The Woman Who Danced on Glass

JULY 5, 2017 - UDAIPUR

It’s easy to forget that wildlife is a thing when you are just traveling around the cities. After walking around Udaipur, I can appreciate why foreigners are so excited to see squirrels in the US. Udaipur, I was surprised to find, has giant fruit bats. Thousands and thousands of them. I was strolling along the lake when we heard some chattering. We looked up, and there they were: hundreds of leathery cocoons hanging from the branches of the trees above us…...and to the left and right. Everywhere. We walked for 30 minutes, and every tree was dripping with fruit bats. 



At night, they begin their hunt, and take flight in clouds of swooping bats as they disappear somewhere over the lake. Fun fact: a group of bats is called either a colony or a cloud.



At the museum around the corner from our hostel, we went to see a show of traditional Rajasthani music and dance. There were some impressive performances, including the women who danced with pots of fire on their heads:



This retelling of a story of the battle between good and evil:



And this 70-year old woman who danced with pots of water upon her head (sometimes on shards of glass). They at least explained how this one evolved into a traditional dance: women would have to travel long distances to fetch water, so would carry many containers. They would dance and rejoice when they came home and saw their husbands after their journey. And so this dance became a thing. How the fire dance became a thing, I will continued to be baffled.



The museum itself also had some interesting collections, including a large room filled with creepy puppets



the world’s biggest turban (Daffelant for scale)



and an armory, which has what is clearly the precursor to Wolverine’s claws.


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