The Monkey Temple

Our rickshaw driver then offered to drive us to a place he called “The Monkey Temple.” While he sat at a table below and drank chai with other drivers, we headed up the path towards the temple. Along the way were many monkeys. Mother monkeys picked out lice from their young; others took a nap before their evening meal came. A few cows and hairy pigs also shared the path. Goats butted heads. A snake charmer swayed his punji instrument in a slight circular path as the cobra’s hood emerged from the basket. Beyond him a poor woman rocked her baby in a makeshift cloth sack cradle. A hunched swamy inched his way up to a temple building. At the top of the rocky cliff was the Surya Mandir (Temple of the Sun God). Rising about 100 m (328 ft) above the city, we had a good panoramic view of Jaipur. Punctuating the hazy air were minarets, popping up throughout the cityscape. Large gates marked entrances to the old city. On the way back down, we saw some young men throwing pieces of sliced white bread to the monkeys. Curiously enough, the monkeys ate the middle and left the crust - just like kids. If they saw more bread being thrown, the greedy monkeys would sometimes drop theirs and go after that one as well. Then a vehicle drove up the narrow path, tossing out small bananas to the monkeys. This was the treat they were waiting for.

Back in the chaos of the city streets, we were back in the traffic. A bicyclist somehow pulled six fridges. A passenger on a motorcycle cradled a computer tower in his arm. Rickshaws fluidly swerved between lanes without signaling. Almost like Chennai...

See more photos of the monkeys and the Sun Temple on Flickr

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