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.