When in Jerusalem...
The ancient city takes you on an overwhelming journey -from the
Wailing Wall through the murals of the Cardo to Calvary
Stark and rough, and rising more than 60 ft into the sky and
nearly 1,500 ft long, the wall was massive, built with limestones, and looked
solid and ancient. In the mid morning light, it seemed bathed in a gold
en-orange hue. In front of it, seemingly dwarfed due to its sheer proportions,
were clusters of women. Some sat on chairs, others stood. Most of them had one
or both their hands on the wall. Apart from a mut ed buzz, generated from
collective prayers muttered under the breath, an eerie si lence hung in the
air. There was an occa sional wail, though many of the women were weeping
silently, while they stuffed the crevices between the stones with piec es of
paper filled with prayers. Of all the places in Jerusalem, the Western Wall,
bet ter known as the Wailing Wall, is the most unsettling as well as the most
indescribably overwhelming.
Considered to be over 2,000 years old, the wall is the only
surviving portion of the Temple Mount, part of the Second Temple, built by
Herod the Great around 20 BC. Jews come here to mourn the destruction of the
Temple Mount by the Romans, from where it gained its epithet. But unlike what I
had imagined, there was no melodrama or overt expression of grief; instead I
was buffeted by waves of silent emotion that seemed to radiate from those
around me, which made it all the more disconcerting. So I stepped away to give
myself a bit of space and sat silently on the steps where I was joined by my
guide Sharon.
Glaring
History
Snatches from my guide book came to mind: about Jerusalem being
the birth place of three Abrahamic religions -Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
and that it had an incredibly complicated history that went back 5,000 years or
more. It was perhaps one of the most fought-over cities in human history and
continued to be something of a touchy issue. I knew it would be impossible to
take in everything in a day or two, or even a week -there was simply just too
much to see and absorb. Even as I sat on those steps, it was difficult to
escape the sheer history and its convergence with religion and politics. And
even though I belonged to none of the three religions that were birthed here, I
started to feel like I was drowning. So Sharon whisked me through an arched
pathway above the tunnels of the Western Wall that went back to the time of the
First Temple to parts less overwhelming.
We arrived at the Cardo, an excavated thoroughfare going back to
the Byzantine era with beautiful pillars, mosaics and even a huge wall mural
depicting everyday life in ancient Jerusalem. Encased within towering walls
that came up sometime during the 16th century, Sharon told me that the Old City
of Jerusalem was made up of four rough quarters, designated Jewish, Christian,
Armenian and Muslim. As we took an arbitrary path through them and crossed from
one quarter to the other, there were subtle differences and interesting sights.
Narrow, noisy, crowded and colourful alleys in the Muslim
quarter became wider and ornate in the Jewish quarter. It included the towering
wall and the Cardo as well as a handful of other beautiful structures and
squares. In the Christian quarter, there was an abundance of churches but none
more popular or stunning than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (see Via
Dolorosa). The Armenian quarter was the quietest but also had the beautiful
Jerusalem Citadel or Tower of David, a massive fortress dating back to the 2nd
century BC.
We stepped out in between, using one or the other of the eight
main gates, which had names such as Damascus, Jaffa, Zion and Herod. Leading
off from the Zion Gate was a path flanked by tall limestone walls that led to
the Franciscan Monastery. Nearby was another iconic spot -the supposed site of
the Last Supper. Called the Cenacle, it was largish room with pillars and
Gothic architecture. The building itself is estimated to be around 1,000 years
old but is believed to be the place where the monumental event took place.
There were a handful people there but an air of solemnity pervaded the whole
place, with people speaking in whispers occasionally.
Simple
Beauty
When I stepped out, darkness was already falling and the alleys
were almost empty. So Sharon and I headed back to one of the many clusters of
cafes in Old City. Since it was a little humid, we sat in a tiny pavement cafe
while the owner efficiently put together falafel pockets and iced tea. It was
crunchy from fresh lettuce and tomato, while the falafel balls were massive,
crispy and mildly spiced. The pita was soft and the creamy hummus beautifully
tied everything together. As we chased it down with the cold brew, we also
interacted with other tourists and locals, in between discussing the touchy and
fraught-with-tension politics of the region.
Then all of a sudden, Sharon jumped up and said, “Let me show
you something interesting.“ I seriously doubted it as my head was still
whirling from the staggering amount I had seen through the day and had
abandoned any attempts to process it. But I wordlessly followed her as she led
me out of the Old City through Jaffa Gate and to the Citadel where a crowd was
waiting. She left me for a moment to buy tickets and then led me inside. The
fortress was dramatically lit and we walked along the ramparts to a corner
where rows of seats had been set up. Soon the lights dimmed, music filled the
air and for the next 45 minutes I was treated to a mesmerising and stylised
rendering of Jerusalem's history through an incredible sound and light show.
The music faded and the big lights came on but I was still in the grips of the
story. Silently we made our way out and I hung behind, wanting to spend a few
more moments. I stood on the terrace opposite the Citadel, leaning on an iron
fence and stared at the brooding walls. Jerusalem's history, despite the
just-concluded show, was still too humongous to wrap my head around. A gentle,
cool breeze blew across, bringing with it distant strains from an unseen
violin. It seemed to sweep away the heaviness and induced a sense of calm.
Quite apart from the other heavy adjectives, it also pointed to simple beauty.
Above, beneath and beyond everything, perhaps that is what's most enduring
about Jerusalem.
Way of
Sorrow
If the Western Wall is the highlight of Jerusalem for the Jews,
Via Dolorosa occupies that position for Christians. Translated to way of
sorrows suffering grief this is ostensibly the path that Jesus Christ took on the
way to crucifixion. It ends at the equally important and iconic Church of Holy
Sepulchre, the place he is believed to be crucified and later buried. The
devout faithfully trace it to identify with the suffering of Christ. There is
no clear agreement on the length of the path and depending on who you choose to
believe, it could be anywhere between 250 m and 600 m, tracing its route via
narrow cobbled lanes, arched doorways and gently-stepped avenues.
The route is broken into 14 stations, each of them associated
with a specific incident, story or encounter during the last journey. It starts
with the place where Jesus is condemned to death and moves through the place
where he donned the crown of thorns, where he stumbled and fell three times,
where he met his mother Mary, where Simon of Cyrene was com manded to help
Jesus and where Veronica wiped blood. Many of the stations are also marked by
monasteries which take their names from these incidents and encounters such as
the Monastery of Flagellation, Church of Our Lady of Spasm and Chapel of St
Veronica.
The last five stations are located within the Church of Holy Sepulchre. A large stone edifice, it has an air of poignancy and piety. It is also dimly lit but beautiful mosaics on the vaulted ceilings reflect the light and give it a very unreal look. Inside is located a large boulder that is protected by glass and is called Calvary or Golgotha where Christ is believed to have been crucified. While all these are accessed by narrows sets of wooden stairs, near the entrance of the church is a large rectangular slab called the Stone of Anointing where Christ's body was prepared for burial.
Anita Rao-Kashi
ETM5MAR17
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