All right, I know. 

I suppose too many posts on South India.

I’m gonna wrap up with some pictures of the places that we managed to slot in in-between temple visits.

Often not included in the must see list in Madurai is the flower market which is situated along Mattuthavani Street. In my opinion its notably worth a visit.  
The most traded flower here is Jasmine known as Madurai Malli (jasmine). Pic. above.

The market is most active in the morning. Be there early or else you’ll miss the colorful blooms often traded in rucksacks.



Palace Courtyard

A 17^th century palace constructed in the year 1636 by King Thirumalai Nayak who ruled Madurai from 1623-1659.


Interior

Stone carvings dated as far 8^th century are displayed in an open court adjacent to the main palace courtyard.

St Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary’s Cathedral, built around 150 years back, is a blend of various forms of European and continental architectural. The notable feature is the two tall bell towers constructed in Roman style at a height of 42 meters.

Worth a mention here is Meivazhi Salai, a spiritual village, situated in Puddukottai district. This divine village teaches mankind to live a life of holiness, simplicity and truthfulness.

The entire gated compound is exceptionally clean and dirt free and due to the fact that they believe their Salai is sacred ground, they do not have a lavatory attached to each individual home.

Spirituality and simplicity is their way of life to the extent that they refuse to accept electricity supply. The followers do not involve themselves with politics, nor do they desire any form of entertainments, or engaged in sinful behavior or similar activities such as gambling, drinking alcohols, theft and cheating and et cetera et cetera.



Place of worship



Thanjavur

It’s the fourth day. It was only 6.00 in the morning and I was wide awake, fully energized. I watched the sunrise from our hotel room in Trichy. We arrived here the night before from Madurai. This will be our stay for the following 3 days till the end of this trip.

By 7am,  we were at the hotel refectory, gulping down whatever we could and by 8am at the lobby waiting for our ever punctual driver. He arrived at 8 on the dot. We headed to Thanjavur which is about an hour on the road from Trichy. Unlike the previous days, I was excited today.  So what’s the thrill about?

I love historical places and ancient architectures and the chronicles related to it.  

We will be visiting a one of a kind, astonishing structure today. No doubt since the day we landed here, we have been visiting temples which are more than 500 years old, and personaly I have been wanting to visit Thanjavur. Particularly, a visit to this temple.

A masterpiece from the Chola's era

Thanjavur or Tanjore, is known for its own unique style paintings which dates back to 1600s, handicrafts and architectures, as well as home for the few great living Chola Temples. As such, among the few temples, is this marvelous temple, the 11th century Brihadeeswara Temple a UNESCO World Heritage Monument which is also known by other names; Peruvudaiyar Kovil, RajaRajeswara and RajaRajeswaram. It is one of the most valued architectural sites in India.



Second entrance tower



    

 My very first glimpse of the grand pyramid like vimana (center tower) took my breath away. Standing majestically in the centre of the town, its grandeur was more than what I anticipated.
    

Part of the inner compound has a huge and well maintained lawn. Somewhat the atmosphere here is rather calm and serene. The moment we entered, I got my camera engaged and both of us wandered in silence within our own pace.

It was still in the early hours of the day, but the morning sun was already gleaming. Initially I took the pleasure of the warm bright sunny day but very soon the warmth became intense.

Yet, the crowd is nothing less.

The sightseeing involved lots of walking on the stone laid open courtyard. The temperature was a nuisance. Our feets were kinda heating up. So it was a sort of quick observations and lots of pictures. Oh ya, did I mention that footwear is not allowed in. Well, ya its not. Leave it at the shoe-keepers.

 

                                  

The wall drawings are tinted with colours derived from vegetables.



Never-ending carvings on the walls.

This astonishing temple was built around 1010 AD, and one of the first in the world that is built entirely from granite.



Stone inscriptions can be found all around the walls that explains the incidents that took place during the constructions.

Surrounding long corridors

We walked up, came down.. went in, came out till we reached the main sanctum where the huge linga is and only when I thought we are done exploring, Ah..there again is the ever dedicated guide, without fail, surfacing. We were attacked by this very thin gentleman that assured to show us around for a minimum fee.  Well, guides will be guides. 

A rather perfectionist my bf, who thought we were lacking on some history facts, gave his consent and off we went for another round. 

Needless to say, by which time it was almost noon and Mr. Sun was aggressively smiling hard upon us. Word of caution: Visit Only Late Evenings.

An elephant figure carved in 5 separate granites joined together like a piece of puzzle. Seeing all the adornment on its body, I Wondered if all these embellishments existed 1000 years ago.

This figurine is attached to the right side of a staircase leading to a smaller shrine.  There is another on the left side. When we walk past here the 1^st time, these elephants looked similar and nothing more than a stairway décor piece but when we came back here again with the guide, we learnt otherwise. 
"If you observe carefully, the tail of this elephant is pointing upwards and it's eye wide open. In its natural state, an elephant's eye lids are always half closed and it's tail never curves upwards.” he explained and  then took us to the other side, and we saw exactly what he said, this one’s eye was half closed and its tail downwards. So silly that we didn't notice it earlier. 
“This two carvings  depicts a time of war that took place.” he explained further. “The one with the eyes open, is fierce and aggressive at the battle field, and on the other image, is has calmed down subsequently. As you can see, a human clutched by his trunk and under it a horse stepping on a body depicting warfare."

So on and on he went continuously unfolding the realism, us tailing him like obedient students. And this time around, we learnt the history, the stories and the significance of each and every single carvings and paintings. That being said, it took another well spent hour.



Perhaps the most recognized element of the temple, is this huge nandi (carved out of a single rock) in the courtyard facing the sanctum

The temple stands amidst fortified walls added in the 16th century

We came, we saw, we listened, we learnt.  But the highlight is that if I ever come across an elephant, without doubt I will take a look of his eyes first! Just in case….

Madurai, Part 2

Slippers checked at shoe-keeper. Security passed. Entrance tickets bought, so for the camera.  We were in finally; after all this temple was the highlight of visiting Madurai one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

Some facts from online sources

Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located in the in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It is dedicated to goddes Parvati who is known as Meenakshii and her consort, Shiva named her as Sundareswarar. The temple forms the heart and lifeline of the 2500 year old city of Madurai. The complex houses 14 gateway towers and two golden sculptured vimana  ( the shrine over sanctum of the main deities). The temple is a significant symbol for the Tamil people, though the present structure is built during early 17^th century.  The temple attracts 15,000 visitors a day. There is an estimated 33,000 sculptures in the temple and it was in the list of top 30 nominees of the "New Seven Wonders of The World".

East Tower Entrance.

Enter through the east tower, on the right is the “Aayiram Kaal Mandapam” (1000 Pillar Hall). This was our first stop off.

The thousand pillar hall is regarded as the 'wonder of the palace'. The largest hall in the temple complex, it was built in the 1569. There are exactly 985 beautifully decorated columns. Each pillar is beautifully sculptured and presents the glory of the Dravidian sculpture. This hall also houses a Temple Art Museum, where you can see icons, photographs, drawings, etc., exhibiting the 1200 years old history.

Temple complex miniature

This massive shrine holds many halls, courtyards, corridors, thousands of idols and temple tank.

An in house guide approached us something that I expected.
He insisted that we make use of his service.  We were reluctant in the beginning but gave up eventually. Undeniably it’s impossible to explore the entire complex all by ourselves.

At a point we blindly followed him while paying attention to his explanations not knowing which corner or nook we were.

It took close to two hours to complete the tour in which time we came out the tailor has completed the bf’s order.

Madurai, Part 1

Saree a strip of unstitched cloth draped over the body in various styles is the traditional attire of Hindu women’s and me too been wearing sarees occasionally for the past 15 years and more. Apart from seeing in the movies I have never actually seen the actual traditional method of weaving a saree and the handloom equipments. I wanted to. Did some homework on this and found out that there is a saree weaver’s village named Paramakudi somewhere along the route to Madurai from Rameshwaram. Madurai was our second destination after Rameshwaram , so on the day we left Rameshwaram, we asked our ever courteous private driver if we could stop by this said village and he gladly took the trouble and with much hassle found the way to this village after about 3 hours on the road.

  

                   

  Above : Traditional handloom machine. Below : Women weaver at work

Well, the same evening we visited the renowned temple of Madurai. Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple.  Unlike other temples, here the security is quite tight. Only those with decent attire are allowed in after thorough inspection at the security check point. Strictly no half trousers or short pants and no sleeveless tops and guess what?.. I was wearing on sleeveless blouse and he knee length pants. A local chap actually alerted us beforehand…so thoughtful of him otherwise we would have ourselves embarrassed.  Disappointed not being able to enter the temple, we explored “Puthu Mandapam” instead.

“Puthu Mandapam” translated “The New Hall” is located just opposite the east temple tower. A 17^th century structure constructed by the then Madurai ruler King Thirumalai Nayakkar, the hall once served as a place for religious celebration, cultural programs and festivals which dwindled  over time and traders begin to appear eventually and now a bustling market.  

                         

Faintly lit hall with hundreds of pillars adorned with stone carved images of Hindu gods as well as the king Nayaks himself, crammed packed with tiny shops, rows of tailors lines up the sides, bright colorful cotton and silk fabrics, unbelievingly cheap scarves, bags, decorative wall hangings, household items and just about anything, I would rather call it “Tailors Market or Shopping Arcade”.  

When we walked the narrow pathway, one after another, the tailors particularly called out “ maam here” pointing at the stacked cloths, “we stitch anything, dress, pants, shirts, skirts. Very cheap. 1 hour can be ready” Seriously? Just an hour?..  that prompted  my bf and he got  himself a pair of long trousers and shirt stitched for merely 750 rupees (RM 45) inclusive of materials. Honestly it was an excellent deal; even though later our driver told us what we paid was slightly more than the standard rate but we were satisfied with the purchase.., material of good quality and most importantly it fitted well.

Done with quick measurement, we were told to come back in about two hour’s time. We wandered around aimlessly, took a look at almost every shop till we stopped by to purchase some arts, to our relief the lady owner suggested that I should get a scarf to cover my exposed arms and for the bf a veshti ( traditional men’s garment known as dhoti in most places in India is a piece of cloth widely white in colour wrapped around the waist and the legs with a knot at the waist) so that we will be allowed in the temple and with that off we went thanking her. Incidentally, what an alternative way to kill the next 2 hours….

                

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                         

 

                 







Holy Rameshwaram

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the reason we travelled to Tamil Nadu is wholly for pilgrimage purpose.  A 12^th century Temple Ramanathaswamy located in Rameshwaram an island town situated in Southern East of Tamil Nadu State, is one of the holiest place to Hindus as one with Varanasi in the north.  The huge temple is very well famous for its massive walls, 4000 feet long pillared corridor with over 4000 pillar, towers and the major aspect of the pilgrimage is the theerthams (holy water bodies). They are in the form of tanks and wells in and around the temple which the water has its own taste. Bathing in all the 22 wells situated within the temple is considered equally for purification and rejuvenation. 

   
  Pamban bridge connecting to Rameshwaram Island. 

The main entrance to the temple

This is the main theertham. Agni theertham . One has to immerse in the water for 3 times prior to bathing in the other wells inside the temple compound.  

We were informed to participate in the 1^st ceremonial of the day that is around 5:00 in the morning.  It is said one will benefit most if involve in this ceremony prior the bathing rituals.  So it was 4.15 in the morning when we arrived at the temple supposing to beat the crowd, but guess what?.. there were almost hundreds of them already queuing at the ticket counter.  

Temples here are overly crowded most the time.

Done with the puja, we walked towards the main entrance to hire a guide. These guys are easy to spot as all of them dressed in white (white dhoti..white shirt) infact we were approached by them . After some negotiation on certain amount of fees, we proceeded to the beach (Agni Theertham) which is about 500m away from the temple.

I was terrified. Seriously pitch dark, chilly morning sea breeze and to soak myself in the sea water at that point of time? Argghh..nope I changed my mind at that instance. Instead I walked in to my waist point safely one hand still clinging to my partner who was already sopping wet and splashed some generous amount of water over my head. Haha!! Done.

Once at the temple, the guide led us to all 22 wells beginning with the 1^st, Lakshmi theertham (wealth). Anyway this is the only one I remember. Each well is numbered and has its own importance and mind it these wells are scattered throughout the huge temple complex and even though sign board are placed for direction all the way through, it’s advisable to get the pro to guide. You don’t want to get lost halfway your spiritual journey J .

Our guide explained the significances of each wells whilst skillfully fetched buckets of water (3 times at each well) and poured on us as we stand head held high, gasping silently.

For almost an hour we were totally drenched.

It was a terrific moment for both of us, an absolute feeling within us, a sense of complete rejuvenation and we are glad we did it.

Clothes changed, donations given..  we left the temple contentedly.

    The way to the temple from the beach. (Agni Theertham)

    The long corridor with pillars mounted on raised platform

    Fisherman villages. The beach of Rameswaram has no waves at all –
    the sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm.

   
    The journey continued..temples, temples and more temples…