Marvelous Madurai

We have put our trust firmly with Param today. He had organised a tour with a local man called Vijay. We had to meet him at 6 in the morning, which felt inhuman. I had very low expectations but it was a well considered plan. Although Madurai is the city that never sleeps, there are tines which are relatively quieter,so walking around is easier. Also there are only certain things you can see at this time of day. A 2 and a half hour trip on foot!

When we left the hotel it was still dark.

We followed Vijay down a labyrinth of passageways, favoured as locations for Bollywood films.

As it was so early in the morning, the women of the houses were already out. Washing the front entrances to their houses.

Pulli kolam is a ubiquitous art form in south India. Kolams are a symbol of auspiciousness. It is Hindu belief that that the geometrical patterns and designs applied with rice flour at the entrance to a home, invites Goddess Lakshmi into the household, and drives away the evil spirits. It is mostly practised widely in Tamilnadu.

I kept thinking that the local women must have competitions and the best get to do the ones outside the temples.

As we turned the corner we were greeted with a vision of a man, milking his cow in the narrow built up passageway. It was quite surreal. Cows are sacred, so they are not killed. The male ones are shipped off to work on the farms. Calves are kept with mothers. Milk collected in large metal containers, then cycle or walk round, ringing a bell to let people know that they are there.

I really enjoyed giving the calf a bit of a stroke.

As we left this quiet passageway we entered the hustle and bustle of the fruit and vegetable market.

It was so busy and everyone smiled and didn’t seem to mind our interest. I saw one man balancing a large basket on his head. We caught each other’s eye, he started showing off, moving his arms and legs up and down. All the while keeping the basket perfectly balanced.

He was so funny!

Vijay was really good at pointing things out in an engaging way.

Madurai is built round a large temple. Enormous! Covered in scaffolding. Every 12 years it is erected round the temple, painted again, which takes 2 years.

Closer to the temple are stalls selling yellow paste from large blocks.

This yellow paste is primarily tumeric paste (Pasupu or Haldi), often mixed with water, lime, or sandalwood to form a thick paste for rituals. It is considered sacred, auspicious, and therapeutic, used for applying on the forehead (tilak) or offering to deities to invoke health and prosperity. The owners put some sandalwood oil onto the palms of our hands which smelt divine.

Definitely smelling better than we had done moments earlier, we proceeded to the onion market. A street lined both sides with onions, carefully categorised by class.

There were also a few selling various varieties of garlic and one stallholder gave us a bulb each. It was odd seeing one vegetable sold over such a wide area. But then we went to the banana market and that was even huger.

Vijay said that they are stored behind the stallholders in a pitch black storeroom. A small fire is started, the bananas go in green and come out yellow.

After a two hour walk, Vijay treated us to a small breakfast of masala dosa, really buttery and crispy. As well as coffee,served in metal, so really hot. You get a little bowl and a beaker, both metal and pour from one to another to cool it down.

I was making a mess of it, so the waiter stepped in expertly showing me how it should be done.

As we were leaving the restaurant, another religious procession passed us by.

On the way back to the hotel Param was very keen on taking us to a statue of Pennycuick. So keen in fact that he went down a one way road the wrong way. Param has said repeatedly that Pennycuick is seen as a god in this part of India.

He was an engineer employed by the British Army. When funds ran out and the British Government refused any more money, he famously sold his house in England to complete the Mullaperiyar Dam. Revered to this day as the dam allowed the irrigation of 100,000 of land. So farmers see him as a god for this reason. Every year there is a celebration of his birthday and Parman told us that Pennycuick’s descendants still attend after all these years. Later in the day it was good to know that not all the British were monsters.

Returning to the hotel we partook in breakfast number 2, meeting with Parman later in the day.

Creamy oatmeal, fruit, a cheeky do nut, and an even crispier, more buttery masala dosa.

We had a break for a few hours and caught up with the Indian soap opera. Which all seem very slapstick.

Our first stop with Param was to the Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, a 17th century palace. With 20 metre pillars and and enormous courtyard, it felt like a film set.

Our next stop was Gandhi’s museum. After that a temple. We had a discussion with Param and said we would like to go to the temple of shopping. He said that was fine but we should end our day with him by being delivered to two rickshaws drivers.

The Gandhi Museum was closed for refurbishment but we were able to see a temporary picture gallery of the growth of the Gandhian movement. As well as a mock up of the simple house he used to live in. Some of his ashes are also there and we were also able to go to this contemplative area.

It was difficult reading about, in some way being part of what happened. I felt shame to be honest.