19 JAN. Fri. Madurai. Street Scenes/Characters, Meenakshi Temple Part II

We spent more than 3 hours wandering around the temple perimeter, exploring the side streets and just generally people-watching.   

We had a bit of hassle with wannabe guides wanting to show us good viewing points for photographing the towers (including some golden ones which can't be seen from the ground) but we've been through this before .   You get access to rooftop areas but only via shops selling fabric, jewellery and carvings and we weren't in the mood for the hard sell.    They weren't too pushy though, saving themselves for when the tourist coaches arrived I guess.

Some general street scenes

Its an opportunity for the ladies to dress up and show off their finery.    For the men (who wish to enter the temple) legs must be covered so either the dhoti has to be worn as a long garment or they wear trousers.

The carriers work so very hard

The whole street was devoted to wholesale onion business

This one was full of small warehouses/storerooms full of grains and pulses

and this one different grades/sizes of garlic

I want one of these ....... not the charcoal iron, but the man who can do the ironing for me!

We stopped for sugarcane drinks from these two guys.       The sugarcane is crushed between the rollers a couple of times then folded over with pieces of lemon/lime and fresh ginger inside and crushed a couple more times and the juice is collected in a bowl underneath the press.    Its absolutely delicious and so refreshing when temperatures are in the 30s

We've had this before when small pieces of chilli have been crushed with the cane but I think I prefer this version

Another overloaded carrier

these two were taking a break in a side street and they called me across to photograph them

Well I have tons more photos but I'm bored now and I guess you are too.

We need to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to check out at 6.30am as the start of our
'story trail' walk is 7am.   Its 10pm and I need to organise my case ready for 'the off'   so am going to sign off now.

After our walk we drive to Chettinad ... more tomorrow (if we have internet there)

19 JAN Friday. Madurai - Meenakshi Temple (part I)

We wanted to revisit the colourful  Meenakshi Hindu Temple which is dedicated to Meenakshi who is a form of Parvati (Goddess of Fertility) and her consort Sundareswar, a form of Lord Shiva (death and Dissolution).   I don't know much about the Indian deities and their many incarnations but Ganesha (the elephant God - success, knowledge and wealth) is the son of Parvati and Shiva so they're all very important in the Hindu religion.

Madurai is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu (Chennai being the largest) and this temple town is a major attraction to devotees (and to tourists).

The four main temple towers (North, South, East and West) are absolutely covered in ornate, colourful figures.     Last time we were here in 2014 these were being repainted and there was a lot of scaffolding around the towers.   They are repainted periodically (Joshy thought every 5 years) so although there was no scaffolding this time the colours are very much faded/subdued.  It looks like they are due for a refurb. 

The main 'inner' temple area closes between 12 noon and 4pm and  we didn't go inside (lack of time) but cameras aren't allowed inside anyway out of deference to the devotees and we have visited it before. 

As with all temples you must remove shoes before entering.    These were left outside - we didn't actually get to see the owner but they obviously have a sense of humour

 
Its huge and impressive with lots of stalls selling 'tourist tat' but we were happy enough just wandering around the temple perimeter and surrounding streets with its abundance of market stalls, shops and small businesses.   I have made another post specifically to show pics of these.

On this page I'm just posting photos of the temple towers and walls.   They don't need any explanation (and I certainly don't know the significance of the figures depicted) so here they are:

Its very difficult to convey in photos how grand/tall these towers are

Some of the individual characters ... they are high up so difficult to get good close up shots

and some of the carvings adorning the top of the walls around the temple

and ........  David!

19TH JAN Fri. Madurai. Gandhi Museum

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

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.