Rani Lakshmibai
Buddhist Heaven and Hell
The Cycles of Life
The first time Afrika and I went to Varanasi I chose a room north of Assi Ghat. It took three days to find it, trudging around under the hot sun because I refused to stay in a touristy guest house. Nothing new, it was my modus operandi: get a temporary room until I found the perfect one, especially when I wanted to settle down for a couple of weeks. Since real estate searches provided an opportunity to become acquainted with the surroundings, by the time I found it I already knew a few shortcuts, local beggars and shopkeepers, and felt at home.
Falling Backwards in Time
I went to Madurai because of its patron goddess, Meenakshi, a fierce, unmarried, meat-eating warrior considered to be a manifestation of Shiva’s wife Parvati. Her name meant ‘fish eyed’, probably due to a pair of large and brilliant eyes which never closed, giving her the power to watch over her devotees without interruption.
According to Tamil lore, her story started with a complicated ritual performed by the king of Madurai, her father, in the hope it would help his wife bear him a son. Instead, he got a girl with three breasts, though the Brahmins predicted that one would fall off as soon as she met the man of her life.
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