DrDatura
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Registered: December 2007
Location: Asia
Posts: 6
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We visited Kalighat during the time that many had come to Kolkata for the Ganga Sagar Mela. Initially, as we exited the taxi and walked down the lane lined with shops and shrines, a man who waved toward us and said he was a guide took us to a small office near the temple. He instructed us to leave our shoes inside of some cubbies, and perhaps pay him some small amount to provide a tour. We bailed on that proposition and continued on toward the temple, where another gentleman did provide us with an extensive tour of the temple amidst oll of the activity of prayers and offerings and veneration from devotees. No photos were allowed to be taken inside the temple grounds, of course, but I could probably draw out the scenes from memory, it was all so compelling. I'd say the experience was one of the highlights of the trip.
This guide (who was assisted by a couple of young men/teens, did ask for money as donation to the temple after taking us to a water tank/old ghat next door that was flanked by a white statue of Vishnu. My girlfriend was put off my by this, but I thought it was worth it because of the access we received to the temple (though I gave only what was convenient, not the 500 rupees he asked for). A South Asian and Himalayan art history PhD friend of mine said that this is a common report she hears from her colleagues who come back from their Subcontinent excursions.
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