Shot of the surrounding hills and of course the beautiful beaches.

And a great view from the restaurant for lunch. Ouzo before, wine with lunch and a shooter of local raki followed by a sleep!

Magnificent bougainvillea everywhere…..

A little local character at the market and over a game of backgammon…..

Charming town of Chania, a comfortable one hour bus ride away.

And tomorrow is a day excursion to Santorini where the sun better shine!

Legends of Krakow by Anna Majorczyk

Every hour on the hour if you look way up to the top of the tallest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow a little window opens and you catch a glint of light as a lone trumpeter plays the Hejnal Mariacki.

Over six days in Cracow I grew to love the tune from what I imagined was a short, somewhat rotund fellow with red cheeks and a jolly disposition.  I would sit in one of the many cafes on Rynek Glowny, the main market square and wait with anticipation for the little window to open. It is not a very long piece and ends abruptly making no sense at all until you know the legend.

Listen to the piece on this You Tube clip if you have never heard it.

And this is the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, aka, St. Mary’s Church from where it is played.  As you can see the two towers differ in height (there’s a story for that too but I’ll save that for another blog post).  The trumpeter always plays from the tall tower. 

Altar by Meister Veit Stoss

So what is the legend that just notches up the charm of one of most delightful european cities I’ve ever visited? First a few facts.  The word hejnal comes from hajnal, the hungarian word for “dawn”.  (There is actually a lot of hungarian influence woven into the culture in Poland.  King Louis I, a hungarian, reigned over Poland from 1370 -1382.  His daughter Jadwiga then took over, and as Queen of Poland reigned from 1384-99.)

St Mary’s Church was founded in 1221 and two hundred and fifty years later it’s most valuable treasure was created; an altar intricately carved by Meister Veit Stoss.

Church facade

Now back to the legend.  In the 1200′s the job of the sentry was prestigious and important.  At dawn and dusk he played the Hejnal to officially open and close the city gates.  There were four at the time but today only the one at the top of Florianska Street remains.  According to tradition, he played to the four corners of the world.  South to Wavel Castle as a nod to the King, west to the town hall to salute the city authorities, north to welcome visitors at Florian’s Gate and lastly, east to the small market square  in honour of merchants and the fire brigade.   His other important job was to stand watch and sound his trumpet alerting the guards and towns people of impending threats or attacks.

Florianska Gate

In 1241, in the middle of the night, the Mongol troops led by General Subutai approached the city.  The sentry played the Hejnal signalling to everyone that an attack was imminent.  As the fighting ensued, the brave sentry continued to play to encourage and provide support to those in battle.  Part way through, his melody ceased, as his throat was pierced by a deadly Mongol arrow.   800 years later, the tune still stops abruptly to honor the memory of this brave sentry.

If you have a satellite radio you can hear the Hejnal being played everyday on Polish Radio 1. On June 11, 2000 it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records after it was played by 2,000 trumpeters from all over the world.  Twice in history, it has been replaced by “Lzy Matki- Tears of the Mother” first on the death of the beloved Krakovian Pope John Paul II and then 5 years later on the death of Lech Kaczynski, the polish president from 2005 – 2010.

How do you get to be the modern day sentry?  It can be a very long wait.  Adolf Smietana held the position for 36 years from 1926, setting the record. The Kolton family has been trumpeting for three generations. Grandfather Kolton and the son for 35 and 33 years respectively.  Today the grandson carries on the tradition.  That is a lot of Heynal!

Artists at Florianska Gate

Cloth Hall on Market Square – Facing St. Mary’s Church

Almost every fort or palace in Rajasthan has a story of a great struggle to defend territory and ultimately a way of life. Lookout towers and serpentine ramparts built to protect ruling maharaja stretch for miles. The story of the Bishnois people and their struggle to maintain a pure way of life is less grandiose but equally enduring as the epic tales of the maharajas.

I had spent several days in Jodhpur, the famous blue city of Rajasthan and needed a break from tuk tuks, forts, markets and palaces. I was curious about the Bishnois tribe and it was an easy excursion to their village in the Thar desert.

Jodphur, Rajasthan, For Brahmins indigo blue is the symbol of purity

Raj, the driver I hired through the hotel, sported a great handle bar moustache, baseball cap and a photographer’s vest; looking ready for an African safari more than an outing in India. On the outskirts of the city we pulled over to buy feed for cows, the daily ritual to ensure good fortune. Having two twin daughters, Raj needed good fortune! Not really a lucky thing in a country where providing a dowry is still very much the custom.

In good English and over the din of the 4WD engine I learned the story of the Bishnois tribe and their struggle dating back 300 years to preserve their fundamental belief of the sanctity of all life.

Bishnois stands for Bis (20) and noi (9); reflecting the 29 principles established in the mid 1400′s by Jambeshwar Bhagavan, Jambaji for short; a member of the warrior class. The principles include fundamental values for a good life and prohibit killing or eating of animals, drinking alcohol and culling of living trees; the latter being central to the story line of this blog.

As the story goes, Jambaji was disillusioned by the continuous conflict between the indigenous Hindus and the Muslim invaders. Showing great wisdom, to find an enduring religious peace, he combined elements of both the hindu and muslim beliefs in his 29 principles. The Bishnois worship Vishnu (the Hindu deity) and bury their dead as is the Muslim practice, signifying a return to the elements yet avoiding the use of wood.

Now the defending of the faith part of the story. In the early 1700s in the village of Jalnadi (close to Jodhpur) an altercation transpired between men of the Maharajah of Jodphur and the village women resulting in the massacre of 363 people. The maharaja needed wood to burn lime for his palace and wanted to cut the Khejarli trees in the desert. Following an unsuccessful negotiation, Amrita Devi the heroine of the story, hugged the branches of the chosen tree to protect it from destruction. It was in this encounter that she uttered the famous lines “Sir santhe runkh rahe to Bhi Sasto Jan” which means “if a tree can be saved at the cost of my head then this is a good deal”. But it was to no avial; Amrita was killed and the tree chopped down. 362 others followed her lead until finally the Maharajah pulled his men back, apologized and ended the bloodshed.

363 Khejarli trees were planted and a memorial constructed at the site of the massacre and every year on Shukla Dashmi (moonlit 10th) of the Hindi month of Bhadrapad there is a gathering to honor the martyrs. The village of Jalnadi is now known as Khejarli.

With equal passion, wildlife is protected and on the drive to the village spotted deer, blue bulls, black bucks, antelopes roams freely. Keeping the memory alive is the annual granting of the National award called the “Amrita Devi Bishnois Wildlife Protection Award”.

After about 45 minutes we veered off the main road and followed unpaved dirt roads across fields to the home of a Bishnois family. No computers, no wifi, no satellite dish outside! Just a tranquil, pure and simple life guided by pure beliefs and age-old traditions. A place where on the 12th day after the death of the head of the the family, unmarried girls are wed. Where death is a way of life. One person dies and the next generation takes their place.

The men look elegant; always attired in white dhoti and kurtas, symbolizing cleanliness and austerity. Check out the video of our host wrapping nine yards of material into a neatly folded turban in a record 32 seconds.

The homes are simple; floors regularly spread with cow dung to keep them clean. Water is piped in according to a set schedule, collected in a tin pail and stored in large clay urns like you see in the image below. Notice the peacock, the national bird of India, painted on the wall. The outdoor kitchen is simple and basic.

Outdoor kitchen

The vibrant colours worn by women symbolize creation. This style of jewelry with the nose ring is typical Bishnois.

And finally, the daughter in law, face veiled out of respect for the father in law.

Indian hospitality is legend. No matter how poor, an indian family will give guests the best of their food even if they do without. And so it was as we were treated to a traditional opium tea ceremony.

Unlike most indian food, the recipe is pretty simple. Pieces of opium, the size of sugar cubes are ground to a paste in the mortar and mixed with water to form a broth.

It is then poured through conical strainers to obtain a pure, magical liquid! I imagine this strainer is a treasured possession and passed from father to son.

The pure opium is then poured into cupped hands as a gift. A very memorable one!

]]> https://claraarnold.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/a-chopped-head-is-cheaper-than-a-felled-tree/feed/ 1 claraarnold Jodphur, Rajasthan, For Brahmins blue is the symbol of purity Bishnois Family, Jodphur-471 Bishnois Family, Jodphur-448 Bishnois Family, Jodphur-467 Outdoor kitchen Bishnois Family, Jodphur-470 Bishnois Family, Jodphur-466-Edit Bishnois Family, Jodphur-445 Bishnois Family, Jodphur-443 Bishnois Family, Jodphur-444 https://claraarnold.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/city-palace-jaipur/ https://claraarnold.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/city-palace-jaipur/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:36:27 +0000 claraarnold https://claraarnold.wordpress.com/?p=741 ]]> Built in 1727, the City Palace is both Rajput and Mughal styles. And of course it has the distinctive Jaipur pink colour.

Fabulous & intricate door frames

These students looked so demure!

Heath & safety is not high on the priority list. Check out the ladder! Safety harness!???

Repairing the phone line…….what a contrast to our world of digital technology.

David’s Tea!