Maheshwar (21MAR)

We made a short stop in Maheshwar on our way to Mandu. It is another town on the holy Narmada River. We visited the Fort Palace and temple as well as the ghats along the river. It was quite peaceful and scenic along the river. The local women were busy cleaning clothes along the river as the children and men bathed or worshipped at the many Shiva lingas along the ghats.

At the Palace, we met a holy man that was excited to explain the many Shiva lingas that were on display in the Princess Anhilya's temple. She had Shiva lingas from each of the 12 jyotirlingas in India made of silver and gold. The holy man was passionately explaining everything to us and we were struggling to understand his broken English. Fortunately, Anant, our guide, had just finished explaining most of it to us, so we were able to follow most of what he was telling us. During the conversation the man stopped and began massaging his throat and hacking like a mother bird regurgitating a worm to feed its chicks. After a few moments he produced a small silver Shiva linga, which he displayed to us on his tongue and explained he kept lodged in his throat. He swallowed it again, only to have to perform the whole process again because one of our group members missed it. On our way out of the temple, he showed us a small coin collection he had and explained the religious significance of each coin. Some of the coins were quite old and had both Islamic and Hindu markings, highlighting India's history of religious harmony. He had several Euro coins and I gave him two US coins to add to his collection. He was quite happy with the additions and gave me a small red and gray stone in return, and he explained the two colors represented the unity of Shiva and his wife Parvati.