This is one of three chariots in Trafalgar Square brought in for a Krishna festival. It was explained to me that when the chariots are there, there is an opportunity to benefit from being in the presence of light from the divine.

So it was good not to miss it.

When I arrived, the chariots had not yet arrived. There were people there, but not in the numbers that gathered over the next hour or so.

That quieter time gave me an opportunity to relax and find people to talk to.

I read that the festival was coming and my calendar notes say ‘Hare Krishna Festival’.

I had it in my mind that the people there would be ‘Hare Krishna’ – not exactly borderline, but in my mind, not mainstream. But the people who came were whole families of, from their dress, straight up Hindus.

That was a surprise.

The tone, the mood, the underlying feeling of the gathering at Trafalgar Square was very peaceful and accommodating.

And I met several people who helped me piece together what the tradition understands of what life is and what its trajectory is.

I spoke to this man, who is a disciple of the man who originated the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

ISKCON is not peripheral to Hinduism and has roots that go back thousands of years in Vedic tradition.

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

To the all-attractive one, the source of all pleasure, engage me in your service.

It is a petition to the Divine, a prayer for spiritual awakening:

I spoke with a man who was born in India but who lives in the UK and is a doctor at one of the London hospitals.

He told me about the obligation to help others to relieve themselves from the endless reincarnation that attachment brings, because this world is suffering and impermanent. That is its nature.

I asked him why a person would want to do that, and to what end, and why it was set up like that.

That is where we got to.

I plan to visit the Centre in Holborn to continue the conversation, not least because it is enjoyable to be in the company of serious people. Certainly the man I spoke to was serious, and I enjoyed his company.

Fuji X100F

Again I took my Fuji X100F with me, and it coped well enough with the contrasty light. I say ‘well enough’ because contrasty light is just not as pleasant as softly diffuse light because of the harsh shadows and bright highlights.

The camera did less well in the tent, and I think it was the green tent wall that threw off the auto white balance and I had to adjust it in post processing. A grey card would have helped.

This is a hurried snap taken in the forecourt as we left The British Museum after seeing the exhibition on Hawai’i.

We entered the museum from the side entrance, so we didn’t see the trees in front of the main entrance until we left.

So as we exited, we were met by the trees, and it was really noticeable how different the space feels with the trees there. It soften up the austere space.

The British Museum is the most visited attraction in London, or in the entire United Kingdom, with more than six-and-a-half million visitors a year.

I guess that when the museum was built, the intention was to impress visitors with the majesty of the endeavour.

Times have changed.

The Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux tapestry is coming to The British Museum. As the website says, it is “Returning to the UK after 1,000 years”.

The trees in the forecourt are meant to be an introduction to the exhibition, chosen ‘to evoke the landscape in the Bayeux tapestry.’

According to the man we spoke to, they are not permanent features. With their root-balls wrapped in hessian, the trees will only be there for a few weeks and then removed so that the trees don’t suffer.

As Tamara and I commented, the trees soften the view of the museum forecourt. So if the authorities can find a way to put a permanent tree layout there, we think everyone would like it.

And as Tamara said, look at how people have chosen to sit on the hessian – showing that people like having somewhere to park themselves.

The Bayeux tapestry exhibition runs from 10 September 2026 – 11 July 2027.