Arungabad and the like...

These photos are from Ellora and Ajantha which are sites of some of the oldest cave temples in India. The place was full of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples and sculptures dating back to the 3rd and 4th century.

The caves in Ajantha were situated around a huge gorge. In this picture you can see how they curve around behind us.

We went to 30 Buddhist caves in a row, each with a giant Buddha statue at the back and some with complimentary Buddha's all around.

Transferring

This past week I received my acceptance letter to the University of Minnesota. While I will miss CLU and the friends I have made there in the past two years I think that transferring is the best decision for me right now. Being abroad has really made me think about my own roots and how important they are, my responsibility to family and friends and where I truly belong. Being away from home has been hard and definitely made me stronger but I feel ready to do something with this new perspective and I feel like the best place to do so is home. At the U I plan to continue my studies of South Asia and hope to take on some sort of religious studies as well.

Mamallapuram

These are pictures of Mamallapuram, a small fisherman's village just south of Chennai. We spent a short weekend there but some of the highlights were biking around the town, climbing boulders, playing cricket with a bunch of little boys, and watching the fishermen.

This woman was the grandma of the girl who did our henna. On her arms are permanent tattoos that she gave herself when she was young. She had a fever for a week afterward. Apparently this is a popular custom among her generation.