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2003-12-21 - Ochha (Day 248)

Today I spend riding the Mule through the ancient footpaths that are all that is left trying the ruins of the palaces and temples around Ochha together. The architecture is quite beautiful though the Mugal things always seem to look much better from afar then they do close up.

I can only guess at how they would have all looked five hundred years ago with all the encroaching vines, and squatters and their livestock, which seem to be the main inhabitants of most of the ruined temples were gone and it was a bustling and lively city. As with most temples these have all been gutted by the various streams of invasions over the years and have had little restoration or preservation done by the Indian government. Most of the temples I went to today had more manure then things to look at in them but still that in itself is part of the culture that needs to be understood. India is a country that has lost so many of it's treasures mostly from the clashes of the various religions that the loss simply boggles the mind. All that is left is the shells of what was once culture and beauty, which today are left naked to the graffiti, and trash of the visiting Indian tourists. I specifically say Indian as today I watched several different families throwing garbage from their lunch into the monuments, writing on the walls and continuing the desecration, which has left the monuments in such an exposed state.

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