This morning I hired a guide away from the archological sites where he was pitching to tourists like myself and had him wander with me through the town to answer questions like: "Who's that temple dedicated to?" Shiva as an incarnation of a fish or fisherman (I didn't catch that), the figure being taken out once a year to the village tank (probably at one time the reservoir) now covered with lily ponds, another statue of Shiva in its center. And my trying to understand his answers like "In India there are two kinds of people: the followers of Shiva and the followers of Vishnu." I told him that he was becoming a culture guide instead of an archeological site guide. And was I becoming one of those "spiritual tourists" they refer to in the travel guides. Or was it just India being India.
