July 9, 2010: Temple of the Monkey King Adventure

July 9, 2010

Elizabeth and I went on an adventure that had so many local detractors everyone else opted out. The previous evening, some of us had seen several large monkeys chasing a dog in town, which clinched the decision not to go on the trip the following day. Monkeys abound in Shimla, and there is a temple devoted to Hanuman, the Monkey King. Thankfully, Elizabeth and I took a cab to the entrance (another steep climb up a twisted mountain path, frought with danger from attach by monkeys attracted to food and shiny objects). I took off my glasses, which the monkeys will snatch off your face, and secured my camera in the case. Our first stop was at the shrine of Ganesh, the elephant-headed god who assures an auspicious beginning to any undertaking. We were given a blessing, holy water to drink, and a handful of sweet popcorn (monkey food!) to eat. Clutching the remaining monkey food in my left hand to show the group when we returned, we continued on the path to the temple. We were followed by monkeys, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw one grab a shiny beaded sandal left outside the Ganesh shrine and scamper off. Later I saw a family descending the path and one teenager was barefooted—I assumed she was the victim of the monkey thief!

Elizabeth is recording “webisodes” for her middle and high school students. Armed with walking sticks provided by the hotel, I kept watch while she chatted into her Flip video camera about where we were. She did an awesome job of building suspense—“We’re surrounded by monkeys who could jump from a tree and attack at any moment”—prior to our entering the temple. I again were blessed, given holy water to drink (despite the cautions against drinking Indian water, I figured at my age, I can use any holy water I can get) and more monkey food. Now I had a really big handful for my “show and tell” back at the hotel.

We realized we’d been gone almost an hour, and our driver was waiting, so we started down the path. About halfway down, Elizabeth decided to share her monkey food with one of the residents. I thought perhaps this wasn’t a good idea but said nothing, and we watched a rather large monkey pick up each kernel with delicate fingers. We began to walk away when the monkey looked me right in the eye as if to say, “Ok, what do YOU have for me?” I’d been hanging onto my monkey food for almost an hour and was reluctant to give it up. When he/she began swatting at my pants leg, Elizabeth said in a low voice, “Dee, give him the food. Give him the food!” I threw it as far as I could up the path, and we briskly walked down. Narrow escape! And, I still had some sticky popcorn stuck to my hand to show my colleagues later that evening!
I have a brief video of myself in front of the monkey temple to share; will attempt to upload it soon.

Namascar!