A Very Different Cathedral

Dear Daughter,
Papa walked into town today and went to see the very, very old Temple here in the middle of center, just like there is the one we went to in Antwerp the last day I was there, but this one is very different. It is a large Hindu temple dedicated to a goddess named, Meenaskhi, which means "fish-eyed" in Sanskrit. She was one of Shiva's consorts, and he is a very important God here in India who is said to have created the universe just by dancing! What do you think about that?

There are four temples around a large courtyard, but Papa did not go in today yet as there was not enough time today. Outside the temple, all of the little girls had their hair braided with very sweet-smelling flowers in their hair, and they wore jingling-jangling bangles on their ankles. And, in order to go into the temple, you have to take of your shoes, so everyone was barefoot too.
I love you. Papa

Monkeys

Dear Daughter,
Papa went to see the Caves of Elephanta today after he toured around Mumbai. It takes an hour on the boat to go to the island and the boat broke down both coming and going, but all was fine. When Papa got to the island to go into the caves, guess what he saw?

Monkeys!

There were lots of little monkeys around the entrances of the caves and when you came up close to them, they would make a strange purring sound like our kitty, Boris, used to make. Isn't that funny!
Papa will send pictures of the caves soon. There was one head that was as big as a house, with three faces of the Hindu God named Shiva. Papa has seen some interesting things here in India.
Love, Papa