Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Eight: Routes to serendipity
A few kilometers away from Ephesus is the site of Seven Sleepers’ Cave… It has a legend attached to it… Seven Sleepers were local saints, who slept for many years in the Seven Sleepers Cave and when they woke they found that the world around them has changed a lot… like Rip Wan Winkle… though of course, like many other sites, the legend is different from the reality… as somebody told me, Seven Sleeper cell was perhaps a Byzantine monastery in the era gone by.
What however was more exciting was the walk towards the site… meandering through the orange orchards and cotton fields… the walk itself was very relaxing and full of breathtaking vantages… afar, one could see marvelous views of Selcuk town… sometimes I stopped to pick an orange from the orchards and relish the sweet taste of Mediterranean citrus.
After a couple of kilometers of walk, I saw an old local man riding a scooter… he offered me a lift to the Sleepers site and then when at its gate offered me an orange from his bagful.
The Seven Sleepers site is not very popular among the foreign tourists, but a popular picnic place for the locals… who come here on droves and droves. Close by, there is a wish-tree and it is said that if one ties a white ribbon on the tree… his or her wish comes true. I tied a ribbon and wished something that is close to my heart.
The legend of Seven Sleepers dates back in time, when the early Christians were being persecuted… the seven sleepers were one of the earliest adherents of Christianity and were persecuted by the then pagan emperor…. One day the seven sleepers went inside their cave, which was also their makeshift Church… and slept. The pagan emperor ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed, which was opened only after 200 years… and there people found the sleeping seven sleepers, who woke up and came out to see Christianity in full flourish.
The story reminded me of Rip Van Winkle... who slept for 20 years and when he came back… the world has changed. This paradigm is an amazing paradigm to mull… what if one slept in 1990 and woke in 2010… wouldn’t he find that India has changed beyond recognition… big malls, flyovers, ubiquitous internet and media… everything has changed.
It also reminds me of the first time I saw satellite TV in Delhi in 1990… and I sighed… would I, a person sitting in a small town of Allahabad, would ever get to see it. And lo! By 2010, there is practically no home in India which doesn’t have a satellite TV… television and satellite TV connections have become natural corollary to each other…
I saw internet for the first time in 1997… and wondered if I would ever be able to access or master this new found technology. And lo! By 2010, I live, eat and drink internet… there is no day, when I do not use the net for at least 2-3 hours.
Like I said, 20 years paradigm is a significant paradigm… I shudder to think what is in store for this country in 2030…
While returning towards Selcuk… I met a guy who was staying in ANZ Guest House… he was walking towards Seven Sleepers… he told me about an alternative route to the town… that passed through the orchards, opened in a local Muslim cemetery… he said that the cemetery is a beautiful and serene place... and I can meet a number of ever welcoming locals over there… and that this alternative route would cut down my walk by half.
The walk, as promised by him, was another little serendipity. It meandered through the orchards… one needed to just extend the hand and pluck a ripe citrus and relish its sweet and tangy taste… the air was so clean… the orchard owners smiled at you and showed which citrus was riper, and should have been plucked instead.
Back in Istanbul, Yusuf had told me something profound. Turks are a very proud race… they have a very high opinion about themselves… that they, for all practical purpose, ruled the world twice- as Byzantines (well they weren’t the Turks of today) and as Ottomans. They also see themselves as the chain that connects the medieval to the modern… and without them the transformation wouldn’t have been as easy. According to Yusuf, Turks want others to believe it too. They go extra mile to be nice to a guest… and therefore, I wouldn’t have any problem while traveling anywhere in Turkey… I would always find someone to hear and help me out.
The walk ended into a cemetery, serene and peaceful. It was still the Bairam holiday time… and I could see a lots of local family picnicking in the cemetery. I sat down on one of the bench and relished the serenity of the place…
A local family sitting nearby beckoned me and asked where I was from… Hindistani… they were pleased to meet me. I asked them the route to Artemis temple. They said it’s nearby… and they would be pleased to offer me a lift… but I might have to wait for a few minutes… in fact join them for picnic. I did… it was a pleasant experience.
World is a safer, cheaper and cosier place to travel around… than we ever imagine while sitting in the confines of our comfort zones.
The family dropped me at Artemis temple…. One of the wonders of ancient world.
Artemis was a pagan God… his temple in Selcuk was widely revered and build of marbles… it was huge… lending it the status of one of the seven wonders of ancient world. The temple, if miniatures are to be believed, was astoundingly beautiful. It followed typical Greek architecture, only its scale was huge.
It was built over 120 years, by the leading architects of 6th century BC… but was destroyed in just one night of arson in 4th century BC… its ruins were discovered in 19th century… today only a pillar and some rubbles lie there.
It has to be a poignant sight.
What however was more exciting was the walk towards the site… meandering through the orange orchards and cotton fields… the walk itself was very relaxing and full of breathtaking vantages… afar, one could see marvelous views of Selcuk town… sometimes I stopped to pick an orange from the orchards and relish the sweet taste of Mediterranean citrus.
After a couple of kilometers of walk, I saw an old local man riding a scooter… he offered me a lift to the Sleepers site and then when at its gate offered me an orange from his bagful.
The Seven Sleepers site is not very popular among the foreign tourists, but a popular picnic place for the locals… who come here on droves and droves. Close by, there is a wish-tree and it is said that if one ties a white ribbon on the tree… his or her wish comes true. I tied a ribbon and wished something that is close to my heart.
The legend of Seven Sleepers dates back in time, when the early Christians were being persecuted… the seven sleepers were one of the earliest adherents of Christianity and were persecuted by the then pagan emperor…. One day the seven sleepers went inside their cave, which was also their makeshift Church… and slept. The pagan emperor ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed, which was opened only after 200 years… and there people found the sleeping seven sleepers, who woke up and came out to see Christianity in full flourish.
The story reminded me of Rip Van Winkle... who slept for 20 years and when he came back… the world has changed. This paradigm is an amazing paradigm to mull… what if one slept in 1990 and woke in 2010… wouldn’t he find that India has changed beyond recognition… big malls, flyovers, ubiquitous internet and media… everything has changed.
It also reminds me of the first time I saw satellite TV in Delhi in 1990… and I sighed… would I, a person sitting in a small town of Allahabad, would ever get to see it. And lo! By 2010, there is practically no home in India which doesn’t have a satellite TV… television and satellite TV connections have become natural corollary to each other…
I saw internet for the first time in 1997… and wondered if I would ever be able to access or master this new found technology. And lo! By 2010, I live, eat and drink internet… there is no day, when I do not use the net for at least 2-3 hours.
Like I said, 20 years paradigm is a significant paradigm… I shudder to think what is in store for this country in 2030…
While returning towards Selcuk… I met a guy who was staying in ANZ Guest House… he was walking towards Seven Sleepers… he told me about an alternative route to the town… that passed through the orchards, opened in a local Muslim cemetery… he said that the cemetery is a beautiful and serene place... and I can meet a number of ever welcoming locals over there… and that this alternative route would cut down my walk by half.
The walk, as promised by him, was another little serendipity. It meandered through the orchards… one needed to just extend the hand and pluck a ripe citrus and relish its sweet and tangy taste… the air was so clean… the orchard owners smiled at you and showed which citrus was riper, and should have been plucked instead.
Back in Istanbul, Yusuf had told me something profound. Turks are a very proud race… they have a very high opinion about themselves… that they, for all practical purpose, ruled the world twice- as Byzantines (well they weren’t the Turks of today) and as Ottomans. They also see themselves as the chain that connects the medieval to the modern… and without them the transformation wouldn’t have been as easy. According to Yusuf, Turks want others to believe it too. They go extra mile to be nice to a guest… and therefore, I wouldn’t have any problem while traveling anywhere in Turkey… I would always find someone to hear and help me out.
The walk ended into a cemetery, serene and peaceful. It was still the Bairam holiday time… and I could see a lots of local family picnicking in the cemetery. I sat down on one of the bench and relished the serenity of the place…
A local family sitting nearby beckoned me and asked where I was from… Hindistani… they were pleased to meet me. I asked them the route to Artemis temple. They said it’s nearby… and they would be pleased to offer me a lift… but I might have to wait for a few minutes… in fact join them for picnic. I did… it was a pleasant experience.
World is a safer, cheaper and cosier place to travel around… than we ever imagine while sitting in the confines of our comfort zones.
The family dropped me at Artemis temple…. One of the wonders of ancient world.
Artemis was a pagan God… his temple in Selcuk was widely revered and build of marbles… it was huge… lending it the status of one of the seven wonders of ancient world. The temple, if miniatures are to be believed, was astoundingly beautiful. It followed typical Greek architecture, only its scale was huge.
It was built over 120 years, by the leading architects of 6th century BC… but was destroyed in just one night of arson in 4th century BC… its ruins were discovered in 19th century… today only a pillar and some rubbles lie there.
It has to be a poignant sight.
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