Of temples, forgotten mansions and a two-Skooty day

Big dilemma: Travel north to see the Himalayas or explore more of  my home state Tamil Nadu, alive with ancient idols, the haunting remains of a 20th century civilization and cultural riches unknown to me six months ago?

In short, "I took the one less traveled by/and that has made all the difference." 

The oppressive April heat lent a delirious quality to my travels to Madurai, Karaikkudi and Thanjavur. The sun and humidity left me slightly stunned; a favorable state of mind for passing through Tamil  Nadu's porous boundaries between divinity and humanity, past and present, and worship and daily life.

The Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai is more like a cavernous community center than a house of worship.  Meenakshi (an avatar of Parvati) was born with three breasts, but one melted away when she met Shiva, her husband-to-be.

Loved the idea of the banana market - and the market, itself!

Outside the temple is the Puddhu Mandapa, a 16th century hall where dozens of tailors stitch away and vendors sell textiles, bangles, hair clips and such. This is not my personal tailor! He assigned the task to another who ran up a couple of tops for me in about three hours.  

Escher was here.  

In Madurai and across South India, impending marriages are announced on large, colorful posters plastered to walls next to film and political notices.

From Madurai to Chettinadu, a parched swath of  Tamil Nadu once home to the Chettiars, wealthy entrepreneurs who built thousands of extravagant mansions decorated with Japanese tiles, Burmese teak, Italian marble and Belgian chandeliers. World War II ruined the Chettiars, and they dissolved into the Tamil diaspora, leaving behind empty palaces and household treasures within. Untold mansions have been razed.


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 Rusty and in disrepair, the mansions that remain appear improbably in villages and towns. Some are still maintained for absent families by caretakers such as the man below, who, with his wife, hangs his laundry in a faded, still-grand courtyard.  

 


Mansion details:

     


  

   

  

   

More modest, newer homes across India would resemble giant concrete building blocks if it weren't for their defiantly cheerful facades. These are just a few details from houses in the Chettinadu region:

Yes, this is a house.  Evidently, the owners wanted to be as close as possible to a god; that is, Ganesh. 

Art deco  movie theater in Karaikkudi, in the heart of Chettinadu

What happened to the trove of vessels, keepsakes, icons, locks,  family portraits, kitchen utensils  and other treasures left behind in the mansions? Much of it has landed on a small street in Karaikkudi chockablock with antique stores. Here is one antique vendor, who works with his father. 

 Tiny treasures

  I bought this copper footprint; explained to me as a portable, designated place to pray if you can't make it to the temple.  (Footprint closeups below)

 

Skooty ride #1: The shopkeeper caught up with me and insisted on giving me a lift because it was too hot and too far to walk. 

Skooty ride #2:  Lakshmi is a lovely young artisan (with her mother below) and the youngest of a long line of hand-loom weavers based in Chettinad who make exquisite saris and scarves. I bought a thing or two or three, and Lakshmi gave me a lift to my hotel in the village of Kanadukathan. 

My southern sojourn ended in Thanjavur, where the remarkable Brihadishwara Temple was built between 1003 and 1010 by Rajaraja I (That's "king of kings" to you.)

Rajaraja loved a party and filled his temple with dancing girls, choreographers musicians and poets whose names are inscribed on the temple's walls. Hundreds of linga (phallic symbols representing the life force bestowed by major gods, such as Shiva.) and murals from a later dynasty. 

Pilgrims with their own drum section leaving the temple.  

Perhaps these are the names of the dancing girls? 

One of the temple's countless linga. (That's plural for lingam.)

Shiva dancing up life and death. 

Another mural, another lingam.