Somanathapura’s Chennakesava

There were two amazing things I remember about the Chennakesava Temple, just outside of Mysore.  The first is how incredibly well preserved it is, considering it is 800 years old.

No matter where you live in India, it is amazing that the locals over the centuries have treated the ruins with such respect, so that so much is intact today.

But the most amazing thing I remember: this was my first experience at understanding how tough and robust people’s feet can become, if they spend enough time walking barefoot.  The temperature of the ground was well over 60 C = 140 F, and yet this family showed no discomfort at all:

My guests and I could not spend more than just two or three seconds on the pavement in our bare feet.  After I lived for a few years in India, spending most of my time barefoot, so too did my feet become tough and calloused – I once measured the thickness of my callouses and it was nearly 3/16 of an inch in some places – but I’m still not sure I could have done this!

What is just amazing is that most people living in the modern world, wearing modern shoes, have no idea about some things the human body was really designed to do!