Mumbai Part III: Pilgrimage

Near every temple or pilgrimage site, puja stalls set up to sell prasad to the pilgrims. Prasad usually includes garlands of flowers, food (often a coconut at temple, or sweets at home), kumkum or haldi (red or yellow powder), and sometimes clothes for the god. Prasad can cost anywhere from one to lakhs of rupees. Prasad is big business, although usually I only make a donation.

At Hajj Ali Mosque, a Muslim pilgrimage site, prasad includes a cloth for covering Hajj Ali's tomb. The best cloths were hung around the temple, but pilgrims bring so many that bales of them sit by the gate! In the photo you can see the sign "Only For Ladies" because mosques often segregate men and women. Hajj Ali is a Muslim saint who died on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. His casket drifted back to India and came to rest at this spot. Pilgrims reach the mosque by crossing a long pathway across the bay, and the mosque can only be reached at low tide. It would be wonderful to see the mosque at high tide. Pilgrims usually dress up when they make a pilgrimage, so I usually try to wear Indian dress at least. It's fine to make puja in jeans and a tshirt though. This little boy's parents spent a lot of time on his outfit, and I loved this aunty's colourful sari. I try not to take photos of people without permission, and I don't always feel comfortable asking, but it's easy when they ask for a photo with me first!

At Mahalaxmi Temple, a Hindu pilgrimage site, I made a proper puja. Carrying a metal plate with the prasad keeps your hands full, particularly since it is very inauspicious to drop prasad, so I didn't have an extra hand to hold my camera. In addition to that, no photos are allowed inside the temple, so I don't have any to share. I thought the goddess living there was especially beautiful, though. I also briefly visited Sri Dhakleshwar Mahadev Mandir, a 300 year old temple near Mahalaxmi, which was much quieter. The priest there gave me a mini tour and lecture about the temple and the gods living there.

The Ambedkar Chaityabhoomi, a pilgrimage site for Buddhists in the Dalit movement, was extremely busy, because the anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar's parinirvana occurred on December 6. That day pilgrims lined up across the city--tens of thousands of people come from all over the country--so I visited on a different day! At the site is a stupa, an intricately carved gateway, and a column with the symbol of Ashoka.

Elephanta Island has a complex of cave temples dedicated to the god Shiva, which were carved between the 9th and 13th centuries CE. My photos of the different aspects of Shiva including his dance, his marriage to Laxmi, his triumph over Ravana, and his battle with the demon all turned out better than I hoped, but I kept those for the B list on Facebook just in case you don't share my obsession with ancient religious history! The most moving carving is Shiva as creator, sustainer, destroyer. I felt compelled to return again and again. Visitors still pay their respects to Shiva here, especially in his symbolic form as Shiv lingam, hundreds of years later.

Finally, no trip to Mumbai is complete without a pilgrimage to Khubsons Narisons, which sells the famous Tantra tshirts!