Lonely Life

Lonely life is not new for me, infact after my education, i wanted little lonely life.I was always in the shadow of my mom and dad and never came out of my own place as I was the only son to them. So, i was not exposed to the challenges of the external world or never got an opportunity to assess myself. I was desperately looking for a chance to come out of home and spend atleast 4 to 5 years away from parents. 

In 2003, I came away from home. Lived in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhyapradesh,Hyderabad, all alone uptill 2007 Feb (all are places in India) and then landed in Cairo in 2009 February. In the mean time gone to Srilanka and Indonesia also. But life was never so boring and agonizing as it is now. I never felt such bore in my life.

Basically i am not a party freak or roam around kind of guy. But, never in my life i felt so lonely and disgusted. This life is giving me lot of mental restlessness. 

Cairo is actually a wounderful place for party animals. But naah ......... not for me.I recently tried one party and when i was in the party i was feeling more loneliness in the party after being isolated from the group. I do not have friends of my age to roam here, as i do not speak Arabic.

The day is fine as i am involved in my work and time runs like that. But my evenings are so long. I do not know how to cope with this agony. I am growing mad. 

My Experiences in Egypt - Part 8

Photos of Luxor Trip

My travel to Luxor - Part 7

Kom Ombo Temple
Visited on 31.10.09

After visiting Edfu temple, we have started to Kom Ombo temple, which is another 56 kms further from Edfu. It takes roughly 50 minutes from Kom Ombo in a taxi. The road is good and the travel would be a pleasure.

Situated between Edfu and Aswan, Kom Ombo is the ancient city of Pa-Sebak, that is th "the home of Sebek", the crocodile god who was already worshiped in pre-dynastic times. In kom Ombo is to be found the impressive remains of a temple obtained by joining two temples along one side.The right hand temple is the one consecreated to the god Sebek, the god of fertility who is also believed to be the creator of the world, while the left - handed temple is dedicated to the god Haroeris, that is "Horus the great" the solar god of war. This temple was also rebuilt by the Ptolemies III. The two temples were surrounded by a large outer wall which opened into the Nile via two gate ways. In the hypo style hall there are three rows of columns, one of which runs down the center dividing it into two separate sanctuaries in a rather original manner. Then come the sanctuaries clearly separated by a space.

Its a treat for the eyes to watch all these great temples. In the next positing, I will keep more photos for the viewers.

My Luxor Visit - Part 6 (Komo Ombo Temple 31.10.09)

My Travel to Luxor - Part 5

Edfu Temple - Visited on 31.10.09

Edfu temple is located in a small village 110 kms away from Luxor. A taxi typically charges around 400 LEs for round trip from Luxor to Edfu and Komo Ombo.

Edfu's main claim to fram in Egyptian History is that in this other-wise unimportant small town there is the best preserved temple in the whole of Egypt. The ancient capital of the II land of Upper Egypt, it was called Apollinopolis Magna by the Greeks.

The temple, which is dedicated to Horus, was built during the Ptolemaic period on top of an older temple dating from the time of Tutmose III. Because of its imposing dimensions it is considered as the most important after Karnak.

It is 137 meters long and the front is 79 meters wide. It has a pylon 36 meters high. On the gaurd at the entrance to the temple are two very beautiful black granite statues depicting horus in the form of a falcon.

The name of the god in fact derives from the word "hr" which means hawk. Behind the two statues stand the external walls of the temple together with massive figure of Horus and Hator. The wide grooves either side of the doorway once housed the flag masts from which fluttered their standards. Inside the sanctuary, still in a perfect state of preservation, is a very beautiful tabernacle carved from a single block of grey granite and which stands about 4 meters high. The inscriptions tell that it was constructed under Nectanebus II (360 B.C.).

Before entering into the temple, it is interesting to look at the "mammisi" means "the place of childbirth" and referes to the spot where symbolically Horus is reborn every day. It is for this reason that it has become sacred to those in child-birth and to all women who want to have a child.

The Holy of Holies

It is the end of the main building of the temple and the most important and holiest place in it, it contains a grey granite shrine shaped out of one piece of granite, it goes to the Egyptian king Nekhtanbo (375 B.C.). The statue of the god was put in the shrine. No one was permitted into this place except for the high priest and the king himself as he was regarded the highest priest of the country. In the holy of the holies, there is still a granite stone which was the base on which the holy ship was put.

The holy of the holies is surrounded by ten rooms, some of which belonged to the god Osiris ( Egyptian god after death). One was knows by the name of Ra's throne. The other rooms were used as stores.

Hieroglyphic Writing

The temple remained neglected and forgotten even after the French Egyptologist August Mariette had discovered it. He drove out those who inhabited it and made its buildings stores and stables. He also removed tons of garbage and sand.

My Travel to Luxor - Part 4

Karnak Temple visited on 30.10.09

About three kilometers from the temple at Luxor one finds the vast zone covered by the monuments at Karnak which the Greeks called Hermonthis. The area covered by the monuments is divided into three with rough brick walls separating them. The largest, whcih covers about thirty hectares, is the central area which is also the best preserved. Diodorus of Sicily said of it that it is the most ancient of the four temples at Thebes. It is the temple dedicated to Amon. On the left is the sanctuary of Montu, the god of war, which is rectangular and covers about two and a half hectares. On the other side covering about nine hectares, of which about half is as yet unexplored, is the sanctuary of the goddes Mut, Amon's wife, who is symbolically represented as a vulture.

The great temple of Amon amazes one by its sheer size. It is the largest temple supported by columns in the world and is so vast that it could easily contain the whole of Notre Dame de Paris and and according to Leonard Cottrell "would cover at least half of Manhattan". The most truly amazing feature is the hypo style hall which is one hundred and two meters long by fifty three meters wide and in which there stand one hundred and thirty four columns 23 meters high. The tops of the open papyrus shaped capitals have a circumference of about fifteen meters and are big enough for fifty people to stand on them. A veriable forest of columns which excite tremendous emotion because of their size and the play of light and shade on them.

During the XIXth Dynasty 81,322 persons worked in the temple of Amon if we count not only the priests and guardians but also the work men and peasants involved. The temple enjoyed the income from a considerable number of estates, markets and work sites to which one should add all the riches and booty which the Pharaoh brought back from his victorious military expeditions. Various pharaohs contributed to the realization of the hypo style hall. Amon - Ofis III built the twelve columns in the central nave which support the enormous architraves. Ramses I initiated the decoration and this work was continued by Seti I and Ramses II.

Beyond the hypo - style hall there once stood (today only one remains) the obeliscs of Tutmose I  which were 23 metres high and weighed 143 tonnes. Higher still is the one erected by his daughter Hatshepsut for the construction of which it is said that the queen spared no expenses, the chronicles of the period state that she provided for the project.

Karnak is one of the beautiful man made constructions on the earth.

My travel to Luxor - Part 3

The Colossi of Memnon

In the immense plain around Thebes between the Nile and the Vally of the Kings, one can still admire what remains of the monumental avenue which used to lead to the temple of  Amon - Ofis III. the temple has unfortunately disappeared and what remains are commonly referred to as the 'Colossi of Memnon". These two gigantic statues, 20 meters high with feet 2 meters long and 1 meter thick, were cut out of single blocks of sandstone and represent Pharoaoh seated on his throne with his hands on his knees. The more southerly colossus, although appreciably damaged, has suffered less than the other one. Certain legends have become attached to the later.  It would seem that in the year 27 B.C. an earthquake which shook all the monuments at Thebes split open this enormous block of stone and the upper half, down to the waist, fell to the ground. However some historians attribute this damage to the vandalism of Cambyses, which seems more likely as Egypt has never been a country prone to earth quakes.

My travel to Luxor - Part 2

We have planned to visit West Bank where there is a tomb (called as temple) of Queen Hatshempsut, Vally of Kings (several tombs of Kings).

The mythology says that, two two Gods are very popular in this place. 1. Horus (God of protection) 2. Hapi (God of Nile).

Luxor has a remarkable history which has weaned itself and given the place a unique rich feel that has interspersed its contours with temples and tombs to say the least. The city was originally a part of Thebes, the Southern City, almost eight hundred kilometers south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile. The city was an erstwhile capital of the Egyptian world during the reign of the eleventh dynasty and also most of the eighteenth dynasty of the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Thebes was the capital of Waset which is the seat of ancient Egypt. The city developed at early, and then Luxor was called as the Epet, came to light when the Theban family was established. Rose to power as the residence of the Royal family, it also became the altar of worship to the God of Amon. Luxor was a part of the land site chosen for the burial of the rich and discerning citizens including the people in the royal line. The Place housing the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens was one of the richest region of the then Egypt. Nile gave it the necessary impetus to be the abode of the Royalties as the place is cooler compared to other places which share the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert.

Luxor was also the ideal place for boating along the Nile, providing entertainment fit for the Kings and easy to have guards patrol the grounds. Moreover this is the site which would provide the necessary fast and safe exit for the Royalties. Over the period the site Luxor had a loss of face when the Royal patronage ceased. The History of Luxor has given Luxor places like Temple of Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple, Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari, Tomb of Queen Nefertari, Temple of Amun, Valley of the Artisans, tombs of Tutankhamen and of Sons of Ramses II. city is very clean, neat and lovely. A very small city with Nile river. From Luxor to Aswan people travel in Cruise. The distance is around 180 kms.

This place is also very famous for stone carvings and art work. We have seen one outlet of extraordinary art work but, imaginably the place is too expensive.