date night

Last night we headed out on the town for a date night.

 We found out a little while before we left that it was Dussehra- the last day of one of the largest Hindu festivals, Navratri. This is where for 10 days Hindus have ceremonies, fasts, feasts to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. On the tenth day, they build huge Ravana (demon king) statues and burn them. 

We pass this interesting building sometimes and so we stopped so that I could take some pictures of it. 

While I was taking pictures, this guy started up a conversation with Chad...

 A temple of the mother goddess set up on the street for the festival.

 We passed this area on our way to the gardens and it was getting ready for a huge celebration later that night. It looked like the fairgrounds. Below is a huge Ravana statue (read more here). He is known as a 10-headed demon and they burn the statue on this day to celebrate the triumph over evil. On our way home we passed lots of smaller statues (only like 10 feet or so), some still standing, some knocked over in the road, some going up in flames with people crowded around celebrating. 

camel decked out for the celebration

again, what I walked up to after taking pictures of the camel...

 We went and walked around the gardens and enjoyed watching all the peacocks jump up in the trees to go to sleep.

 There are a couple of nice hotels in our city. One of them has a Chinese restaurant in it. We really enjoyed it. They give you great Jasmine tea all throughout your meal.

 I ordered lettuce wraps. They aren't quite like P.F. Changs (I thought it looked like chicken pot pie) but still tasty.

A bit of a different kind of date night, but still fun. Love my husband and the time we spend together!