Escape to Kanchipuram

Since arriving in Chennai, John and I have tried to attract visitors by waxing poetic about India's beauty and relative political calm. Totally safe, we said. Chennai's a sleepy backwater. Nothing ever happens here, we said. Everyone is friendly and wonderful, we said.

 

Then India had to go and prove us wrong.

 

That Friday started out well. John gave us a tour over at the Consulate, and then we met Dr. Gita Arjun, the director of obstetrics and gynecology at a local women's hospital. She gave us a tour of her medical center, which was really interesting. Dr. Gita clearly has a passion for educating Indian women about health during pregnancy and in general. I was glad Kathy had asked to see something in the medical field, because I never would have come across this place on my own. My medical experiences in Chennai have so far been confined to the emergency room at Apollo Children's Hospital, and while the doctors have been great, I sincerely hope I never see the place again.

 

We were heading home from the medical center when John called to tell us that the Consulate was being evacuated. This was the beginning of almost a full week of anti-American demonstrations in the area around the Consulate. I've written more about it here. Did I say Chennai was totally calm, a sleepy backwater, that nothing happens here? Whoops!

 

We spent the rest of Friday hunkered down at home, getting text and radio updates on the protest, which turned out to be more violent than anyone had expected.

 

Regional security gave us the go-ahead to spend the next day in Kanchipuram, a temple town a couple of hours southwest of Chennai, so off we went to find solace in the silk. There were more, larger protests around the Consulate that day, but in Kanchipuram it was business as usual, though I did hear a few comments about those crazy protesters stirring up trouble.

 

Did I say that everyone in India is friendly and wonderful? Well, almost everyone. We ran into a couple of nutters that day, the first being a little old lady at the Kamakshi Amman Temple who was either going to bless us (for money, of course) or kill us. More on her in a moment.

 

The temple elephant that stands at the main gate at Kamakshi Amman is always beautifully decorated, and on this day her handler was not as grumpy as usual.

 







 

This temple is known for its golden vimana, the tower directly over the central shrine. I took this photo from the temple tank, site of our forced blessing. The little old lady was not going to be ignored. When she couldn't get our attention in any other way, she grabbed Aly's wrist and forced some puffed rice into her hands. Then she touched each of us on the chest (not letting go of the wrist) and said something that I sincerely hope was not a curse. Then she told us to throw the puffed rice into the temple tank, and then she asked for money. Naturally. I did consider tossing her into the tank along with the puffed rice, but since that would probably be frowned upon I went ahead and gave her some money.

Luckily, most people in India really are friendly and wonderful, and we met a group of them shortly after we left the little old lady of the puffed rice. It was all smiles and photos and practicing English.

Our last stop at Kamakshi Amman was the wishing tree, where we found these wooden cradles tied by women hoping for children ...

 

... and these stacks of rocks left by people hoping for prosperity or a new home.

Our next stop was Sri Ekambaranathar Temple, where we met the second nutter of the day. We saw the temple tank ...

... and the outer hall in peace ...

... and then we tried to enter the rest of the temple. I know I'm allowed in, because I've been there before and because there are signs all over the place telling me that I'm allowed in and that it's free, but that second nutter I mentioned was barring our way. He kept telling us that we couldn't go in unless we paid some crazy amount of money and let him guide us around. Gah! I'm trying to show off how awesome India is, and you're ruining it!

The guy would not leave me alone, so I called Ashok in for some Tamil muscle. Ashok threatened to report the guy to tourism authorities (whoever they are) and he finally left us alone. Have I mentioned how much I love having Ashok around?

Unfortunately, I was so ruffled by Mr. Give Me Your Money that I had a hard time enjoying the visit, which is too bad because on our last trip to Kanchi I thought it was the most fascinating of the temples we saw. Sri Ekambaranathar is huge, and you can just feel the history of it as you wander the stone halls.

In one of the courtyards stands this sacred mango tree, which has four large branches representing the four Vedas. Last time I was here we were able to circle the tree along with the Hindu pilgrims, but they wouldn't allow it this time.

A view of a gopuram from the mango tree courtyard.

 

Mom and Aly sporting tikka marks after being blessed by the priest at the dancing Shiva shrine.

 



 

Here we are outside Sri Ekambaranathar. The jasmine around our necks reminds me of some of the other friendly, wonderful Indians we met. We bought the jasmine from a woman outside the Kamakshi Amman temple near where we left our shoes. Both the jasmine seller and the shoe guard charged us exactly what they'd charge the locals, which doesn't sound like anything incredible ... but it is.

Our last morning stop was the ancient Kailasanatha Temple, which dates to the 7th century. It's a working temple but it's very small, so it doesn't have the bustle of the other Kanchi temples and feels more like an archealogical site.

Part of the temple has been restored, but I think the new bits look a little too  ... plaster-ish. I prefer the old, weathered stone.

I like this one of Dad ...

This photo really shows the contrast between the ancient stonework and the new bits.

You can see some of the original painting throughout the temple.

Notice the flower petals someone has placed at this carving ...

I'm posting a ton of photos of Kailasanatha because I'm terrible at editing myself. I just love the details at this site, though.

 

That was our last temple stop of the day, since the temples close down at noon (because it's too hot to walk on the stones until later in the evening). We had a nice lunch at Saravana Bhavan ... masala dosa ... mmmm ... and then headed over to a silk shop. Woot! More on that in the next post.