We are heading off tomorrow (Sunday) to a tiny four-bedroom place situated at the top of a ridge – and we anticipate no signal or wifi at all, given the reviews we’ve read (‘ideal place to switch off from modern life’ …). Given that all there is to do there is go for little walks and watch birds and the weather forecast – as today – is rain, we really will be switching off!
So I’m prepariing a little something for our loyal readers to be getting on with while we’re offline.
To continue with the Chettiars: they divided themselves into nine clans, each with its own temple dedicated to a different god. We understand from our guide that marriages were arranged across clans – presumably a way of preventing incest and/or strengthening ties across the clans.
We visited a couple of the clan temples though, as usual, were unable to take photos inside. The first was peaceful with nobody else around.
The second was crazily busy. It was dedicated to baby Ganesh (the elephant god) so people were rushing around with grass in their hands to give to the priests to give to the god. Some were also prostrating themselves without paying attention as to where they were lying and therefore ran the risk of being stepped on.
Outside the temple, a new car had been brought by its owner with a garland (presumably as a blessing for the car). While the owner was inside praying, the goat and the cow were outside eating:
The third temple was built into and on a massive rock requiring a steep climb:
The place was awash with pilgrims:
We decided not to brave the crush and the climb but wandered around and stumbled across two beautiful bulls – we were told they pull the chariot when the gods are paraded round town:
The chicken is for scale since it was too dangerous to send Sue in.
By the way, we learnt that there’s a popular sport in Madurai called bull hugging where people (ie young men) have to hold on to the bull’s hump for some minutes in order to win a prize. Seems more civilised than bull running let alone bull fighting.
We found one of the chariots in the street but we think humans do the pulling for this one (tuk-tuk and Sue for scale) rather than bulls:
Unusally there were stalls with stuff for sale and we couldn’t resist one of these beautiful but impractical baskets:
On the road, we stopped to admire the peacock tail-feathered structure that a small group of pilgrims were carrying. They had been walking for three days so far and were due to walk for another week – 170 km in total!
We have actually seen loads of pilgrims (always men) trailing along the side of the road doing the same thing, but hadn’t observed such a flashy religious object with them.
And now back to the horse temple. Ayannar is the main Tamil Nadu god who protects each village and acts as the rain maker. (Obviously our visit yesterday had an unseasonal effect given the rain today.) The Ayannar temples are usually in sacred woods and are surrounded by terracotta offeriings of horses, cows and elephants.
I was particularly pleased to learn that, as well as the usual elders and astrologers, the potters (who make the terracotta animals) are also involved in deciding the date of the annual festival. (I can imagine the conversation – ‘It’s a bit quiet now so we could make some animals if you like …’) And one last bit of information – they put a spot of hen’s blood between the eyes of the figure to give it life.
And finally – the tile makers. We were here in 2014 and went to visit some tile makers because the tiles in this area are famous throughout India. We were taken there again today. We were given a demonstration by a very nice man:
I showed him the earlier picture and he recognised the man instantly who was still there working!
We had stayed in another place and, when discussing it with our guide who used to work there, we mentioned the fierce old woman who ran the place. ‘Oh’ he said. ‘She is still there.’ I was surprised as she was pretty old when we were there. Our guide Shiva said ‘Well, she’s 97 now. I call that good going!
To end: since the grandfather and child photo of a previous blog was so popular, I couldn’t resist taking this elegant granddad exploring a Chettinad manion and acting as a bed at the same time:
Id forgotten the tile makers! They were great. I just loved the horse temple. All the horses have such different characters. It’s all a bit odd though as i think just about the only animal that isnt a god in some form or another is the horse. Hey ho! (Neigh ho?)
You’re right about the horses not being gods but I have a vague memory of some human form with a horse’s head? Probably not a god just some bystander – no idea really ( sadly, these things often slip away within seconds of being told them). The tilemaking was so skilled and the tiles very beautiful – my hope is that they have lots of business suppling all the renovated mansions.
Fantastic pics!
Thanks, Lex! M is really enjoying taking pics of her favourite subject and the new camera seems to be working a treat!
Delightful. Enjoy your time offline with walks and bird watching.
There were indeed walks and birdwatching – once the thick mist and rain that filled the valley had cleared. Lovely trees and flowers too ( suspect all this will figure in M’s next post).
Fantastic stuff – can’t resist commenting even if you’re offline. First, the chicken is doing its best but is a poor substitute for Sue-for-scale’s expressions. Second, there seem to be an awful lot of healthy looking super-agers throughout your blog and I’m beginning to think temple worship may be the magic key. Third, the road pilgrims seem alarmingly under-supplied – not even carrying water?
Well, I think the chicken does have a faintly anxious expression which I too would have in its position ( I mean, one of those bullocks only has to stretch and that chicken’s a goner). The pilgrims, it’s true, are all thin and lithe ( all that walking and prostrating) but the hotel we stayed in at Rameshwaram was full of people finding it a struggle to get from the lift to the buffet – a sort of Indian Lourdes we thought. And the water? No idea but they really do just carry one small bag
The bulls look magnificent and strong but I pity just the two of them having to pull that vast juggernaut – I hope there are others too!
Well, assuming the bullocks can make it to a standing position ( not a given, they looked very settled), they then pull a middling sized chariot ( don’t ask for dimensions please as I don’t know) but the really big chariot is pulled by dozens? Hundreds? Of bare chested men, hauling on ropes. There will, I’m sure, be drums.