Sunday January 29 - Cochin to Mysore

It was a gruelingly early morning for me today; had to get up at 4:30 to depart the hotel at 5:45 to arrive at the Cochin airport in sufficient time to catch a morning flight to Bangalore (now Bangaluru). I'm not a person who gets up in the wee hours easily but when traveling this is often a necessity. Took a very nice Jet Airways flight full of the India equivalent of silicon valley professional types (not the usual clientele we've flown with) headed to Bangalore which made for a very pleasant trip. I don't often engage in conversation with seat partners on planes especially when I'm sleep deprived and hoping to catch a few winks but somehow casual conversation began with a charming man next to me. It turned into the most delightful and fascinating exchange about his life and his spiritual beliefs. I'd mentioned our travels through Tamil Nadu and my interest in going deeper into understanding of the Hindu religion beyond what one can see on the surface. That seemed to open a door and he told me about his spiritual practice in such a beautiful way that I was both exhilarated and moved. I was happy to have met him.

Ceremonial Wedding of Vishnu to his Consorts

After landing we set off on a four-hour drive to Madras. We are now traveling with delightful Lakuma, Cliff and Cathy's guide from 2008. On the way we stopped at a Vishnu Temple outside Bangaluru to witness a ceremonial wedding of Vishnu to his consorts. We were blessed by a Brahmin priest, drank holy water infused with special herbs and received bindis.

Lunch on a Banana Leaf

Transporting Bags Filled with Silk Cocoons

We stopped at a fascinating Cocoon Market where silk cocoons grown locally (Mulberry trees grow well in this area) are sold. This appeared to be a predominantly Muslim enterprise. Walked through a small Muslim neighborhood to see silk cocoons begin boiled to kill the silk work inside and then the unraveling of the cocoon. Huge machines were winding bobbins of silk thread but what was fascinating to watch is the skill of the men who are able to pull the threads from the silk cocoon. Threads go to silk weaving centers around the country to be woven. Mysore is one of those silk weaving cities.

Workers in the Silk Thread Factory

At 4pm reached Mysore at last! Headed straight to the world famous Mysore Palace for a tour given by Lakuma. It was jammed with Indian tourists from all over the country, Returned at 7:30pm to see the Palace illuminated by lights. Glorious!

Mysore Palace by Day

Mysore Palace by Night!

Courtney and Lakuma

Had dinner with Lakuma at a restaurant outdoors. Had one of the best meals we've had this trip. Lakuma thinks it's freezing in the evening this time of year and sat huddled wrapped in a beautiful shawl draped over her head and shoulders.

Saturday January 28 - Cochin

At last we are feeling the kind of heat that Cliff and Cathy wrote about in 2008. Today Ferris and I walked around the old section of Cochin - Fort Cochin - and the sun was sweltering. Cochin, an important fishing and spice center, is located on the western side of Southern India on the Arabian Sea. It was first a Portuguese city and than became Dutch. We had a half day guided tour which turned out to be much more interesting than I thought it might be. I say this only because of our lack of enthusiasm about Portuguese Goa a few years ago.

We began the morning by watching what are known as Chinese Fishing Nets. Boats have huge cantilevered nets suspended from what look like four or five long bamboo poles. They drop the enormous net into the water and leave it for about ten minutes. It takes many men to pull the net loaded with fish from the water. The whole operation takes place on the flimsiest of boats with nets suspended from what look like long thin twigs.

Nearby is a small fish market where we got to experience auctions or fish, shrimp and crab. The auction takes place in a hot little shack. I couldn't help but wonder if the fish I ate for dinner last night made its way through here.

Vasco de Gamma was among Cochin's most famous residents. We went to the church where he was originally buried (he has since been returned to Portugal). A group of young Indian schoolgirls were also touring the church and they were eager to extend their hands for a hello handshake. I continue to be struck by the stunning beauty of Indian girls.

Next we visited the Hindu part of town. If I remember correctly only 30% of the population of Cochin is Hindu which makes for quite an atmosphere change from the predominantly Hindu culture of Tamil Nadu. Our guide told us that most Brahmins live together in one part of town and one way to identify a Brahmin's house is by the basil plant out front. It's apparently regarded as a very important plant by Hindus in Kerala.

We stopped in a tiny processing and packaging plant (far too grand a word) for spices. Men used rudimentary mills to process various grains (like rice) and spices. Women worked in the back rooms wearing colorful saris, some just sitting on the floor. They were operating small machines that output individual spice packets. They smiled warmly and invited us in to watch. Around the corner was a spice shop run by a women's cooperative. Of course I added to my Indian spice collection and my suitcase if now extremely aromatic. I'm certain to be nabbed by the agriculture beagle when I return to Newark.

I was delighted to find that Cochin has many rare cannonball trees which have large pink waxy blossoms that I haven't seen since a trip long ago to Thailand. They're one of my favorite flowers along with orchids and lotus blossoms.

 We walked along the streets of the old Jewish quarter and stopped outside a synagogue. Cochin has only nine remaining Jews living here. This section is now home to what seems like hundreds of antique shops.

 And last we stopped in the Mattancherry Palace, also known as the "Dutch Palace”, built in 1557 AD. The central hall on the 1st floor was the coronation hall of the rajas of Cochin. Other rooms contain beautiful paintings depicting scenes from the Ramayana and Puranic Legends connected with Hindu gods. By this time we were ready for a bite. Afterward we headed to the Parade Ground (a dusty empty field) to visit a few shops around the perimeter including Anokhi.

We leave very early tomorrow morning for a flight to Bangalore and then a four hour drive for Mysore. I opted out of tonight's performance of traditional Kerala dance in favor of a quiet evening to read and organize. Ahhhhhh.

Friday January 27 - Madurai to Cochin

And I thought that since we had a long, seven-hour drive ahead of us today I'd have nothing to write about.  How wrong I was!  Originally Ferris and I planned to fly from Madurai through Chennai to Cochin in order to avoid the drive.  I had thought the drive would be terrifying because of the swerving, honking, endlessly passing vehicles and the thought of facing vehicles coming at me head-on for seven straight hours was unimaginable.  Basically I thought I'd prefer being water-boarded than doing this drive.

That was until we met Bala and I can't believe how comfortable I've felt this trip driving in India.  After one day of working with him we changed our plans and cancelled the flight. 

We left this morning at 8am and planned to arrive in Cohin at around 3pm.  After that Bala was to drive back to Madurai the same day (we hope he arrived safely) in order to back as quickly as possible with his new bride.  She returns to her school near Trichy (she's finishing her masters degree in engineering) next Wednesday where she lives during her studies. 

The other night after the Shiva/Parvati event at the temple in Madurai, Bala helped us buy CDs of music from Tamil Nadu.  Ferris and I both love Tamil instruments and knew that if we didn't buy them now we probably wouldn't find them.  We bought a contemporary Tamil CD, and classical sitar, violin and nadhaswasram (long shrill horn) CDs.  We had a marvelous time listening to our music as we drove; it provided a perfect soundtrack to the lovely scenery we passed.  We had a day of being in the tropics:  rice fields, sugar cane fields, coconut trees, banana plantations, rubber plantations and even tea plantations when we reached a mountainous area that we didn't expected. 

When you look at the map of South India it looks as if there's a major absolutely straight road all the way from Madurai to Cochin.  That couldn't be farther from the case.  The road is the usual winding two lane affair which gets really interesting when you begin climbing mountains called the Periyar Hills and twisting and turning on switchbacks.  We climbed rapidly and it felt as if we could look down on all of India from our vantage point.  The vegetation changed completely and we were in a dense tropical forest with monkeys climbing trees and running across the road.  We saw a little baby monkey clutching his mother for dear life as she ran.  Once we got to the top of the mountain we stopped in a small town for a break and to stop in a spice shop.  I bought a few Tamil hot peppers.  We also stopped for lunch somewhere where everything was local style.  We wanted Bala to eat with us but instead he ate outside behind the restaurant.  We noticed that towns on the mountain in the sprawling beautiful tea plantation area had many Tibetan shops.  Has there been a migration of Indians from the north to this area?

Arrived in Cochin at 5pm and met with our local guide.  As we unpacked our bags we received a SURPRISE VISITOR!  We were absolutely thrilled to find that Lakuma, Cliff and Cathy's South India guide several years ago, had come to see us and to let us know that she will be our guide for the rest of the trip, beginning on Sunday when we head to Bangalore.  I've run out of time...but I'll finish writing about this tomorrow.    

Thursday January 26 (Republic Day) - Madurai

No, it's not a statue.

It's been a while since we've had a whole day in one city. This morning we returned to the temple we went to last night but this time to actually have a chance to look at the carvings and experience the place and normal daily life.

Maheswari

Offerings for the gods.

Our delightful guide, Maheswari (pronounced Maheshvari), helped us to experience interaction with the temple as local devotees do. We bought a woven bowl containing a coconut, two bananas, two small bags - one with ash and the other with a crimson powder called kumkum - and a leaf. There may have been more. We also bought a long garland of red flowers with a tassel of fragrant jasmine at the bottom. I carried these items through much of the temple as we did our sightseeing and wondered what we were going to do with them. We watched people praying to monumental statues of Shiva and Ganesha. At last we came to an unassuming statue of the goddess Parvati.

Parvati

I was surprised by her attention to this particular one. She paused for a bit and then began to softly say a prayer. When she was finished she asked us to join us in placing the beautiful flower garland around Parvati's neck. She then opened the bag of red powder, said another prayer and gently, lovingly placed dots of red on Parvati's head, ears, neck, arms, several places along the legs, and feet. Occasionally during her honoring she sang a sweet song. She then asked each of us to dip our middle finger into the red powder and do the same. She peeled the two bananas and placed one on either side of the statue's feet. She then peeled the coconut and said "you may say a prayer if you'd like; you can ask Parvati for anything". She passed the coconut to each of us and as we held the coconut we said a silent prayer. She then cracked the coconut in half (by the way not easy to do). Again she placed the halves on either side of Parvati's feet and lastly the leaf in the middle. It was a beautiful prayer and we felt honored to be a part of it. As passed a ceremony of another sort. A group of women were seated in a circle and there was much activity going on. We stopped to watch. Each woman got up and went to the woman in center and placed bracelets on each wrists and kumkum dots on her wrists, face and feet. Maheswari explained that the woman in the middle is pregnant and this is a special ceremony to wish that she have a safe delivery. Several women got up and came to us, placed bracelets on our wrists and gave us candies.

As a side note, we have been amazed by the friendliness and openness of the people we've encountered in South India. As we walked around the temple learning more about Hindu religion and culture (Maheswari is a wonderful guide) we were surprised to learn that it was only in 2004 that women were allowed to be tour guides; not allowed for Hindu women - at least in a smaller city and certainly a village - to wear lipstick. After the temple we asked Maheswari if she could help us buy a wedding gift for Bala. She suggested a sari and led us to a shop. Thankfully she had done a little reconnaissance and found out what type and color of sari Bala's new wife wanted for her family wedding celebration in May. We selected a lovely purple/brown one with sequins that Maheswari said she was certain Madu would love.

Bala's mother, Mado and Bala

At the end of our sightseeing, Bala said he wanted us to meet his new wife. His house is located very near our hotel in what we could tell was a nice neighborhood. His mother and wife greeted us at the door. Inside the house the air was full of the smell of cooking and I suspected what he'd planned. We sat in a green living room on a two seater sofa. There were two chairs on the left side and opposite us was a kind of shrine to deceased relatives: his father, two grandfathers and one uncle. Below these photos were shelves containing mementos arranged symmetrically: various colorful plastic flower arrangements, ceramic kangaroos, assorted trophies and other symbols of their family history. On another wall a photo of his mother and father. Suddenly the lights came on and the fan to clear the smokey air. Madurai has periodic power cuts by neighborhood to conserve energy. He brought out a small round table apologizing for it and saying that he doesn't have a dining table. His wife and mother bought out a sumptuous meal: puri, chapatti, tandoori chicken, chicken in a white curry sauce, and spiced chicken (or was it fish?). We drank freshly made grape juice that his mother made. And specially purchased water and diet pepsi. Lastly we ate a heaping plate of rice. All the while Ferris and I ate but neither Bala, his wife or mother would touch a bit not matter how hard we insisted they join us. We were the guests. It was a wonderful experience and we were truly honored that Bala would invite us to his home and treat us to such an extravagant meal.

Wednesday January 25th - Chettinad to Madurai

Having breakfast in Chettinad at the Hotel Visalam.

Left crumbling charming Chettinad at 8 and headed for Madurai. Stopped around 9 at a marvelous Ganesha Temple (Arul Migu Karpaga Vinayagar Temple of Pilla Pillaiyarpatti) where we were lucky enough to arrive at the moment a puja was about to begin.

We went inside the main temple (where alas no photos are permitted) and waited on a long line of people who stood still waiting for....what we didn't know. After a while huge deep bells began to slowly ring and a man seated cross legged played a high pitched long horn. The excitement grew. I stood on tiptoes trying to see above the heads of people in front of me. I glimpsed a curtain with a Ganesha image on it and shadows of figures walking behind it. Suddenly Brahman priests dressed in white dhoti with grey horizontal lines on their foreheads and hair pulled in a topknot appeared and waved candles in sweeping circular motions. The crowd quietly chanted all the while and suddenly the curtain drew back to reveal a six foot tall gold Ganesha statue illuminated by candles. We moved toward the inner sanctum, as it's called, to receive blessings from the priests and grey ash to make a bindi. The entire experience was magical.  Being in a temple during a ceremony brings Hinduism, a vital element of life in India, to life.

Stopped next at a bird sanctuary to see egrets, herron and other birds at a large lake surrounded by mango and tamarind trees.

Ferris and me at the bird sanctuary.

Got onto a four lane highway for the last portion of the drive. Felt sorry for the mothers in saris forced to run across the highway carrying babies due to lack of any other route to cross. Checked into the Taj Hotel in Madurai. Our driver Bala's wife is in town for only day so I think the fact that we had an afternoon free may have had something to do with that. He plans for us to meet her tomorrow which will be wonderful.

We had a bit of a crazy afternoon. Cliff and Cathy are in Jaipur on their last day shopping. They asked if we wanted anything and we placed a couple of orders which we spent quite a bit of time on the phone and with emails going back and forth showing images before giving Cliff the OK to negotiate. Then my phone began "acting up". A mystery Indian man has my number and seemed to be calling me for fun. I got so many calls that I had to turn my phone off and ask the tour company to speak with him. My Hindi is a little rusty. Youseff, the local agent in Madurai, is on the case. I don't expect to receive any more calls. Anyway, it was a three ring circus.

View from our Madurai hotel dining room.

Finally I had a chance to go outside by the hotel's glorious pool to read for a bit before leaving at 8:15pm for a ceremony that takes place every evening at the Minakshi Temple. A center of Tamil culture, famous for its writers and poets, Madurai's history goes back to the 6th century BC. The Nayakas laid out the old town in the pattern of a lotus with narrow streets surrounding the Minakshi Temple at the center. Minakshi, known as the Fish-eyed Goddess and the consort of Siva, is the presiding deity and daily ceremonies are performed at her shrine.

Shiva on his way to spend the evening with Parvati.

What we saw was an amazing puja. I couldn't believe that photography was allowed. There were many many pilgrims plus an equal number of tourists vying for good photo positions. During this nightly spiritual ceremony Lord Shiva is carried in a palanquin and accompanied by musicians, temple singers and priests to the temple of his consort, Parvati, to spend the night. He is brought back to his temple in the morning. At the beginning of the ceremony you wait in a central area of the temple and suddenly you hear a conch shell being blown, and then a nandhpatram (a long high-pitched horn) and tabla drums are played. The music is loud and shrill and creates a feeling of excitement in the space. Devotees are praying with their hands clasped below their chins. Suddenly the palanquin is carried out and put on a stand. A priest fans with a peacock feather a fire of incense blowing smoke onto Shiva. On the opposite side preparations are made for Parvati's arrival. A small silver stool with gold feet on the top is bathed with oils. Jasmine flowers encircled the stool and mounds of pure sandalwood placed on top. After many prayers the stool and palanquin are carried out into the temple where Parvati lives. The idea is that the two, the husband and wife, are joined together each evening where they sleep. In the morning the same ritual is repeated. This goes on every day. I took wonderful videos (I hope).

The local power station.

Bala shops for Tamil music for us.

On the way back to the hotel we took one small detour to buy Tamil music.  We'd asked Bala to help us and since we are now on his home turf of Madurai he took us to a local music shop.  Can't wait to hear the final selections. 

Tuesday January 24 - Tanjore to Chettinad

Temple Goporum

Buying pots and pans at the temple entrance.

Entering the temple.

Left the hotel in Tanjore at 8am for another long day of touring and driving. We began our day at the Sri Ranganathasvami Temple at Srirangam (banks of River Kaveri), a Vishnu temple, which is surrounded by seven concentric-walled courtyards with magnificent gateways and several shrines.

This temple, one of the largest in India, is famous for its superb sculptures and 21 impressive gopurams. Here we took time to interact with and photograph local people. Children in Tamil Nadu are beautiful. We met a family whose little boy had just had a ceremony and whose head had been shaved (the hair is given as an offering) and covered with a yellow paste of turmeric. He had a black bindi on his forehead and another on his right cheek to ward against evil spirits. Infants wear silver ankle bracelets laden with bells so the mother always knows where the child is. Women wear beautiful red, yellow and orange saris and intricate gold necklaces, rings and earrings. I'm intrigued by one style that seems to hang over the ear. The whole temple scene is a riot of color and sound that I thoroughly enjoy.

We stopped by a river to see pilgrims bathing. At the entrance was a mahout and his elephant giving out blessings in exchange for a coin (see Pondicherry). Of course I had to do it; I adore elephants. So Amakuti (the elephant) touched my head several times (needed for requisite photo ops). I found out that the tip of an elephant's trunk can be very wet and slimy after they eat a lot of bananas. But this bit of knowledge won't deter me from doing it again at the next opportunity!

Being blessed by Amakuti and receiving a banana conditioner.

Part of our drive to Chettinad was on a 4-lane highway and part on the usual 2-lane. The highway was interesting because several times we'd encounter a big truck going the wrong way on our side of the highway.

We stopped once in Karakuti at a tile-making workshop (actually quite interesting), then at a local Shiva temple with many sculptures of horses (need to investigate meaning).

Perhaps the most interesting was a visit to a house built in the 1930s for a very wealthy Indian family who still owns the house today (although doesn't live there) which has been the setting of a number of Tamil movies. It had magnificent tiles, some with peacocks and flowers, stained glass windows, a dining room that could seat 50 people, and 60 rooms in total. Glorious. Faded today but still glorious. Many roads were diverted so we detoured on small ones through rice farms and forests of teak and eucalyptus trees. We thoroughly enjoyed riding through the backroads of Karakuti around Chettinad. We walked briefly around the streets of Chettinad and interacted a bit with children on their way home from school. Girls wear their long hair in braids with ribbons. Both boys and girls wear crisp uniforms indicating which level and class they belong to. Both Ferris and I agree that there is something enormously appealing about India, the colors, the spirit and vibrancy of Hindu culture and the warmth of the people.

Typical Chettinad street scene.

Portrait of our beloved driver, Bala.

Old Chettinad home now used in Tamil movies.

Tile work detail in home.

Our stop for the night is the Hotel Visalam. This is another property in the CGH Earth group. What was a former home owned by a Tamil family is now a hotel with 10 rooms, 5 dining rooms and a beautiful swimming pool. Had dinner outside on a second floor patio overlooking the town of Chettinad. It was interesting to see how few lights they were as we looked out. The only lights were those of trucks and an occasional train. Tomorrow another early day and long drive to Madurai.

Entrance to the Hotel Visalam.