Had a quick trip recently: through the heartlands of Cholas at
Tanjore-Darasuram, the Chettiyar roots at Karaikudi, a whisker with Lanka at
Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi and a revel of the greatest contribution of the Pandyas
to mankind the Madurai Meenakshi temple. Was a full-fledged family trip of 5
adults 3 kids.
Chola dynasty is one
among the most evolved and long lived dynasties India has seen. During its existence
between 3rd century BC to 13th century AD – stretching
its empire from Maldives in
West to Malay in East and Srilanka in
South to Patna
in North in its peak – it left some remarkable legacies for many generations to
come. Tanjore-Darasuram is the heartland of Chola reminiscence with awe
strucking symbols like the Brahadeeswara
Temple or Airavateeswara Temple.
The night bus from Bangalore
(KPN is well connected across TN) got us in Tanjore at around 5am. It helped
that the bus stopped right in front of our hotel (Hotel Ramnath, ph 04362-226181,
next to new bus stand – A decent budget hotel, new and clean. It also has a
good veg-restaurant – Annapoorna – adjescent, serving wonderful masala dosas
and pooris. Overall recommendable).
Had a long day ahead – planned to cover Brahadeeswara
Temple, Palace, Royal Museum
and Saraswati Mahal Library in Tanjore and then off to Darasuram (~40 km) and
Swamimalai enroute. Have to leave for Karaikudi same night. As i was trying to
figure out for a cab, the manager of the hotel suggested that his brother is
running a cab and he'll ask him to assist us. I had my apprehension, hence
though I didn't refused the offer, tried to find one from outside just to realize
that there are no taxi stand near the bus stand... It turned out that the manager's
brother's (Tamilselvan) service was indeed good (9.30am to 8pm, 100+ Km,
Rs.1200 for non-a/c indica).
Kept aside some 2 hrs
for Brahadeeswara temple. But I soon realised, that was not enough... This is
not a place to have a quick look and leave. One need to revel every piece of it
to appreciate it – from a small design to each sculpture to each temple to the
complex as a whole... The magic starts right from the entry arches (two
arches), which befits the architectural marvels awaiting you inside. Don't miss
the intricate carvings on the large arches – it's as if the rocks have softened
it selves in the hands of those great sculptures to make such poetries. See it
to believe... As I crossed the arches and entered the temple campus, I felt a
blow of excitement seeing the large campus of temple architecture, in a bright
golden scheme, each piece is a marvel by itself. The very thought that how man
could make such profound symbols of art, culture and magic which could survive
a good 1000 years without much of a change itself is exhilarating. Without
doubt, Brahadeeswara
Temple is not just
another living temple, it straightaway takes us many centuries back, and one
can feel the liveliness the temple might have had during its peak. It is an
experience in itself.
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| First entrance to Brahadeeswara Temple |
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| Carvings in Brahadeeswara Temple |
Covered Tanjore palace and Saraswati Mahal Library in less than an
hour. Though, the Royal
Museum (all 3 in same
campus) timing was up to 1 pm (then 4-6 pm) for the first half, at 12.30pm we
could not find any one in the ticket counter and the entry door was closed.
While palace can be given a miss, Saraswati Mahal Library (no photography) has
some superb collection of very old palm leave manuscripts. Though the staff is
doing thier best to maintain things there, I personally doubt whether these
treasures are indeed preserved scientifically for the posterity. Had a quick
round of the State run craft centre in the campus where some Tanjore paintings
were spotted for sales.
At ~1 pm, Tamilselvan was eagerly waiting for us to ferry us to the
next destination, Swamimalai. He promptly ignored our suggestion that we should
have lunch before venturing further. Instead he advised there are good
restaurants on the way, which we soon realised as nothing short than a mirage.
The roads were just Ok. Whenever we remind, he keep consoling us that there is
a hotel in next 10 min, which never came... At around 2.15 we could spot a
small eatout near Thiruvalanjuli. The place was neat and may be since we were
almost smelling our belly smoke, the food was tasty.
Around 2.45 pm we reached Swamimalai. The temple (Lord Karthikeya) was
closed, but I guess we haven't lost anything much. The purpose of the visit was
to explore the Sthapathis (master craftmen of bronze castings) of Swamimalai.
They are a clan of bronze sculpturers – who are believed to be settled in
Swamimalai since the time of Raja Raja Cholan – still follows the 1000's of
years old lost-wax process. We assumed we could barge in to one of the many
Sthapathi families in the town and hope to see a live demo of bronze sculpture
making process. Surprisingly, we could not find any obvious sign of many such
activities. So we just enquired in one of the pan shops on “how to find a
Sthapathi”. We were incidentally standing right next to Devasenapathi/
Radhakrishna Sthapathi's residence and workshop. The genealogy of the
Sthapathi's are well documented by the Census of India, which is proudly
displayed in his office. He invited us to have a generous look at his workshop.
The process follows a simple methodology where first a wax model of the
sculpture is made. Later this model is well packed in clay (with a small hole
below) and dried to set. The whole pack is subjected to high temperature as a
result the wax melts and oozes out through the hole creating a void inside.
Melted bronze (or other metals or alloys) are poured back in to the clay void
and is allowed to set. Once ready, the outside clay is removed to get the
sculpture which is later polished and finished. The whole process may take a
few weeks. Impressed..., we ended up buying a couple of sculptures (Eg. A
medium size Nataraja cost us ~ Rs.4000. The same size was costing 25-40% higher
in shops in Tanjore/ Madurai
which we cross checked later).
Darasuram is close by. We reached in half an hour. This is another
UNESCO World Heritage Site, well preserved like the Brahadeeswara Temple
in Tanjore. The 1000 odd years flown by after it was constructed made the
surrounding land level raised slightly. Hence the temple is in fact a little
below the surface. Yet another example of the magical Chola architecture, the
temple has an amazing blend of stone art and mural paintings on its core
structure, which is a rarity. The Chole temple paintings are believed to be
drawn sing natural plant based colours during the construction of the structure
while the plastering is still wet. When
the plastering dries, the paintings are permanently etched on it. The
temple also has a stone Chariot wheel, but of course cannot match the grandeur
of the ones found in Konark or Hampi. We enjoyed the architectural feast for
about an hour.
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| Blend of stone art and mural paintings in Darasuram Airavateeswara temple |
It was 5.30 pm. We need to get back to Tanjore, scout for some Tanjore
paintings, which we could not do in the morning and before it is too late, need
to leave for Karaikudi where the night halt was planned. Just then a couple of
local weavers lured us to the fact that this belt is also known for its
excellent silk sarees. One of them, Venkatesan, was residing just next to the
temple compound, so we thought to have a look at it nevertheless. The large
loom was very much an integral part of their house itself and when we entered
the house his wife was weaving a beautiful saree in an inviting ruby shade.
Needless to say, we were bowled over instantly. In half an hour we left the
place with an inventory of 4 sarees (of price range of Rs.1500 - 4000).
7.30 pm is indeed too late a time to figure out Tanjore paintings in
Tanjore. To add our woes and surprise, when we enquired for “where to get
Tanjore paintings” in some of the petty and not so petty shops, the looks
clearly says that they are all hearing such a thing for the first time. After
some search we located a couple of big shops right opposite the Palace. Both
the places were very pricy. Determined, we kept our spirits up and suddenly spotted
a small Tanjore painting shop which was about to close. Venkatesh (Ph:
04362-279990) was patient enough to aid our selection, explained the process of
making these paintings and in fact shown us a couple of ones under making. More
than painting, Tanjore paintings are in fact crafted on plywood and canvas
using chalk powder, gum, stones, glass, metal, etc and of course paint. We
zeroed in to a couple of paintings and had a hard bargain. Armed with the
experience of Tanjore painting selection in the 2 big shops and the State craft
centre inside the palace, we knew for sure we got a good quality stuff and a
very decent price (a 15x10 inch cost us ~Rs.3700). I realised that the day has
made a deep hole (sort of an unplanned hole, except for the paintings) in my
pocket.
The mode of travel to Karaikudi was still not decided. As we
understood, there are not many direct buses to Karaikudi from Tanjore and
trains have odd timings. Weather was playing mischeif and time was odd, so we
decided to go by cab. We requested Tamilselvan; happy to serve, he agreed to
drop us in Karaikudi, a good 120 Km one way for ~Rs.2500. We had a quick bite
from Annapurna and started around 9 pm.
It proved to be a wise decision as the rains started shortly. The road
till Pudukottai (~70 Km from Tanjore) was good. But then on we could barely
make out what is road and what is not. The heavy downpour limited the visibility
as well. With great effort we reached Karaikudi at around 1 am. Though the
hotel receptionist (Vasu, Hotel
Nachiappa Palace,
ph no: 04565-230077) was sensible enough to keep telling us the route, we were
royally lost. One really good thing we found about TN is wherever you go, there
will always be someone in the road, at any time of the day. Even at that wee
hour, there was always someone to direct us in every junction. By 1.30 am we
are in front of the hotel, but still searching for it! The board is barely
visible as the hotel is in the first floor of local SBI branch. We were
completely put-off seeing the reception in first floor (may be a 10x10 ft
space, including a lift) as we were expecting some sizeable building going by
the name of the hotel. But the priority now is to just hit the bed. We reached
the first floor and found the whole setup pretty spacious. And whatever we
needed (neat room, clean bathrooms, working a/c, hot water, towels, soaps, even
a small pack of oil) was very much available in the room. I don’t think we can
get anything better in Karaikudi (and for such a budget rate ~Rs.800/room).
We all had a good sleep, woke up leisurely by some 9 am and got ready
by 10.30 am. We are yet to figure out what to do in Karaikudi. After a quick
brain-storming with Vasu we finalized our itinerary for the day – Kanadukathan
16 Km (Chettinad Palace, a Chettinad mansion, etc), Pillayarpatti Lord Ganesh
rock-cut temple, Athangudi 12 Km (tile factory), Kundrakudi Murugan Kovil (hill
temple) and RMR, an old textile house famous for Karaikudi cotton sarees, apart
from exploring some authentic Chettinad cuisine. Vasu said he will arrange a car
(Rs.1000 for indigo and the cab would be at our disposal for the day);
meanwhile we set out to catch some food from the nearby restaurant Arya Bhavan.
To our dismay we found that restaurants in Karaikudi will stop serving
breakfast by around 10 am. So satisfied ourselves with some buns and puffs from
a nearby bakery. By that time cab has come and we proceeded to have a quick
look at RMR before we set out for an early lunch (as once we move out for the
sightseeing, it will be difficult to get any decent food). RMR though old and
small, seems to be pretty much a landmark. They had authentic, quality stuff at
reasonable prices; for obvious reasons the ladies could not resist again; total
damage of about Rs.6000 for a handful of sarees, mostly intend for presenting
to others.
Then Friends Hotel
happened. Though unassuming, it stick true to the colours of Chettinad. It has
an open kitchen, good clean ambience and the food was of course awesome. We
tried mutton & chicken biriyani, meals, chicken chettinad dry. All were
good, though I would rate the mutton biriyani above others. But the highlight
was fish gola, which is a must try (we happened to find it, after the lunch,
smiling at us in their open kitchen).
After attaining Nirvana at Friends, by around 1.45 pm we are all set
for exploring Karaikudi. First stop was Chettinad Palace
(no entry) followed by a Chettinad mansion. The palace is majestic and well
maintained (atleast from outside). We tipped the old keeper (some Rs.200) of
the mansion to gain an entry inside. The mansion was huge, easily some
15-20,000 sq ft. The keeper guided us through all those colourful Chettinad and
porcelain tiles, heavily worked teak doors, windows and furniture, stained glass
ventilations, etc. Virtually every inch of the structure is filled with
something and everything is conceived big. What stand out after the half an
hour tour of the mansion is the heavy dose of colours and size.
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Chettinad palace
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Heavily loaded Chettinad mansion
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Athangudi is scattered with a lot of small scale tile
making units (calling them tile “factories” is a little stretch). We just
barged in to one such (Sri Ganapathy Tiles). The owner, Ramu, is into tile
making and sale of second hand furniture and artifacts from dismantled
Chettinad houses. We found 3-4 labourers busy in tile making and it seems they
are pretty used to visitors like us. Ingredients for Athangudi tiles is simple
– liquid colour (bright), cement powder, one plane glass sheet and mold. It is
a tile by tile production, no batch process or continuous production. After the
mold is pressed against the glass base, colours are poured in to the gaps. Once
the colour is set, cement powder is filled and a little water is sprinlged. The
whole thing along with the glass is then submerged in water for a couple of
weeks. Once matured, the glass is taken out carefully for re-use. Ramu also shown us
his impressive collection of old furnitures and artifacts for sale.
Off to Pillayarpatti. The temple is considered about 1500 yrears old.
The rock-cut nature of temple is not really obvious unless looked from the back
side. Be prepared to climb some 300 odd steps at Kundrakudi temple, which also
must be a 1000 year old. By this time, the excitement of seeing a millennia old
structures has become a routine.
Decided to have dinner from Bengala, the most famous address in
Karaikudi. It is a mansion-turned heritage hotel. We reached there by 7 pm only
to be informed that food will be prepared only on advance order. So we were
promptly back to Friends for dinner. Gulped down Rs.1000 worth of dosas,
Chettinad chicken curry, kothuporotta (avoidable) and curry porotta.
We have covered Karaikudi more or less. Hence decided to catch the
convenient passenger train next day @ 8.30 am to Rameswaram and had a good
sleep.
The railway station
was about 4 Km. This time we were determined to have breakfast from Arya
Bhavan. Yesterday’s cab was called for to drop us at the station, which he did
for Rs.200. We had some 5 hrs in hand and the train was to at all crowded. By
the time we reached Pamban bridge, I’ve completed Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist. The
train must be travelling at less than 20 Km/ Hr on the bridge. One side we saw
the remains of the old bridge which was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone. On the
other side is the elevated road bridge on which there was a bit of a crowd to
see our train crossing the 2.5 Km bridge. The view of the sea was breathtaking
with the gentle drizzle and cold winds to add to the feel of the moment.
We checked in at hotel Hare Rama Hare Krishna (Ph: 04573-223111;
Rs.2500/ room) at around 1.30 pm. The place is really old and not that clean to
our satisfaction. Even the bathrooms were a bit stained and the rooms crammed.
It is a livable place, but not recommendable. The only advantage being its
proximity to the Rameswaram temple. As we were not that confident about their
lunch we opted for the restaurant of Senthil Andavar nearby, which was decent
enough. By around 4 pm went to the temple, my parents wanted to do
bali-darpanam for the ancestors. Since we were in the West gate of the temple,
we crossed it across to the East gate (main entrance of the temple), beyond
which is the Agni Teertham. It is sea front and there is facility to have a dip
in the sea. There was a battalion of priests sitting to do the bali pooja @ of
Rs.500 per head. It is an instant affair which will get over in about 30 min,
post which we have to enter the temple to purify ourselves with the waters of
22 sacred wells inside the temple. A footwear room is available just outside
the entrance (free). There are a lot of external assistants available for a fee
to guide us for the sacred bath, but the entire mechanism is well oiled so no
assistance is required. There is a designated queue at the entrance for the
bath and the fee is Rs.25 per head. Once we enter the queue, just go along; it covers
all the 22 wells in numerical order and there are temple staff at all wells who
will fetch water and will pour on you. We are allowed to carry fresh cloths and
there is a change room inside the temple. The whole process took about 1 hour.
We had a relaxed spent inside the temple for some time.
The evening was generally relaxed, so we went for a walk across the
town. Rameshwaram island is one of the oldest towns in TN with over 2000 years
of recorded history. It still is a pretty small town centered around the
temple, with severe drinking water and other infrastructure impediments.
It was raining and
the night was surprisingly cold for a sea side place. Woke up next day early to
go to Danushkodi. The old Willys jeep
came exactly at 8.30 am (Rs.1300 to and fro) and we are off for the lands-end,
some 25 Kms away. The road is up to some 15 kms after which it is only sand
with one side Indian Ocean (Laccadive Sea) and the other side a calmer Bay
of Bengal. Though there were heavy rains enroute, by the time we
started the sandy routes, it was down to drizzling. The jeep had extra gears
(4x4) to push through the sand and the driver was careful to travel on the tyre
marks left by other jeeps. It is important to carry sufficient drinking water
as you will find only other tourists in these places. The drive to Danushkodi
and the place itself was a remarkable experience. The whole area comes under Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park.
The land is reasonably un-spoilt with substantial marine bird population. It is
definitely a bird-watcher’s paradise. It is not just beaches alone, there is
some marshy land and stretches of shrubs which makes it ideal environment for
birds to prey. Shortly we reached the land’s end, where the mighty Indian Ocean
meets the Bay of Bengal. Far away we could see
small islands packed with birds. The very thought that after many such islands
and not far away is another nation, Srilanka, was enthralling. Somewhere I’ve
read that a few thousand years’ back the Rameswaram island was connected to the
Mannar islands in Srilanka and the whole thing was a long tombolo. The rain
gods were in favour; we thoroughly enjoyed the 45 min stay there, hopping
between Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal!
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Between the seas…
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Marine migratory birds…
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The ghost town of Dhanushkodi presents some picturesque sites. Every
were one could see frozen life – an abandoned old church, remains of railway
station, skeleton of roads, broken schools and odd Victorian street lights. But
I could only imagine what would those unfortunate souls of the now dead town
might have gone through on that fateful day in 1964. On the way back to
Rameswaram town, we touched upon Kothandaramar temple, in the middle of the sea
connected by a causeway somewhat similar to the Haji Ali in Mumbai (but,
drivable).
It is not wise to experiment on food in Rameswaram (It is an old
temple town completely interlaced with the Ramayana; do not any anticipate
luxury. Everything available including food will be basic and no assurity of
quality. We found a lot of houseflies around). So we sticked to Senthil Andavar
for lunch.
We have to shelve our plans to visit Kurusadi island (a marine biosphere with lots of
marine life like coral, dolphins, etc) as it is pretty far from Rameswaram
(some 25 Km including 5 Km of boat ride from Mandapam. We were told that it
requires prior permission from the fisheries department, boats will not be
readily available and the tourist infrastructure (like snorkeling) is absent.
Moreover, the weather was not conducive and time was not in favour.
Our train to Madurai
was at 5.30 pm and we have to check out of the hotel by 1.30 pm. So we had a
deal with one of those large autorikshaws plying to take us around the town
while having all our luggage loaded and finally to drop us in railway station
(Rs.300). We have given ourselves about 2 hours within which we covered
Gandhamathan Parvatham (highest point in the island & Ramarpatham temple),
Jadayu theertham, Sugreeva theertham, five faced Hanuman temple, Bhadrakaili
Amman temple, TV tower (supposed to be the highest in India), etc. The
five-faced Hanuman temple has an interesting display of “floating stones”; the
story goes that Rama and his monkey warriors built Ramasethu using these
stones. I was guessing these stones would be pumice, but it looked more like
dead corals.
By 4.30 pm we were at the railway station. The flies almost covered
us, hence despite a bit of hunger and temptation to have some masala vadas
displayed for sale, we contained it and waited patiently waiting for the doors
of the train to be opened. The train left the station on dot, and unfortunately
I dozed off soon just to miss the pamban bridge.
At 9 pm Madurai is buzzing with
action. We reached Hotel Vijaya (0452-2336321) near the Periyar bus stand in an
auto (Rs.40). Had a quick dinner of kothuporotta and egg-dosa from a very shady
restaurant just opposite the hotel. Next day around 9.30 am we walk to the Madurai temple (some 1
Km). Since we had enough time, we decided to stand in the free queue (other
options are Rs.20 and Rs.100 per head queues). But soon we realized that we are
not heading anywhere, we took the Rs.20 pass and switched the queue. After
about an hour, we are inside the Minakshi’s abode. There is an elevated pathway
in side the shrine so that everyone gets a view of the idol without much
push-pull. The same process repeated for the Shiva’s shrine as well. By the
time we are through with sharing all our woes to the gods, it was 12.25 pm. The
entry to the thousand pillar hall (inside the complex itself, just outside the
Shiva shrine) closes by 12.30 pm, hence we ran to the counter. Once in, we got
some half an hour to spend. The hall has a magnificent Nataraja delightfully
lit apart from various artifacts from the Chola and Pandya periods. By 1.30 pm
we were out.
Murugan Idly Shop
(Opp Pothys, near the temple. Pothys can definitely give competition to the Minakshi
temple itself in terms of the crowd) and Janakiraman (Tamil Selvam Road) are two landmarks no
traveler to Madurai
should miss. Had an elaborate lunch at MIS with multiple round of butter dosa,
plain dosa, idly… toped up with a heavy
duty jigartanda (a mix of cream milk shake, nuts and many other items) [Tip: At
MIS, be prepared for a waiting time of 30 minutes minimum… and when you finally
get the chance, accept the fact that someone will be standing near you looking
at your leaf plate, impatiently waiting for you to finish. To enjoy meal at MIS
one need to develop that skill to be oblivious to ones surrounding; not a
difficult task to develop since it comes naturally once you have the first
bite…]. We had lots of time since the return bus to Bangalore was at 9 pm from the near by
Periyar bus stand (KPN). So after the heavy meal had a siesta till evening. The
only target in mind for the evening was Janakiraman, which again was pretty
close. We just asked the friendly waiter what they serve the best. Without even
a blink, he suggested to try mutton biriyani and mutton fry which we promptly
obliged to. I’m an uncorrupted non-vegetarian, but not so biased towards
mutton. But then at Janakiraman, mutton attains divine standards. After pushing
down 2 biriyanis, I could not wait for the a/c sleeper bus to Bangalore arrive.
Next day at 6.30 am we were back to the mundane
