Monday January 23 - Pondicherry to Tanjore

We left Pondicherry yesterday (thank goodness for departing from the town but we hated to leave our darling hotel) and drove two hours to our first stop. A hair-raising two hours I might add with trucks heading straight for us and then veering away with only seconds to spare. Horns honking all the time; Indian drivers use their horns to communicate constantly. (I know this all sounds bad but somehow, incredibly, I'm rather getting used to it. Only occasionally do I have to put my hands over my eyes. I trust Bala fully. Never have I seen a more conscientious and good driver. I highly recommend him for any driving trip through India.) These roads were some of the most crowded we've seen. But we enjoyed the ride immensely. I'm crazy about the ox carts and you see them all the time.

Painted bullock cart

Some of the bulls not only have brightly colored horns but also have bells on the tips. We saw a bus so crowded with passengers - some were on top - some were hanging off the left side on the outside of the bus - that it was tilted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Bala said there were 150 people on that bus.

The air was very dusty this morning and we decided that Monday morning must be village cleaning day. Piles of refuse lay smoldering along with stacks and stacks of branches that fell from trees due to the cyclone of December 13th. The villages in this area have houses that are mostly built of woven banana leaves so naturally they've sustained considerable damage as well. At one point in our drive Bala stopped in a long line of traffic and told us to get out and come with him. We walked to an intersection where the local villagers were staging a sit-in protest against the government's lack of financial response to the storm. We want roads to be repaired (I support that) and their villages to be helped (definitely well deserved). All of a sudden the Indian police arrived and I've never seen a group break up so quickly. The crowd peacefully dispersed and we were back on our way.

Village protest.

We drove over the Anakari River, a brackish river that is home to many fishermen who peaceable coexist with crocodiles! We stopped to watch a croc swim lazily in the river while men cast their fishing nets nearby. We were high above on a bridge so no worries about our safety.

Today was all about temples. Our first stop and perhaps the most memorable one for me was the Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram, a 75 km / 2 hr drive from Pondicherry. It is a huge temple dedicated to Shiva with tall gopurams (towers) at each cardinal entry point. Figures of gods and goddesses are depicted in rows upon rows of carvings painted in vivid shades of blue, yellow, red and green. But the best was inside.

We witnessed a ceremony that reminded me of some Buddhist fire ceremonies I've seen; Brahman priests wearing white, and a string across their bodies, their hair shaved except for one portion that is allowed to grow. This long hair is twisted into a topnot at one o'clock on the right side of the head. They were seated in circle chanting. In the center at a fire pit were two high priests. The priests were preparing offerings of food and flowers and the high priests took these offerings and dropped them into the fire, occasionally stirring in what must have been oil. We watched for as long as our tight schedule would allow. I could have stayed for hours. Our itinerary says of Chidambaram: "Of the numerous temples that line the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram is one of the most significant. In terms of its antiquity, richness of worship & festival traditions, architectural & sculptural splendor, its association with music & dance, Chidambaram is second to none.  It is one of the greatest centers of the Sri Vaishnava religion and among the most visited pilgrimage centers in India."

Then two additional stops before lunch to the Gangaikonda Cholapuram (mostly in ruin) and the Airavatesvara Temple in Darasuram. The Airavatesvara Temple is the third of the great Chola temples after Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Finally in late afternoon we reached Tanjore. We met up with a local guide who took us to view antique Chola brozes in a museum. The we visited the Brihadisvara Temple, built between 985 and 1012 AD, which is a UNESCO monument. The temple has superb inscriptions and sculptures of Shiva, his consort Durga, and Vishnu.

There are also 81 carvings of the classical Bharat Natyam poses, which is the first record of any classical dance form in this manner.  Brihadishvara is capped by a monolithic cupola made of a single, 80-ton granite block. We stayed until well after sunset watching the color change on the temple and pilgrims arriving for evening devotions. Inside we saw a priest administering blessings next to a Shiva linga that was as tall as he was. Outside was a huge, lighted nandi bull.

By the time we got to our hotel and checked in it was around 8pm and were exhausted.

Sunday January 22 - to Pondicherry

Checked out of the hotel early to be on route to Pondicherry at 8:15. Last night Ferris and I wandered around the enormous Radisson Hotel in search of a pleasant spot to have a vodka. Until then we'd had no idea of the size of the property and the sprawling lighted pool that winds through it. Every employee seems to know us; each greets us with "hello room 101".

Ganesha adored with flowers on our dashboard.

Our two hour drive took us through now familiar scenery.  We drove through vast expanses of rice fields, saw more coconut and palm trees than we could count, and more villagers toiling away. The drive seemed quite short. We had a chance to speak a bit with our driver, Bala. Somehow the topic of marriage came up. He showed us a photo of his wife and explained that he had only just gotten married on January 6th of this year. It turns out that Bala has a "love marriage" as he put it, something that we gather is a rarity in India today. The vast majority of marriages are still arranged by the parents. The couple involved has no say.

Apparently Bala's parents had arranged a mate for him, as had his wife's parents. But they told their parents they wanted to marry, that they had fallen in love.  Both sets of parents were vehemently against this idea. In fact his now wife's parents kidnapped her and took her to Mumbai but Bala tracked her down and brought her back. They kept their plans to marry a secret for four months and married legally at the courthouse, without families knowing, on January 6th. Now Bala says both sets of parents have come to accept what's happened. They're planning a wedding celebration - the traditional Indian kind that lasts two days - for early May.

We arrived at the outskirts of Pondicherry around 10am to visit a massive commune called Auroville. A man named Sri Aurobindo (who died in 1950) and a French follower now know as "the Mother" (d 1973) founded an ashram in the city of Pondicherry as well as this commune. These are very famous entities and "must stops" on the tourist visit program.

Auroville was a trip. It aspires to be a model community for the world and about 16,000 people live there from 28 countries. In the middle of the property is a large sphere covered in bronze disks. Inside is a vast meditation chamber with a huge crystal that hangs from the ceiling. Access to this chamber is allowed for members of the community or those who've booked well in advance only so unfortunately we weren't allowed inside.

We drove into town and made a quick visit to the Aurobindo Ashram. The most interesting thing about this ashram is the power and influence it seems to have in Pondicherry. About 60% of the buildings in the town are owned by the Ashram and all the buildings along the waterfront and the majority of buildings in the French quarter. Apparently very wealthy Indians come to the live there and donate all their money to it.

Me with Lakshmi outside the Elephant Temple

I was delighted to visit the Elephant Temple where outside a painted elephant named Lakshmi puts her trunk on your head as a blessing (if you give her a treat or a coin). Lakshmi had beautiful eyelashes. Unfortunately photography isn't allowed inside the temple so I'll try to describe. On one wall are about 50 different representations of Ganesha, each given to the temple by different countries. In the center is the main Ganesha idol and people were lined up closely to get inside and receive a blessing and bindi.  In the back are silver and gold images of the various gods and of course Ganesha.

Ganesha, one of two sons of Shiva and Parvati, is impossible not to like with his enormous trunk and strong legs capable of removing any obstacle. There were people everywhere sitting on the floor praying, waiting in line to the see priest, and milling around.

We checked into an charming heritage hotel called the Maison Perumal located in the middle of the Tamil section of town. The hotel has only nine rooms. The interior is reminiscent of a Moroccan home with rooms situation around an inner two story courtyard. The staff are Tamil and are highly service oriented. The property is owned by a group called CGH (Clean Green and Healthy) out of Kerala. Apparently everyone on staff shares communal tips and you put whatever you life into a box when you check out of the hotel.  We adore this system because it relieves us of constantly having to dole out 100 or 500 rupee notes.

The chef greeted us as we checked in and was so charming (he told us that seafood is his specialty, that all food is purchased and prepared fresh each day) that we decided to have lunch at the hotel. Ate the best meal we've had so far on the trip - spiced (per our instructions to the correct heat level) grilled prawns with lemon rice, string beans and carrots. Our tongues and taste buds are still tingling with joy. We'll probably return to sample his seafood delights this evening.

The Tamil section of Pondicherry.

After lunch we walked around town, focusing on the Tamil section. We had a city tour this morning and felt we'd sufficiently covered the French portion.  I suppose knowing that the Ashram owns almost all the French section of town and that what we did see of it was pretty unattractive made us want to explore the Tamil area.

The Tamil section of Pondicherry.

The manager of the hotel suggested we be sure to go to the Sunday Market. When we got to the point on the map where the market was supposed to be we couldn't find anything. The map had shown what appeared to be a building but what we saw was a gigantic street fair stretching for blocks in all directions and the street was absolutely jammed with people. There were vendors on the sidewalk selling old electronics for spare parts, clothing, books, foods - it reminded me of Orchard Street on a bad day. We laughed at mannequins in a store window. Imagine figures with mops for hair, black magic marker around the eyes, red painted lips and red dot on the forehead and you have some picture of what these things looked like, dressed in cheesy saris.

The market was thick with people and motorbikes and we inched our way along the street looking carefully so as not to step into a hole in the sidewalk. It was quite a scene. The market aside, Pondicherry strikes me as a town that exists to support hippies that come to stay at the ashram or Auroville. Shops geared toward westerners have lots of inexpensive yoga clothes and sandals. One shop sells items made exclusively by the residents of Auroville, who as it happens, make very nice handmade paper and soaps.  In my opinion, the only reason to come here is to stay and eat at the wonderful Maison Perumal. 

Dinner at Maison Perumal