Preparing for the Project Trip

Namaste

Monsoon continues to rage on here in Mussorrie, we get several hours of rain each day and when it is not raining, the town is usually covered in a dense fog. As the monsoon continues we are busy preparing for the project trip.






One of the few clear days, a view of the Dehradun valley below








































We pulled out the survey equipment this week to go through the procedure for a site survey and have done some more training in Hindi.

The trip that I will be on will be to Williamnagar in the Indian state of Meghalaya. We will be partnering with a local church to design a guesthouse for the church's mssnries. Our project team will consist of an eMi2 staff member who will be the lead architect, a civil engineer volunteer from India who will be the lead engineer, an architect intern, another volunteer who will assist in the survey, and myself. We will begin with a site survey for the property boundries and important site features. From there we will do basic soil testing and evaluation of water sources to determine a water and wastewater plan for the site. In the meantime the architects will be creating a master plan for the site in-line with the mnstries vision.

The travel to the project site will include a 28 hour train ride followed by a 6-8 hour car ride. The exciting thing about the train ride is that we will pass within 125 miles of Mt. Everest, probably the closest I will be to Everest in my life.


One thing I would like to start doing on this blog is pass along some of the things I am learning about India while I am here whether that be about religion, food, culture, etc. Hopefully they are fairly true.

The Indian Minute:
The religious affiliation in India is as follows:

80% Hindu which includes athiests and tribal religions
12% Islam
2-4% Christian
2% Sikh( Was founded in Indian state of Punjab with the Golden Temple located in Amritsar, Punjab)
1% Other( Buddists, Parsees, etc.)

Hinduism
Origin: Originally Hindu meant a resident of the Indus valley. Hinduism now is a panthestic way of life, Hindus would not considered it a religion necessarily. Hinduism doesn't have any authority of law per say.

Holy Books: Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayan. The historical truth of the books is not as highly valued as the morals of the stories.

God is realized in the following:
Brahma- It is the universal soul and spirit in everything
Trimurti- The 3 idols, Brahma(Creator), Shiva(Destroyer), and Vishnu(Preserver)

Dharma and Adarma are fundamental concepts of Hinuism. Dharma is the fulfillment of your purpose, where righteousness is described by self(caste, gender, circumstances). Adharma is not fulfilling your duty(Dharma), it is like sin in a way.

Karma is the reward for doing good and the punishment for doing bad. It is Hinduisms way of explaining suffering
Reincarnation is also a fundamental belief of Hinduism, if you have lived well and achieved your dharma then you will move up the ladder.

Caste system is determined by birth, there is no social advancement and it is as follows from highest to lowest:
Brahman-priests
Kshatriya-warriors
Vaishya- merchants
Shudra- laborers or farmers
Dalit- Untouchables

Moksha is the goal of Hinduism and it is the release from reincarnation.

Interestingly Buddha is considered the last reincarnation of Vishnu, Buddha rejected the caste system and Hinduism has kind of enveloped Buddhism in a way.


Other fun facts:
Uttarakhand in northern India is considered the center of Hinduism especially in the mountains and near the Ganges River. Physical location to holy places is very important.

Hindus don't believe in cnversn, because they do not beleive that you can choose your religious destiny