Our original plan was to start the day with an early walking tour but when I phoned to arrange it yesterday they were fully booked so we're now doing the tour tomorrow morning at 7am. I'm not sure if that's a good idea as its supposed to be an introduction to the area we've just spent a whole day exploring but I'm hoping the 'story teller' will be able to give us more insight into what we've actually seen today.
We headed off for the Gandhi Museum but had to take a quick snap of these schoolkids hanging on for dear life ... no health and safety issues here ...
We got to the museum to find it didn't open till 10am today so we had half an hour to kill. We left Joshy parking the car and took ourselves off for a little walk. We found a little backstreet with around 20 tiny houses and one of the ladies there was very proud to show us the new community toilet area and water pump. This is all part of the latest Govt scheme to improve hygiene standards for the masses, and to make a public show of where the tax money is being spent.
There was a tiny temple in the street with the inevitable small businesses that grow around them - food vendors, garland makers/sellers and other pedlars ... great for us we were away from the tourist strip and these people were happy to see us and they really wanted photos taken once they spotted the camera
one of the devotees ... it always amazes me how Indian people can sit comfortable like this for hours
making garlands as temple offerings to the gods
Peanuts/Ground Nuts seller
Taxi driver?
Even in this out-of-the-way backstreet the walls were beautifully painted with scenes for Indian life (or fairy stories probably)
There were lots more but many were obscured by parked vehicles or market stalls
These show a traditional 'sport' which is unique to the State of Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is a form of bull wrestling/subduing and takes place every January. After complaints from animal welfare charities the sport was banned but last year after week-long protests by Tamil Nadu people who say its a crucial part of their identity and culture authorities lifted the Supreme Court ban and it went ahead ... it will also take place this year.
A bull is released into a crowd of young male participants and their aim is to hang onto the hump on the bulls back and/or ride the bull until it tires and submits .. sometimes they also have to remove flags or tokens from the bulls sharpened horns.
The bulls aren't killed (but many young men are)
Anyway ....
This is the Gandhi Memorial Museum which is housed in Tamukkam Palace (built about 1670 A.D). In 1955 the palace was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (memorial trust to commemorate the life of Mahatma Gandhi) for the purpose of housing the Gandhi Memorial Museum. The Museum was inaugurated on 15 April 1959.
Not sure how clearly this shows up but it gives the history of the building
Some wise words from the man himself
The museum tells some of the history of India, the British rule and India's struggle to gain their freedom - humbling to learn about how terrible the 'colonial' rule was, particularly in the days of the East India Company rule from 1750s till 1857 when the Indian Rebellion led to the British Crown taking over (and weren't much better by all acounts). The exhibition is quite graphic in parts and they don't mince their words. Very sobering and very contrary to what I remember learning in History at School (we were obviously fed a very sanitised version)
It was almost a relief to reach the section dealing with Gandhi's life and role in gaining independence for his country.
Among the exhibits at the Museum is part of the blood-stained garment worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated, his trademark reading glasses and various other artefacts and an interesting letter written by Gandhi to Adolf Hitler addressing him as ‘Dear Friend’ and beseeching him to prevent another world war.
We headed off for the Gandhi Museum but had to take a quick snap of these schoolkids hanging on for dear life ... no health and safety issues here ...
We got to the museum to find it didn't open till 10am today so we had half an hour to kill. We left Joshy parking the car and took ourselves off for a little walk. We found a little backstreet with around 20 tiny houses and one of the ladies there was very proud to show us the new community toilet area and water pump. This is all part of the latest Govt scheme to improve hygiene standards for the masses, and to make a public show of where the tax money is being spent.
There was a tiny temple in the street with the inevitable small businesses that grow around them - food vendors, garland makers/sellers and other pedlars ... great for us we were away from the tourist strip and these people were happy to see us and they really wanted photos taken once they spotted the camera
one of the devotees ... it always amazes me how Indian people can sit comfortable like this for hours
making garlands as temple offerings to the gods
Fresh Vegetable seller
Peanuts/Ground Nuts seller
Taxi driver?
Even in this out-of-the-way backstreet the walls were beautifully painted with scenes for Indian life (or fairy stories probably)
There were lots more but many were obscured by parked vehicles or market stalls
These show a traditional 'sport' which is unique to the State of Tamil Nadu. Jallikattu is a form of bull wrestling/subduing and takes place every January. After complaints from animal welfare charities the sport was banned but last year after week-long protests by Tamil Nadu people who say its a crucial part of their identity and culture authorities lifted the Supreme Court ban and it went ahead ... it will also take place this year.
A bull is released into a crowd of young male participants and their aim is to hang onto the hump on the bulls back and/or ride the bull until it tires and submits .. sometimes they also have to remove flags or tokens from the bulls sharpened horns.
The bulls aren't killed (but many young men are)
Anyway ....
This is the Gandhi Memorial Museum which is housed in Tamukkam Palace (built about 1670 A.D). In 1955 the palace was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi (memorial trust to commemorate the life of Mahatma Gandhi) for the purpose of housing the Gandhi Memorial Museum. The Museum was inaugurated on 15 April 1959.
Not sure how clearly this shows up but it gives the history of the building
Some wise words from the man himself
The museum tells some of the history of India, the British rule and India's struggle to gain their freedom - humbling to learn about how terrible the 'colonial' rule was, particularly in the days of the East India Company rule from 1750s till 1857 when the Indian Rebellion led to the British Crown taking over (and weren't much better by all acounts). The exhibition is quite graphic in parts and they don't mince their words. Very sobering and very contrary to what I remember learning in History at School (we were obviously fed a very sanitised version)
It was almost a relief to reach the section dealing with Gandhi's life and role in gaining independence for his country.
Among the exhibits at the Museum is part of the blood-stained garment worn by Gandhi when he was assassinated, his trademark reading glasses and various other artefacts and an interesting letter written by Gandhi to Adolf Hitler addressing him as ‘Dear Friend’ and beseeching him to prevent another world war.
A busy day here. The temple is stunning, even if the colours are faded (although they looked pretty good to me). I love all the street scenes with the vendors selling their wares! The wall paintings are also superb but I'm not sure about the bull wrestling. The Gandhi museum looks interesting, do you know who assassinated him? Looking forward to your next adventure.
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