ExploreLA: An Afternoon In India (via Chino Hills and Artesia)

With an unexpected day off of work, I thought I would go to India for the afternoon. Or at least to the BAPS Sri Swaminarayan Mandir (Hindu temple) in Chino Hills. This temple was absolutely stunning from the elaborately carved teak of the haveli (visitor center) to the Rajasthani pink stone of the mandir (temple). And then the interior (no shoes, no photos) is even more breathtaking, as elaborate but all of white Carrera marble. By luck, I was there when an arti (devotional service) was about to start, so I was invited to join others who were starting to sit cross-legged on the floor in the midst of this temple, facing some teak doors. I sat next to an old Hindu and just tried to follow his lead. With a waft of incense some lively musical chanting began, and we clapped in a beat. The doors opened to reveal dazzling brightly colored murtis (statues of deities), with saffron-robed monks waving candles in front of them. After a while the monks set down the candles and did some ritual prostration (looked like flow yoga) while someone brought the candles around to us on the floor, where each person held their hands over them to feel the heat. After this was done, the monks came to the edge of the altar and I followed as others formed a receiving line to greet the monks by first bending down to touch their bare feet and then shaking their hands.

After exploring the temple, I drove to the "Little India" neighborhood of Artesia to have lunch at Rajdhani, a place known for thali, which is like the Gujarati version of dim sum. Thali is literally the word for the metal tray with little metal bowls that servers come around and endlessly fill with soups and stews and breads and rice. There was a spicy lentil curry soup with peanuts, a yogurt soup with herbs, fried green mango, cauliflower and peas, beans. All veg of course. And breads to soak it all up - puffy fried puris and flat rotis. After lunch I wandered the neighborhood to check out the shops with saris and other fashions, “cash and carry” markets with exotic produce, spices, and all sorts of stuff. So awesome to go to India for a day. I love LA.

(See complete photo album here.)