It is worth it to wake up early when visiting Hampi in Central India and make your way down to the Tungabhadra River. Some time between 7:30 and 8:30 you will catch the morning ritual of bathing Lakshmi, the temple elephant.

We found out about it from a young boy selling chai (sweet tea) at sunset. He told us to come to the bath tomorrow. He sells post cards in the morning. I asked him what he does a better business at and he said both are good. I can see why he does a good business, he is very charming.

We set our alarms for 7:00 and make our way down to the water. Many local people are out having their baths, but no elephant yet. But we come across a school group visiting Hampi from Gadag. They are here for the festival Hampi’s 500th anniversary and are excited to speak with us. We walk with them back to the main bazaar where Dave chats with the teacher and I talk with the girls as they ask my my name, my fathers name, my mothers name and try to teach me a few Hindi phrases.

The Students and Teacher with Deb at Temple

Hindi is one of those languages that I just cannot get a grasp of. I repeat what I think that they are saying, but I seem to have it all wrong. They laugh and smile and are very patient with me. Each girl runs up to me and asks me my name and then they repeat it making sure that it is stuck in their minds. It is the most fun I have had walking in all of our time in India. We take a picture with them at the temple and let them get on with their tour, promising to send them a copy once we make it to Mumbai.

We didn’t see the elephant, but we are so happy for the chance to meet these adorable students and their proud teacher.

But wait a minute!

Just as we accept that we will not be seeing Lakshmi’s bath, she appears. We arrive just as this sacred elephants makes her way to the bottom of the steps leading to the river. (Known as Ghats in India). The bath goes on for at least half an hour. She lies in the river content to be scrubbed by here handler (mahout). Flopping her ears and closing her eyes, she wakes up only to stand and turn over to have the other side bathed.

I wonder if they scrub her raw, but an elephants hide is tough and I imagine that she lives for these moments of pampering. We have heard the life for a temple elephant is very dreary. They spend their days chained to the ground accepting offerings from pilgrims. They are paraded around for ceremonies and they are given very little freedom to roam.  I assume that this is the highlight of her day.

Children swim and play nearby and yell at us to take their picture. When I turn my camera there way, ham it up and put on a great show. Adults bathe right beside the elephant’s as a small crowd watches the events from the ghats.

It is a strange moment to watch.  Lakshmi poohs in the water and it floats down river to where the people are bathing. We are sitting on the steps watching them during an intimate moment of their day, their baths, and they seem oblivious to us.

Lakshmi just seems sad and tired.

After the bath, you can be blessed yourself by Lakshmi.  Put a coin into the snout of her trunk and after she hands it to her master, she gives you a tap on your head.  She is trained well.

As I receive my blessing, a young boy helping the elephant handler whispers to me to ask if I would like a ride on Lakshmi.

How could I refuse to ride on the temple elephant?

They tell me to follow once she is finished her bath. I follow orders well and we go up the steps to a wall where I can hop on easily. I have ridden elephants before, but while sitting on a chair or bench.  In Hampi, they ride Lakshmi bareback and I am a little nervous being so high without reign or even an ear to hang onto.  The Mahout is so tiny that I know if I lose my balance, I am taking him with me.  It’s impossible to squeeze my legs to hold on as she is too wide, so I balance on her back and look down at the ground that seems so far away.

All turned out well though and we had a special experience walking along the waterfront.  My ride kept her outside for a little while longer.

I can see why royalty rode elephants, they certainly make on feel regal. Others ask for a ride, but once I am dropped off, they head for the temple where Lakshmi will perform her blessing duties.  I don’t know what made me so lucky today, but it was a privilege to ride on Lakshmi.



We hear that the washing happens every evening as well. Sometime around sunset. We just may have to have one last visit with Lakshmi before we leave magical Hampi to explore the rest of India.

It has turned out to be a perfect morning and it is only, 9:00 am.

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I learned how to shower like a true Indian today.

How you ask? Because I had a woman bathe me!
It all started when we arrived at Palmy Lake Resort after our houseboat tour. Once we settled into our spacious bamboo bungalow, Marcy the owner asked us if we would be interested in a massage.
Dave and I love massages, but it seemed way too early in our trip to have a massage.  We normally treat ourselves to one after we have been suffering for some time.

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No Pressure in Southern India

We said no thanks and she gladly said no problem.
You see, here in the south of India, we haven’t met with any hard sales pitches.  People ask if you want a taxi, you say no and they say O.K. Others ask if you want to buy some clothes, you say, no and they say O.K.
That was what the massage was like.  “No problem, just letting you know that it is available.”
As we lay on the bed wondering what we were going to do with the rest of our day, the thought of a massage was sounding more appealing.

Change of Heart
We didn’t feel like going to the beach, because we were just at a beach for a week.  We didn’t want to take a canoe through the backwaters, because we just spent 24 hours on a houseboat.
It is very hot and humid and we are having a difficult time adapting to the heat.  We feel drained every day.  After walking only 1 km from the boat jetty to our guest house, we were sweaty and sticky and tired. Mid day was approaching and it was only going to get hotter, we were happy to lay on the bed under the fan and chill out.
Laying there listening to the birds chirping mixed with the horns blowing, we slowly cooled off and started to think that a massage would be a great idea. What better way to detoxify our bodies and maybe help us feel ready to tackle the rest of India? (or at least the next few days)
We signed up and made an appointment for later that afternoon.
The Massage

We arrived at Sreekrishna Ayurvedic and Panchakarma Center after a 15 minute walk from Palmy Lake Resort.
A stoic man, told us to sit down where he continued to look at us and say nothing.  We didn’t really know what to do, so we sat there and said nothing also.
After a couple of minutes, he got up and left. Then he came back and sat back down and started talking to one of his staff members.  A little while later, he told us that they were cleaning the room and we would be right in.
That was a relief, we didn’t know if he was waiting for us to say something or not.
Dave and I were led into separate rooms.  I had a female masseur and Dave had a male.
My masseuse barely spoke a word of English. She motioned me to strip and then sit on a stool.  I didn’t know if I was supposed to strip naked or not, so I did.  While I was sitting on the stool, I felt quite silly thinking that I should have left something on.
She poured oil into her hands and massaged my hair and scalp.

I instantly relaxed.

She worked on massaging my scalp and face and then worked down my back and shoulders.  I didn’t realize that I had that much tension, but it has been awhile since I carried a pack, so my shoulders were definitely feeling it.
After she was finished with my upper body, I was motioned to lay on the table.  ?In Canada, we would have a towel covering our bodies to make us feel more comfortable, not in India.  You lay there in all your glory as they work away massaging the oil into your pours.

As Dave said during our walk back to our guest house, “That would be illegal in Canada” and then “I feel like I should have bought him a drink or something!” Yep, Dave is filled with the one liners.
The massage was heaven.  She applied just right amount of pressure mixed with the perfect blend of soothing motions to relax my mind and body.

This went on for one hour.

After she completed her work, she tapped around the center of my bellybutton several times, folded my arms over my chest and covered me with a towel.  She then told me to stay.
I couldn’t believe how relaxed and centred I was, I could never have lay on a vinyl table for 5 minutes without squirming had I not just received a relaxing treatment.
After she came back in, I thought that she would tell me that I was finished and send me to the shower to rinse off.
Nope.

The Bath

Instead she beckoned me into the bathroom, put shampoo in my hair and washed off the oil, with scoop after scoop of hot water.
It has only been a week, but I forgot how good hot water felt on the skin.
She gave me a bath from head to toe and cleaned me up good.  Working so very hard.  Scooping all of that water and scrubbing away the oils is a tough job.
As I said, she didn’t speak English, and I had no idea what was going, so I just went with the flow.
After walking home, we thought that we would go out for dinner, but after reading and catching up on a little writing, we felt the affects of the massage and an extreme feeling of fatigue came over us both.
We had the best nights sleep we had in weeks.

Information
Sreekrishna Ayurveda Panchakarma Centre – Recommended in the Lonely Planet India.
www.krishnayurveda.com
Located in Alleppey

Cost
For two people, we paid 1100 Rupees ($25 Canadian) for a full one hour body massage.
Includes, coconut oils and Ayurveeda medicinal oils
Shower, shampoo, soap and hot water.
Furthermore: an unintentional lesson in how to bathe with a bucket and scoop
We tipped masseuse 50 rupees each – 100 Rupees = $2.30 CAD

Tipping

I don’t know if we are supposed to be tipping.  It is hard to find information on tipping guides and masseurs, etc., but old habits die hard.  In Canada, tipping is widespread and we are conditioned to do so.
I also feel that the actual workers don’t see much of the money that we spend on activities such as this, so a 50 rupee tip will probably help to make the job worth their while.