a murder of crows

i had a clear dream

last year

moving thru old ruins and ancient things in india

and this week

it happened

the actual amazing place

was found in my waking life

but part of the dream was not with me

and so

i turn the corner understanding more about dreams

they are not as simple as

a vision or a drawn up plan

they are mysterious things

not always meant to be

or maybe just partially meant to be

and occasionally in a rare dream

the outer meets the inner

teasing us to build more

bridges for the water

of our underworld

to pass thru

our daily lives

Ranakpur is a village near Sadri town in the Pali district of Rajasthan in western India. It is located between Jodhpur and Udaipur, in a valley on the western side of the Aravalli Range. Ranakpur is easily accessed by road from Udaipur.

Ranakpur is widely known for its marble Jain temple, and for a much older Sun Temple which lies opposite the former.

The renowned Jain temple at Ranakpur is dedicated to Adinatha. Light colored marble has been used for the construction of this grand temple which occupies an area of approximately 60×62 meters. The temple, with its distinctive domes, shikhara, turrets and cupolas rises majestically from the slope of a hill. Over 1444 marble pillars, carved in exquisite detail, support the temple.The pillars are all differently carved and no two pillars are the same.It is also said that it is impossible to count the pillars.Also all the statues face one or the other statue,There is one beautiful carving made out of a single marble rock where there 108 heads of snakes and numerous tails.One cannot find the end of the tails. The image faces all four cardinal directions. In the axis of the main entrance, on the western side, is the largest image. The construction of the temple and quadrupled image symbolize the Tirthankara’s conquest of the four cardinal directions and hence the cosmos.

The dating of this temple is controversial but it is largely considered to be anywhere between the late 14th to mid-15th centuries. Inspired by a dream of a celestial vehicle, Dharna Shah, a Porwad, is said to have commissioned it, under the patronage of Rana Kumbha, then ruler of Mewad. The architect who oversaw the project is said to have been named Deepaka.

This temple was nominated as one of the top 77 wonders in a contest for the new seven wonders of the world.

india makes me

feel like a laggy old

2001 dell computer
overloaded with imagery

all the wrong format

the sounds i hear

dont work on my speakers

my hard drive

smells like something is burning
and my connection speed is all messed up

its freezing me up and

spinning my mother board all around

one page jumping in front of another

the wrong letter ahead of the other

i got a warning sign on my screen yesterday

told me the function i was attempting

was illegal

what a magnificant mess this is

my machine is possessed with

shiva destroying and creating

what i thought was

rightside up

i think im gonna crash

so help me vishnu

today i journeyed to agra

site of the taj mahal

reluctantly

as i know its a tourist magnet

and sure enough

what a nightmare getting past

the touts (taxis, thiefs, snake oil etc…)

the fare for foreigners

was about 1000 times higher

than india residents as well

the line for me to inter

was almost 200 yards long

and the wait

almost 2 hours

while being a sitting ducks to every scam under the sun…..

what an awful start

and i was really revved up to write a slamming

blog on the biggest holy cash cow in india

but

honestly

its the most beautiful building i have ever seen

(and ive seen a few)