Travel Diaries (Part-3)

We pause outside Rameshwar temple, struck by the contrast  between its stoic silence as it stands on a raised ground and the sound of evening picnickers who throng to the well-manicured green lawns surrounding it. Children laugh and run around. Parents sit and chat.

The tangibles and intangibles of all existence are encapsulated here in the recoiling shadows of this 9th century temple complex. It is a reminder that nothing lasts forever, yet the spirit endures, much like a dew drop now shimmering in the sun, and now disappeared without a trace save for memory.  So, what finally remains is only a self reeling under the stars, spinning across the universe, hurtling against the ruins of its own crumbling thoughts and crushed under the impact of innumerable actions and reactions... everything else turns to debris. Yet, for now, these temples make us partake in the divine artistry of the ancient visionaries, whose love for the Imperishable bled so seamlessly into their own finite creations as to imbue them with a touch of that splendor which is not of this world. Standing here, locking eyes with eternity, we lose all sense of time.

A faint cackling of birds coerces the eyes skyward,  in time to catch sight of a flock of cranes over the temple-top, circumventing the palest of pale crescent moons...

From being awestruck by these architectural wonders and fettered under the calm gaze of almighty gods,  I find myself returning to the 'self'. A little wow escapes the mouth, and a sudden burst of joy gushing forth jolts the being upwards. I am flying, chasing a poetry born of this hyphenated intermingling of stones and skies:

1.
the pale silver moon:
a sliver of forgotten time
lo how timidly it hangs 
above the ruins of the 
temple in a twilight sky

2.
below, the skeleton of 
a tree leaning over the 
ruins of a temple complex
above the frail moon
with its eternal smile

3.
the silent majestic beauty of
the ancient temple shrouded
in twilight hour is skyjacked 
by the excited siege of white 
herons as they steal the silver 
moon of the fifth night

 

Comments

Lia said…
I am loving your Travel Collection - the way you capture the essence of travel makes me feel like I am travelling when I read your stories.
Thank you
March 17, 2023 at 10:45 PM
Vali said…
Beautifully described, thanks for sharing your travel moments, so much to discover, and learn constantly.



March 22, 2023 at 9:59 PM
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