our lunch with the villagers we were taken back to Savita’s brothers home (and the home she grew up in) for some snacks that Savita’s Aunt had prepared for us. We loved getting a chance to ask questions and get to know more of Savita’s family.
After awhile the kids were getting restless so we took them out back to see the animals! They loved getting to pet the family cow!
Here we are standing in front of the dried hay harvested for the animals.
This is Naveen’s beautiful wife Savita! We love her!
This was just a cute little old lady living next door who was out doing her laundry. They do it all by hand here in these small villages and use a large rock to knead the dirt out of the clothes.
Group picture of Savita’s family (only about half the gang – Savita comes from a family of 8 kids!)
Later we went for a walk out to the land that Savita’s family owns where they grow sugar cane and coconut trees. They also grow their own rice as well which feeds the entire family for the year. I loved seeing so many animals as we went.
They say there is a black sheep in every family, right? 🙂
Just walking down the streets of Mandya!
This is a brick house where villagers can come and get bricks. Pretty cool.
Savita and two of her sisters. I love their beautiful Indian Sari’s!
Branson standing next to some fully grown Sugar Cane!
Another village well.
How cool is it to see Swallow’s nests like these as you’re walking to work each day!? So cool!
How the locals store fire wood.
A little pond we passed as we walked.
Ride from Daddy!
The pretty flower Branson picked for me. Anyone know what its called?
Some of the farms we passed as we walked.
One of my favorite things is how almost all Indian women wear these gorgeous flowers in their hair anytime they get dressed up or for special occasions and holidays. Even at church you will see so many women with these flowers in their hair and they are so fragrant and lovely! Oh how I love India!
I’m pretty sure this guy has no idea just how cool we all think he is that he can actually DO this!
AMAZING!
And here it is! The land Savita’s family owns. Here her brother is getting us all down some coconuts so we can drink some fresh juice!
This beautiful river runs right next to the land. So pretty!
Adam wanted to try his hand at cutting open a coconut (which is actually MUCH harder than it looks).
He did it though and was all smiles getting to use that cool knife!
The kids enjoyed playing on these large mounds of dirt by climbing to the top and then sliding down them on their bums!
I am obsessed with anything that is “different” from what is in America and so I asked if I could go and watch the Indian women doing their laundry in the river. You can see how they lay out their laundry to dry in the picture below by draping it over higher pants and bushes.
To clean the laundry the women take a bar of soap and rub the soap on the clothes with some water on the rocks. Then they dip the clothes in the stream and then beating the clothes on the rocks by smacking them roughly against them. The final step is to wring the clothes out by hand before placing the garment in their big tub.
Ah, you know, just a cow walking along the same path we are and a woman behind him carrying her laundry on her head. Things aren’t too different here! 🙂
Another temple here in Mandya
Some of the village houses. I loved their bright colors!
Most of the homes would have these drawings in front of their homes as well. Naveen explained that by drawing these in front of your home you were inviting prosperity to come into your home.
This is a kind of gross picture but I included it because it is SO India. These squatter toilets are what most Indians have in their homes (although western toilets are becoming more popular). Although Adam and I have gotten used to these toilets, its still been quite the ordeal to get our boys to feel comfortable using them when they need to go #2 – especially since there is no toilet paper, and no flushing involved. You actually get a bucket of water and a big measuring cup of sorts and splash the water on your unmentionables and down on the ground. This is definitely something I WON’T miss when we get back to the United States.
Savita was so so sad because she had misunderstood when some of the festivities were going on and we unfortunately missed the big parade and celebration that goes along with the festival. Apparently they take the God out of the temple and carry him/her around tow for all to see. I’m sure it would have been great to see, but we really enjoyed our time on Savita’s families farm and didn’t feel too bad about missing it.
We did go to the temple after the farm though where they were starting to light candles for their Gods. I don’t remember what the candles signify but they sure do light a lot of them!
They had some awesome Indian musicians there as well and I LOVED listening to them play. Such different sounds and music than what I am used to. I really enjoyed this part.
Next all the village priests offer what is called “Pooja” which are basically prayers in behalf of people. You can pay money or give things to the God’s and the priest will pray for you. According to Naveen these prayers can last anywhere between 2-5 hours! Whoa! We only ended up staying about 15 minutes since we couldn’t understand a single word and because Naveen said it would just be the same thing for many more hours to come. The man in the front there is Savita’s eldest brother and the Patriarch of the family now that Savita’s Dad has passed. Also notice all the beautiful flowers in all the women’s hair. So pretty!
Here is a closer look at some of the gifts the locals give to their God’s to ask for special blessings and show their love. Plates of food, fruit, water, juice, flowers, jewelry, necklaces, pretty much anything is accepted.
Adam liked these Indian umbrellas and wanted to get a picture of me with them!
I loved these leaves that were strung all over the town as decorations. India is just such an amazing and awesome place with such cool and interesting customs and traditions.
Group picture with Naveen, Savita, Swaroop and some of Savita’s family members! We love these guys and consider them our “Indian family!” Such great people!
A look back at the temple we just came from.
I had to laugh because these little kids were SO interested in our family and specifically in ME! They had their little faces pressed up on the windows like this hoping to get a peek at our family and to hear some of our conversations! I had brought some Reeces, Twix, and Snickers to give to Naveen and Savita’s family and ended up giving these boys each a treat too! They were the cutest boys ever!
I asked to take their picture, but only a few of them would let me! I even got a smile out of these 3 though and they made friends with Harry easily!
Cutest picture of Naveen (our driver) with his sweet little boy Swaroop! We love this family!
Once again we had to laugh as we ended up with quite the following just as we walked from Savita’s home to our car when it was time to leave. I don’t think any of the locals in the area had ever seen a white person. Therefore, we became quite the spectacle! ha ha They all came out to see us and loved asking us lots of questions. It was so fun to make so many new friends and most of them spoke fairly decent English!
We feel like we have made some friendships that will last a lifetime! Thank you Naveen and Savita for inviting us to your home and letting us into your hearts, village, and festival! What a great time we had!
