A couple of weeks ago, my friend Erin and I went to Valluvar Kottam to see an exhibition of crafts and textiles from around India. I didn't have an address for the place, but I was told it was pretty well known, so Erin and I hopped in the car and told Ashok, "To Valluvar Kottam!" He took us straight there. This is one reason (among many) that I love having a driver. I expected to be taken to some kind of exhibition hall, which I was, but before entering the hall Erin and I stood with jaws agape looking at this enormous monument.
It's hard to give you an idea of the scale, but this thing is enormous. So naturally we asked Ashok (who seems to know everyone and everywhere in Chennai) to explain. His explanation: "It's a big thing because of a big man. Looking. Looking. His name is there."
So Ashok is wonderful, but not perfect. After looking, looking we saw that it's a monument to a famous Tamil poet named Thiruvalluvar, who wrote epic poems 2,000 years ago. The monument is meant to be a temple chariot, and there's a life-size statue of the poet inside. The history to this place constantly amazes me. Tamil culture has been around for thousands of years, and in many ways it hasn't changed much.
After standing in awe of Thiruvalluvar and his monument, we went inside the exhibition hall and saw traditional crafts and textiles from around the country. I was too busy deciding what to buy to take any photos ... sorry. There were a lot of jewelry, fabrics, and paintings. I came away with an amazing set of hammered brass bells from Gujarat. I'll post a photo of them once we get a stand.
Being married to a musician makes this kind of purchase an ordeal. I can never walk up and just buy a bell or a windchime or a drum. We've got to listen to every one of them and decide which has the best tone or whatever. So when I found these bells (I heard them from across the room, actually), I called John and the artist and I played too many bells to count for him over the cell phone. John picked out four. Then we had a three-way negotiation for the price, with John on the phone, me at the stall, and the artist pleading his case. This attracted a large and highly amused crowd. In the end, I walked out with the four bells carefully wrapped and my wallet considerably lighter. John assures me that it was a great deal, though.
So Valluvar Kottam gets two thumbs up from me.
It's hard to give you an idea of the scale, but this thing is enormous. So naturally we asked Ashok (who seems to know everyone and everywhere in Chennai) to explain. His explanation: "It's a big thing because of a big man. Looking. Looking. His name is there."
So Ashok is wonderful, but not perfect. After looking, looking we saw that it's a monument to a famous Tamil poet named Thiruvalluvar, who wrote epic poems 2,000 years ago. The monument is meant to be a temple chariot, and there's a life-size statue of the poet inside. The history to this place constantly amazes me. Tamil culture has been around for thousands of years, and in many ways it hasn't changed much.
After standing in awe of Thiruvalluvar and his monument, we went inside the exhibition hall and saw traditional crafts and textiles from around the country. I was too busy deciding what to buy to take any photos ... sorry. There were a lot of jewelry, fabrics, and paintings. I came away with an amazing set of hammered brass bells from Gujarat. I'll post a photo of them once we get a stand.
Being married to a musician makes this kind of purchase an ordeal. I can never walk up and just buy a bell or a windchime or a drum. We've got to listen to every one of them and decide which has the best tone or whatever. So when I found these bells (I heard them from across the room, actually), I called John and the artist and I played too many bells to count for him over the cell phone. John picked out four. Then we had a three-way negotiation for the price, with John on the phone, me at the stall, and the artist pleading his case. This attracted a large and highly amused crowd. In the end, I walked out with the four bells carefully wrapped and my wallet considerably lighter. John assures me that it was a great deal, though.
So Valluvar Kottam gets two thumbs up from me.
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