The past couple nights we have been working away on our Indian Visa applications, phew, they sure want to know a lot before letting you into their country! We also got international security coverage and medical assistance insurance, fun stuff! We are hoping that prepardness pays off, meaning we won't actually have to use any of them, but its nice to know that if something does go wrong we can get the help we need. (at least up to $50,000 incurred while abroad, and if its more than that, I don't even want to think about what has happened to us! :) We also registered with the US embassy in India. All in all, lots of forms to fill out, but it should hopefully help us be safe and accounted for on our trip.
For today's fun fact about Bihar India, we turn to focustoindia.com, which profiles the different provinces in India. We thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about the religions found in Bihar and found the following:
The greatest influence on Bihari culture would have to be religion. Like most other states in India, there is a wide array of religions that call Bihar home. Though Hinduism is the prevailing religion of the people of Bihar now, ancient Bihar (known as Magadh) was a major center of Buddhist civilization, and Jainism found its start in Bihar. During medieval times, Islam and Sikhism thrived; British colonizers brought Christianity to the people of Bihar. As a result, Bihar is full of temples, mosques, and churches, all of which are major centers for their community. Reflective of the Hindu majority, the largest celebrations in Bihar are for Hindu observances, such as Holi, Raksh Bandhan, Deepawali (or Diwali), and Janmashtami. Of course, the holidays of Bihar's many other religions are celebrated as well.
The pictures below are from the Hindu holiday "Holi," also called the Festival of Colors. To celebrate, individuals throw colored dust and colored water at each other. Looks like a lot of fun to do and not so fun to clean up!
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