Pune - enjoy a few days stay! - Liebe zur Erde

Pune or Poona:

Pune or Poona, is for one known because Bhagwan - or Osho as he is called here - has taken up his final residence in this city. Others may have heard of it, because Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned here for years in an actually very nice property. And Pune is one of the emerging economic centers in India, with many universities and local companies. Its location in the Deccan - a range of hills with plate structure - gives the city a somewhat cooler climate than the hot humid Mumbai on the coast.





Moreover, it is in Maharashtra, a state which is known for its ancient cave architectures. Ajanta and Ellora are the best known and largest, where Buddhist and Hindu phases follow each other. But Pune and its surroundings offer also a number of smaller caves. The best time to visit  the region is at the end of the monsoon season, when from all the hills waterfalls cascades down. But be careful when hiking: a very toxic encounter happens faster than you would like it ....there are snakes everywhere.

In the picture above the outside walls of the Shaniwarwada Palace: It is a historic fortress and was also the former seat of government of the Peshwa in Pune:


  



Simple street scenes:








 






The Osho center:

This used to allow just anybody in and everybody could marvel on a guided tour. Because all the brown red clothed foreigners who reside there have to undergo a current HIV-Test for entry permission. One remembers: Bhagwan, the guru of free sex - he is known to us. I am surprised that he is considered scandalous here with locals due to its sexual permissiveness, but neither as a charlatan nor a money crazy. His ideas are taken seriously in India, his books are read, even today. But marveing on his disciples, who come from all over the world, has come for the stranger to an end: if you want permission today in the luxury complex (more or less a ***** spa resort at a high level), you have likewise to vanish in a robe, perform  the HIV test at the store entrance and then you get a more hour introduction to meditation and a guided tour. As for this, however, I must say: as far as my curiosity goes - this is not for me ....

Gandhi prison:

The investment of the Aga Khan Palace, where in 1942 were Mahatma Gandhi, his wife Kasturba and other key figures in the Indian independence movement held captive, is now a museum. A striking feature of the site and the garden is that it breathes a deep calm. One has the impression to meet here more the life of a religious leader than a politician. Maybe it shows something about the spiritual rank of Gandhi, who knew how to combine the two .... The people who come here as visitors take a devotional mood, even if I have to learn here that Gandhi in his own country was not without controversy. The Museum keeps the original furniture in the rooms. It is, however,  limited to the view through a glass pane.





 






An ancient Buddhist temple, the cave temple Panchalesvara::

the temple was carved in the same way as the other rock caves in Maharashtra and originates from the Rashtrakuta period (8th / 9th century):











Behind the circular temple, completed by the modern barred window, then the portico with the sanctuary. Very interesting to me is this very early plant designing, insofar as it reminds one of the pyramids in Gaza, or the Temple of Hatshepsut, as they also had a kind of temple-structure with pillows  there, where the light is rhythmically moved through the columns, before then the darkness of the temple itself was entered. Interesting that one fins this here in India: a spiritual path that wants to escape the light flooding through the country and a structure which is leading into the cool darkness of the interior!


Inside the Panchalesvara temple:

 





Also nearby is a temple built for a saint of the last century, who lived there - then there were at the point yet jungle - and eventually decided himself to die now, and was buried alive for the purpose. At the site the temple was built later.




  

Burial of the dead:

The dead are cremated and buried in the river. In the floating flower vessels the ash reaches the river. Since many of the dead are buried with jewelry, there are also people who search the river grounds during the day for gold jewelry:

The surrounding area:

Just a few miles outside of Pune, life goes on as usual in the simple rural transition. More on the page about the Deccan: