Monday, Feb 10th, Trichy City, India

Greetings!

We had two guides today, Munchi and Sundar, to help us see temples quite distant from each other.  Munchi took us to the Brihadisvara Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, on the banks of the Kaveri River near the hotel we stayed at last night.  Built in seven years in the 11th century, its tower is one of the tallest in South India.  At the time of its construction, it had probably the highest structure, longest corridor, and biggest linga in the world.

The world's first complete granite temple, the source of the stone was a mountain 40 miles away.  It took 2,000 elephants, thousands of rolling logs, and 20,000 men to transport the 30,000 tons of rock to the site.  Ramps on all four sides extending out a half-mile in length were used to roll up the stones for the top section.  The very top single piece of granite weighed 60 tons.

On our way back to the hotel, we visited a family who for eleven generations has perfected the bronze lost-wax method to create statues of Hindu figurines.  The album which this post links to contains photos of the complete process, and should not be missed.

We said goodbye to Munchi, and returned to have lunch and relax in our hotel.

Later in the afternoon, we met up with Sundar, who took us to the largest functioning Hindu temple complex in the world.  Only Angkor Wat is larger, but not functioning.  It has twenty-one towers sitting on 155 acres, entered through seven sets of gated concentric enclosures (housing only brahmins in the inside four), built between the 13th and 18th centuries by successive dynasties.  It contains 81 shrines, 39 pavilions, twelve major water tanks (with a capacity of two million liters), and a hall containing 1,000 pillars.  The Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli (Trichy City), India is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu.  It sits on an island between two rivers, and there is evidence that the site has had a temple in that location since the 6th century BC.

To see all of the many photos taken today, click on Monday, Feb 10th, Trichy City, India.

Sunday, Feb 9th, Thanjavur, India

Greetings!

Today was a long driving day, and Balu did another terrific job of it.  We left after breakfast at 8am, and headed southwest (inland).  Once again, we were to meet up with our guide (Ramesh) at the first of the three temples we would visit (Chidambaram Nataraja Temple).  Outside one of the four entrances, we found several large chariots, which are each dragged around the temple's 40 acre site in a festival in August.  It takes 400 people, and a bunch of strong ropes, to pull the heaviest of them.

The present temple was built in the tenth century when Chidambaram was the capital of the Chola dynasty, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India.  It has the earliest known Amman or Devi temple, a pre-13th century Surya shrine with chariot, shrines for Ganesha, Murugan, and Vishnu, one of the earliest Shiva Ganga sacred pools, and large mandapas for the convenience of pilgrims.

Shiva is the lord of the dance, and this place is designed to celebrate all things dedicated to movement.

Next, we drove to the town of Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and its temple built by Rajendra Chola in 1035AD  to celebrate his victory over a previous dynasty controlling most of southern India.  The name means the one who conquered the Ganges, and he emphasized it by having the kingdoms he defeated each provide a pot of Ganges River water from their lands to a well in his temple.

Our last temple (AiravatesvaraTemple) was also built by the Cholas, and together with the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur (we're seeing it tomorrow), and the Gangaikondacholapuram (see above), they are considered the Great Living Chola Temples. 

We invite you to read the text at the links provided.  Hinduism as depicted in these temples is far more interesting than we could describe.  But our astonishment lies in the intricacy of the carvings, and the effort it took to construct the temples (over 1100 years of work and re-work).

To see lots more photos taken today, click on Sunday, Feb 9th, Thanjavur, India.

Saturday, Feb 8th, Puducherry, India

Greetings!

Today, we visited a 2,800 member community first begun in the 1920s, and later to develop a huge site by an integral yoga ashram spiritual leader in the late 1960's.  It's called Auroville, was founded by Mirra Alfassa ("the Mother"), and is an experimental township free from discrimination of nationality, language, creed and politics.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a paper-making factory run by the Ashram.  We saw the full operation, and bought some stationery, cards, and gift bags.  We also visited a section of Puducherry wherein the Timal Nadu style of housing architecture could be seen.  In contrast to the setback entrances of most French houses, the Timal designed porches encourage street conversations, and afford sleeping berths for neighborhood transients.

To see a few other photos taken today, click on Friday, Feb 8th, Puducherry, India. 

Friday, Feb 7th, Puducherry, India

Greetings!

Today, we drove down to the Puducherry District, an enclave of Tamil Nadu, and one of four districts of the Union Territory of Puducherry (which was once French India).   In 1674, France declared four coastal areas of India as "French India", under a single Governor in Puducherry.  We're sleeping in the hotel named after the last Governor, in the front bedroom of a house owned by a colonial fish merchant.

Puducherry is a union territory of India, rather than a state, which means that governance and administration falls under federal authority.  A special constitutional amendment granted it an elected assembly and a cabinet of ministers.  Goods bought here are taxed less, roads are longer here, there are fewer cars, and far fewer laws.  It's a great place to be a tourist.

The district has a strong preservation movement, and so french architecture is revered.  It had its own mint, and its own defense forces.  The English tried unsuccessfully to conquer and hold the territory, and so its history looks like the rest of India (with constant local indigenous rebellion with a french flavor).

It's dependent on tourists, ashram activists, and a large colony of fisherman.  Let's hope that bureaucracy and global economic pressures don't make it harder for these unique pockets of cultural identity to continue to thrive.


To see all of the photos taken today, click on Friday, Feb 7th, Puducherry, India.

Thursday, Feb 6th, Mahabalipuram, India

Greetings!

On our way to finding India's Bay of Bengal Surf Spot (more on that later), we visited three temples, two museums, a silk weaving family, and a church.

We started with the silk weavers, a home industry neighborhood wherein families take shifts at the loom.  Yes, Pat bought a scarf or two, and the density of the silk strands is incredible.

The city of Kanchipuran was the capitol for the Pavlava dynasty during its almost 600-year rule beginning about the 3rd century AD.  Considered one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism, it' contains temples which were built in the 6th snd 7th centuries, and exhibits the architectural features for which the Dynasty is known.  Some are rock-carved of granite, others built of rock foundations with sandstone structures.  All display Hindu dieties, mythology, and are the sites of pilgrimages and worship.

Ekanbereshwara, a 25-acre complex, dedicated to the diety Shiva, contains four gateway towers, numerous shrines, many halls (one of which has a thousand pillars).  There is a  story centering around a 3,500 year old tree in the courtyard.  Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva was cursed to become dark like Kali She wanted to expatiate herself from the sin by doing penance under the temple's ancient Mango tree near Vegavathi river.^[6] In order to test her devotion Shiva sent fire on her. Goddess Parvati prayed to her brother, Vishnu, for help. In order to save her, he took the Moon from Shiva's head and showed the rays which then cooled down the tree as well as Parvati. Shiva again sent the river Ganga (Ganges) to disrupt Parvati's penance. Parvati prayed to Ganga and convinced her that both of them were sisters and so should not harm her. Subsequently, Ganga did not disturb her penance and Parvati made a Shiva Linga out of sand to get united with Shiva. The God here came to be known as Ekambareswarar or "Lord of Mango Tree"

Kanchi Kailasanatha is a great example of a sandstone structure containing a large number of carvings, including half-animal deities popular in the Pavlava period.

On the way home, we also visited St Tomas Basilica, on behalf of our friend and fellow activist Tomas Els.  And soon afterward went looking for (and found) probably the only surfing spot on the Bay of Bengal (complete with a surf club).

To see those photos and more, click on: Thursday, Feb 6th, Mahabalipurum, India.

Wednesday, Feb 5th, Mahabalipuram, India

Greetings!

Since we only left the room to walk the thirty yards to our restaurant for meals yesterday, and swimming in the pool, posting our adventures seemed too boring.  We've been adjusting slowly to a sleep cycle that is approaching more normal, but still has big holes in it.

Today, an early and light breakfast (that's looking more like Indian) led us to meet up with Balu and Mani (our driver and guide), and we headed off to the Group of Monuments of Mahabalipurum.

These 6th and 7th century coastal carvings in diorite, granite and sandstone are a fusion of religion, culture, and legend relating to the Hindu religious pantheon.  There are ten major rathas (monolithic processional chariot-shaped temples), ten mandapas (cave temples with inscriptions in a number of languages), two rock bas-reliefs (one the largest in the world), and three structural temples.  Their development is attributed to a powerful dynasty (Pallava) which dominated southern India from 300 to 900 AD.

The structures are dedicated to Hindu figures, and the reliefs contain epic Hindu and cultural stories.  Lions hold up columns.  Deer, boars, monkeys, elephants, and creatures that are half-human, half-animal find their place in stone.

Mahabalipuram is also known as Mamallapuram, or "Wrestler's City", named for the skills of its 7th century Pallava dynasty king (Narasimha Varman I).  The port city is famous for its silk exports, and visitors (including Marco Polo) wrote of its 'seven pagoda" stone structures.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, Feb 5th, Mahabalipuram, India.

Monday, Feb 3rd, Mamallapuram, India

Greetings!

Friday through Sunday was consumed by a 17-hour flight from San Francisco to Singapore, a four-hour layover (including a 30-minute trek through the airport), and a four-hour flight to Chennai, India.  Plus, we crossed the International dateline, so welcome to Sunday morning.  Our driver (Balu) took us to the Ideal Beach Resort south of town, and we promptly fell asleep.

About 9am, we awoke only to have breakfast, survey the hotel and beach, and went back to sleep.  We woke up to read, have dinner, watch the Australian Open Tennis Tournament, monitor the score of the Super Bowl, and went back to sleep at the start of the fourth quarter thinking San Francisco was going to win.

And then the Chinese economy went sour and the 49ers lost.   Oh well, good to be on a beach in India.

Monday has been more leisure.  Learning to operate the room environment and equipment.  Improving the towels, pillows, hair dryer, refrigerator door, tv remote, wifi (I'm sure the staff is getting tired of their visits).  They did bring Pat a birthday cake, however.  We have ambitions of a swim in the pool and ocean.  I saw about ten dolphins cruising the shoreline yesterday. 

But we'll probably just relax and read.  We've got two months of adventurous days ahead of us, and we don't want to miss anything. 

To see the very few photos not on this page we took, click on Monday, Feb 3rd, Mamallapuram, India.