Mulkirigala

Demos uma escapadinha para visitar um famoso templo budista em Mulkirigala.
Descendo do carro, fomos atacados por vendedoras de flores. Nao tinha como sair dali sem uma oferenda para o Buda. Fabio comprou um punhado de flores e eu outro. Uma senhorinha muito fofa ( que eu nao fotografei!!!) me aplicou o golpe mais engracado do mundo.
Ela veio com um saco de pipoca e me pediu pra segurar pra ela. Quando eu peguei, ela comecou a pular e pater palmas! Comprou! comprou!
O golpe so foi engracado pq ela nao tinha o menor controle sobre a coisa - eu so ia pagars e quisesse, ne? Paguei, claro!
Achei que ia dar a pipoca pro Buda, mas quando eu disse pro guia que o Buda ia ficar feliz comigo, pq alem das flores eu estava levando pipocas. ele riu - a pipoca e pra voce comer! Nao e pro Buda nao.

We decided to visit a famous Buddhist temple in Mulkirigala before our hols were finished.As soon as we arrived and got out of the car,  we were sorounded by women tryint to sell flowers to us. There was no way we could visit the temple and not give flowers to Budha. Fabio bought a bunch and I bought another.
A very cute old lady (can not believe I did not take a pic of her!) applied the funniest "trick" on me.
She came closer to me with a bag of popcorn and asked me to hold it for her her. When I didt it, she started jumping up and down while she clapped, happy as Larry. All I heard her saying in the middle of her celebration was:You bought! You bought!It was only funny because "the trick" was totally relying on me wanting to pay for it. She had no way to guarantee she would be paid. I paid her, of course!Now I had both popcorn AND flowers for the Buhda, aren't I good? But when I told the guide  the Buddha would be happy with me, cuz besides the flowers I was taking popcorn, he laughed, shook his head and said: The popcorn is for you to eat!

Assim que encontrei uma crianca, dei o saco de pipocas pra ela. A sortuda foi essa menininha linda da foto.
O lugar e lindissimo e o templo muito diferente. Localizado no topo de uma pedra, o visitante ( eu, no caso) tem que "escalar" 533 degraus para chegar ao ultimo patamar, onde o templo mais alto fica localizado. Segurando pipoca e flores eu nao ia chegar nem ao segundo degrau.

Holding my popcorn bag and my flowers, I started frantically looking for a kid - any kid, who would be happy to take at least the popcorn from my hands. The lucky child was this gorgeous lil girl, who looked thrilled to get the bag off my hands.
The place is gorgeous and the temples are very different. Located on a rock boulder , the visitor  (yeah, i am talking about myself now) has to climb 533 steps to get to the higher temple. Holding popcorn and flowers, there would be no way I could manage that.

Esse templo tem aprox 2000 anos e foi feito em cavernas. Os degraus de acesso sao irregulares, dificeis de subir e em alguns lugares eles sao simplesmente cavados numa pedra vertical, e vc tem que se equilibrar em corrimaos mal conservados ( enferrujados e soltos nas extremidades) para nao despencar morro abaixo. Uma aventura!
Eu subia uns degraus, deitava achando que ia morrer. Me levantava, subia mais um tanto, comecava a rezar e pedir misericordia quando chegasse do "lado - de - la". fabio subiu tudo sem nem perder o folego.
Nao sei se sinto admiracao por ele ou raiva pura e simples. Na hora, a raiva tava ganhando, mas agora sinto um fiozinho de admiracao!

This temple is approx 2000 years and was made in caves. The access steps are irregular and difficult to climb - in some places they are just a stone dug vertically, where you have to balance on rails poorly maintained (rusted and with loose ends) to avoid going downhill. A true adventure!I climbed some steps, then had to lay down thinking I was going to die. I would get up, climb over a bit more and start praying and asking God for mercy when I passed ( it could not be that far). Fabio climbed all the steps without ever losing his breath.I do not know if I feel admiration for him or outright anger. At the time, anger was winning the context. Now I feel a trickle of admiration coming to the scene.

O complexo e formado por  varios templos, todos em cavernas naturais, e em niveis diferentes. Voce sobe, sobe,sobe encontra um grupo de caverna-templos. Ai sobe mais, mais, mais...e encontra outro patamar.. - sao quatro "niveis" e a maioria dos  templos tem uma escultura imensa do Buda deitado. O principal deles e o maior, com 14 metros de comprimento e impressionante. ( o da foto nao e o Buda Gigante, esse eu nao consegui fotografar inteiro)

The complex consists of several temples, all placed in natural caves, and at different levels. You go up, up, up and find a group of cave-temples. Then you go up some more, more, more ... and find another level .. - There are four "levels" and most of the temples has a huge sculpture of the Buddha lying down. The main one and the largest, with 14 meters long is very impressive. (This photo is not of the Giant Buddha, I did not manage to get him in one shot)

Mas nao e so de Budas deitados que vive Mulkirigala. ha muitas outras coisa a serem apreciadas! Primeiro encontrei essa fileira enorme de budas "em pe". Nao pensei muito nisso, por que eu ainda estava fascinada pela decoracao, pelas pinturas nas paredes e no teto das cavernas, na magica desse complexo de templos tao antigos...
But there is much more than reclined Budhas in Mulkirigala. There are lots of other things to be appreciated! First I saw this line of standing Budhas. I did not really give it a second though, as there was so much for me to take in. The wall and ceiling paintings, the whole decoration, the magic of being in such an old temple...

Ai encontrei outras fileiras de budas - dessa vez, sentados. Fiquei intrigada. O Buda nao e um so? Nao consigo me imaginar entrando numa igreja com 12 Cruzes com 12 Jesus Cristo pregados nelas.
E a resposta e simples: Siiim, o Buda tambem foi um unico homem, - mas as imagens estao enfileiradas para os devotos poderem medidar mais proximo deles.
E os budistas insistem em afirmar que o Budismo nao e religiao, e filosofia.
Acho que toda religiao pode afirmar isso, ne nao?

Then I saw other Bhuda lines - this one, for example, with them sitting down. That caught my attention. How many Budha's were there? As far as I know, he was only one man. And I can not imagine getting into a church and finding 12 crosses with 12 Jesus nailed to them.
The answer to my question is simple: YES! Budha was a man, but there ares everal images of him, so the believers can pray or meditate in front of the statues.
And the Budhist people I met keep saying Budhism is not a religion, but a philosophy. I guess all religions can claim the same...

Apesar de eu ter ficado enlouquecida com os Budas, deitados, sentados e em pe, o que mais me intrigou, foram as imagens de Deuses Hindus, DENTRO do templo Budista. Na maior calma, o guia me explicou o misterio:
Muitos reis do Sri lanka se casaram com princesas Indianas e para elas poderem ir ao templo com o marido, eles mandavam colocar esculturas e pinturas dos deuses delas ali tambem...
Tremenda demonstracao de amor e respeito pela esposa e pela religiao dela!
Salve Reis Sri lankos! Acabaram de ganhar meu respeito e a minha admiracao.

The place is amazing, and as I said many times, the Budhas ( lying down, sitting down, standing up...) were all very impressive, but the most mesmerizing thing I saw was images and statues of Hindi Gods INSIDE the Budhist temples.
With all the knowledge in the world, my Budhist guide explained the mistery:
Many Sri Lankan kings married Indian princesses and for them to be able to come and worship at the same place, the kings would place Hindi simbols in the Budhist temple...
Great sign of love and respect for his wife and her religion.
These kings just won my admiration.

A pintura das paredes e super detalhada - e me lembrou bastante as pinturas das paredes dos tumulos do vale dos reis no Egito. Mas so de longe, por que quando voce chega perto, voce ve que os desenhos sao bem especificos.
E nem todos sao sobre paz, amor e meditacao. O negocio "pega" por ali. E um tal de demonio comendo gente, demonio mordendo pescoco, demonio fazendo e acontecendo... Se vc quiser dar uma olhada em fots mais detalhadas, eu encontrei esse site aqui, que traz fotos impressionantes!
Vai la ver! vai!

The walls and ceiling paintings are super detailed and impressive - and they reminded me of the paintings I saw in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. But when you get closer, you see they are nothing alike. The Sri lankan paintings show very violent scenes. There are people-eating demons, neck-breaking demons, all sorts of demons, doing what their names suggest.
If you want to have a look at the details of these paintings, I found this amazing link with lots of pics of them.
have a look! It is worth it.

Em meio a Budas, Deuses Hindus, flores e pinturas maravilhosas, eu nao resisti e me entreguei a um minutinho de submissao as maravilhas que passam pelo meu caminho.
Da sorte imensa que eu tenho em poder explorar lugares tao incriveis, da delicia de poder vivenciar tudo isso e aprender uma ou outra coisinha ao longo da minha jornada.
E mais que tudo, de poder aproveitar a espiritualidade desse lugar sagrado, onde monges e "crentes" vem recarregar suas energias.
Amongst Buddhas, Hindu Gods, flowers and beautiful paintings, I did not resist and gave myself a minute to assimilate the wonder of everything I was been exposed to.I can only consider myself lucky to be able to visit such places, to experience the power and grandiosity of other culture's faith and to learn a thing or two throughout my journey.
Most of all I felt grateful for having the opportunity to enjoy all the energy and beauty of a place where monks and worshippers have been coming for over 2000 years!

Cheia de paz e amor pra dar, sai do ultimo templo me sentindo leve e renovada. Um senhorzinho muito fofo insistiu em colocar uma pulseirinha feita de uma linha branca no meu braco.

Fiquei emocionada, por que ele cantava e fazia uma oracao budista enquanto ele "fazia"a pulseira no meu pulso.

Quando ele acabou, ele me pediu uma "doacao" . Claro que eu nao tinha nada comigo. nem dinheiro, nem bolso e nem bolsa. Lembrei que havia uma moedinha na capinha da minha maquina fotografica. Nao era nada, mas doacao e doacao, ne?

na na ni na nao

Ele imediatamente aprendeu a falar ingles e comecou:

100 RUPIS! 100 RUPIS!

Procurei o fabio e dei o dinheiro a ele. Mas cortei a pulseirinha assim que cheguei ao hotel. Acho que as bencaos que ele recitou e cantarolou nao foram tao sinceras como eu tinha imaginado.

Que pena!

na volta ao carro, encontrei as mesmas mulheres da chegada. E a minha velhinha preferida, me aplicou o mesmo golpe, dessa vez com um cacho de bananas. me deixei ser enganada pela segunda vez:

Segura aqui!

Comprou! Comprou!

E ela pulava e dancava, feliz da vida...

Me cobrou 25 rupis ( inacreditavel que um cacho inteiro de bananas era 1/4 do preco da cantoria que o cara fez para amarrar uma linha branca no meu braco)

Paguei pelas minhas bananas e voltei pra casa ainda mais feliz que ela.

With my heart filled with peace and love, I left  last temple feeling light and refreshed. A very sweet old man insisted on making a white thread bracelet for me.I was thrilled, and very touched, as he sang and said Buddhist prayer while he made the bracelet right on my wrist.When he finished, he asked me for a "donation". Unfortunately, I had nothing with me. No money, no purse or pocket but I remembered that I had a coin in my camera's bag. And he asked for a donation, right? Not a specific ammount.

How wrong could I be?He immediately "learned" to speak English and began:100 RUPIS! 100 RUPIS!I found Fabio, got 110 rupis and gave him the money. But  I made sure to cut the bracelet off as soon as I got to the hotel. I think the blessings he recited and sang were not as sincere as I had imagined.What a pity! That really broke my heart.Back to the car, we once again met the same women selling things. This time, they were selling fruits and stuff we could take with us, no more presents to Budha or popcorn.

Immediately I spotted  my favorite old lady - the con woman, who  applied the same trick on me again, this time with a bunch of bananas. I let myself be deceived a second time:Hold this!

With a smile, I did just that!You Bought! You Bought!And she jumped and danced, happy as she could be. She asked me for 25 RUPIS ( I could buy a whole bunch of sweet sweet bananas for 1/4 of the thread on my wrist)I paid for my bananas and went back to the hotel even happier than the woman I left singing and dancing...