After a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, we made our way to the town of Orchha. While it was still hot, arid, and dusty, it was smaller and less crowded than the larger cities of Delhi and Jaipur. It reminded me much more of Southeast Asia.

There were six beautiful palaces in Orchha, as well as a number of temples. We went to a Hindu temple (Ram Raja, I believe) and observed a ceremony/blessing. It is interesting to see how much religions have in common with one another. This blessing, in which the priest blessed sweets brought by the followers, reminded me very much of catholic communion. Hinduism also has the trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma.

After the ceremony, we participated in a cooking class, where we learned to make curries and various other dishes. I literally wrote “I give up” on my recipe notes after too many complicated steps! We all know, cooking is not a talent of mine, although, I certainly enjoyed eating the results! I think I’ll work on fine tuning my toaster oven skills before I tackle curry!

~ LiAnn