Bollywood, Sufi shrines, and more! Posted on November 7th, 2004 by Lindsey Reimnitz

Today, as a part of our Religion and Cultures of India module, we traveled to the ancient Channekeshava Temple at Belur and the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebid in Karnataka. About the Hoysaleswara Temple, my guidebook writes, “Every centimetre of the outside walls and much of the interior is covered iwth an endless variety of Hindu deities, sages, stylised animals and friezes depicting the life of the Hoysala rulers.” Both of the temples took nearly 200 years to construct; hard to believe the patience and detail that went into their construction!

After visiting the temples, we embarked in our bright, lime green bus, what we like to call the “Party Bus,” to head for our evening destination, a hill station in the hills of the Western Ghats. Our plan was to visit a Sufi shrine on our way to the hill station. We climbed the steep hills on narrow, shoddy paved roads with no guardrail to protect us from a deathly fall. The term ‘hairpin curves’ finally makes sense in our minds, though it would have been impossible to travel on them at the speeds shown on car commercials in the States. As we climbed higher and higher, it seemed as we could see for miles around, city and country, trees, and fields of banana plants. The view as we climbed is completely indescribable, and I I was consumed with thoughts of how beautiful God’s own creation is without our material additions. And I finally understood what the term ‘higher ground’ actually meant.

Shortly before reaching the shrine, we happened upon a Bollywood film shooting on the top of a green, grassy hill. We stopped for about 20 minutes to watch the scene play out, a cheesy lovers’ chase on beat with a hit Hindi tune. After watching them complete the short scene, we embarked again, attempting to be somewhat on time instead of the usual IST, Indian Standard Time, which inevitably means being at least 45 minutes late.

About 20 minutes later, our friend and guide, Sham, announced that we had reached the Shrine. We piled out of the Party Bus and emerged into a cloud upon the hill. There was an eery atmosphere–chilly breeze, fog, setting sun, silence– and it only got even more eery as we continued on. The shrine was nestled high up in the hills, far away from any town. We made our way down a flight of narrow, cement stairs, enclosed by a barbed wire fence, in-between a few dozen tombs draped with the Sufi flag, green to signify life with the Crescent and Star in gold. As is the custom in any home or temple, we were asked to take our shoes off before entering the shrine. We were also told that cameras were not allowed, and we retreated a bit, as we have been so accustomed to clutching our cameras wherever we go, whether it be climbing a mountain or sleeping at Visthar, our NGO base. A man led us into the shrine, which we discovered was actually a cave that had been used around 800 AD as a meditation center for their spiritual leader. Down slippery, clay stairs and into the cave, we hunched over so as not to bump our heads on the rocky, jagged ceiling. The ceiling dripped water. Inside the cave, there were 4 more tombs similar to the ones we had passed on the stairs, similarly draped in the green flag. Oil lamps lit our path, and a generator-powered light outlined the slimy walls. Worshippers chanted a prayer and Sham, a Muslim, joined because it was a common Islamic chant, only Sham accidentally continued when the Sufis stopped short: the Islamic chant says “There is no god but Allah” and the Sufis stopped at “There is no god.” When they had finished and Sham exchanged a few words with the keepers of the shrine, we were led to the opposite end of the cave, where a ‘room’ was gated off. We peered in as Sham translated to us the myth of the Sufi leader: He lived in about 800 AD and meditated in that particular cave, and it is believed that he meditates there still today. Behind the room we could see a small, dark pathway, believed to lead to Mecca.

Thus was our experience in a Sufi shrine. Our day came to a close when we emerged again, when a cloud had fully descended upon the hill, and through the fog, we could see a beautiful, hazy sunset between the hills.