The Inner Child at Raipur- The Capital of Chattisgarh

*The Inner Child at Raipur- The Capital of Chattisgarh

Sunny Shobha was in a state of wonder. Her airplane was about to descend at the Swami Vivekananda airport in Raipur. Sleepy Shobha realized that this was a city that we had not heard much about until it became the capital of a newly formed state of Chattisgarh in India. The famous Indian Swami Vivekanada had spent some of his childhood days in Raipur and the house he lived in had now been converted to a primary school. There was also a huge statue of him with a musical fountain at the beautiful Vivekananda Sarovar lake. 

The airport was some distance away from the main city and Sunny Shobha was happy to see  the green coloured arch welcoming us to the state of possibilities -Chhattisgarh. 

We drove past places like the Nehru garden, the Chhattisgarh Club and the Chief Ministers Bungalow. The City Municipal office and the miniature aircraft model in its front lawns was a place of pride for the locals.

Our taxi driver spoke less about the local tourism, yet was very thrilled at the new malls that had opened up in Raipur! A skeptical Sleepy Shobha had to convince him that a tourist from Mumbai would not want to go to such a modern commercial place.Instead we asked him to drive us through an old section of the town, literally called the Purani basti. The simplicity on the faces of the locals was in stark contrast to the street smart faces of the people of a metropolitan city like Mumbai.

We just had to spend some time looking into the waters of the lake here called Burha Talab. There seemed to be a Maratha influence in settlements like Tatyapura and Burhapura. 

Our driver took us to an old temple of Goddess Kali where we prayed for her protection and blessings. It is believed that the spiritual advisors of the royal family of Bastar had brought this 500 year old stone idol to its present location around 200 years ago.

We  had heard of the Bastar tribes and we knew that tribal tourism was an important aspect of this region. And the best place that reflected the art, music, dance and other culture of the tribals was at the Purkhauti Muktangan centre. We walked through this sprawling 200 acre place, which was a unique effort to bring alive the traditional art of Chattisgarh. There were numerous sculpted images depicting the tribal inhabitants with various musical instruments, dancing scenes and hunting scenes. This was a total new and interesting exposure to tribal culture for us city bred people.

We spent so much of time walking amidst and soaking in the tribal culture at Purkhauti Mukhtangan, that we did not have time to visit the other local temples of Raipur like Dudhadhari temple, Mahamaya temple, Jagannath temple, Jaitu Sau Math temple or the Hatkeshwar Mahadev temple. If we had more time we could have spent hours looking at the ancient artifacts, coins, weapons from all over Chhattisgarh at the five galleries of the Mahant Ghasidas MemorialMuseum.

At the junction of 4 roads, there was a small monument called the Jai Stamb, built to commemorate the martyrdom of Indian rebel Narayan Singh who was hanged publicly by the British on 10^th Nov.1857. Nearby was the Kaiser-e-Hind Darwaza an ornamental gateway meant to honour Queen Victoria, but now sadly pulled down and the façade incorporated into a commercial complex called Ravi Bhawan. A little distance away was the ornate Jawahar Gate which is the entrance to the Jawahar Bazar.

Raipur is usually visited as a temporary stopover on the way to see other natural beautiful tourist spots in Chattisgarh. As our taxi approached the Raipur railway station, we got present to the structured disorderliness in the traffic in the small lanes. 

Even around the station we saw a colourful temple, a Sikh Gurudwara and also a green, cream and pink marbled mosque all in close proximity to each other.

Each time we visit a new place in India, we are amazed at the absolutely new contrasting experience that was in store for us. We love our country and love the variety that it has to offer to one and all. Wow- India!

*(There is an inner child within all of us. One that we were born as - warm and happy, optimistic, capable of serving and loving others, believing in the possibility of extra-ordinary achievements, filled with a kind of inner light and positive energy, taking initiative and action...I will call that your Sunny inner child.

And then we are exposed to circumstances and experiences. Depending on the way we react to our situations, a new inner child emerges. One that we create -  cold and sad, pessimistic, capable of being indifferent or hating others,  believing oneself to be trapped within ordinary limits, filled with a kind of inner darkness and negative energy, lazily whining, not taking action, I will call that your Sleepy inner child.
You have a choice on which inner child you want to encourage in your life - your Sunny inner child or your Sleepy inner child

I will call my inner child as Sunny Shobha and Sleepy Shobha. Together we will travel around the world)