Temples of Tamil Nadu (3): Thanjavur to Madurai

Itinerary (1)
Chennai to Thanjavur (2)

Brihadeshwar temple

As we continued to drive south along the state, the scale and grandness of the temples increased. Thanjavur was a revelation, its Chola heritage on full display at the two Brihadeswar temples. And Rameswaram and Madurai temples were even grander in their splendour.


Day 5: Kumbakonam and Gangaikonda Cholapuram

Kumbeshwar temple

Our first day in Thanjavur was a temple day and we spent it in Kumbakonam, and then Gangaikonda Cholapuram. In the morning, we visited Kumbakonam, the town of temples, a 30 mins drive away. It had so many temples (in the thousands apparently), it was tough to figure out which to visit and which not. Each temple has its own followership and manyata, and most people come there annually to visit their family temple.

Mahaut at temple

We first went to the Kumbeshwar temple which was thankfully not crazy busy. It had beautiful gates on all sides. The queue for darshan was also relatively short. They even had an elephant with its mahout along the corridor, which kept the children entertained. After a quick visit, we tried to walk to the next temple but it was tough to walk without slippers.

Mahamaham tank

So we came back, wore our shoes and walked to the famous Mahamaham tank. But its temple was closed by then, as were all the other temples as it was afternoon time already. So we just walked into town to eat and drink. It seemed like a small town but still had thousands of temples.

Next we drove to Cholapuram, 60 mins away. Gangaikonda Cholapuram was the capital of the Chola kingdom in the 11th century. I wanted to explore the place for Chola history but wasn't able to. I researched where to see Chola ruins but they aren’t easily accessible. It looks like there aren't a lot of surviving monuments from the Chola period except the Brihadeshwar temple. We even tried to see if we could spend time around the historical Chola lake but there were no restaurants or even a path to walk around. We couldn't find any information on how to explore the area either. I was definitely quite disappointed with the tourism part of the experience here.

Gangaikonda temple

In the end we just drove to the temple and spent our entire afternoon there, waiting for it to open. It was a grand monument in yellow, with carvings everywhere. All around was a huge complex and the gardens were green and well maintained. There were many smaller temples within the complex too. It was full of people spending the afternoon there, and we did the same. We walked around admiring the carvings, the sculptures and architecture. 

Once the doors of the temple opened, we tried getting in for darshan, but seeing the crowds, we gave up. Later we were able to get in from a side entrance for a quick darshan. The shivling there was huge and impressive. And I felt it had some unexplainable power to it. It reminded me of the shivling at the Halebidu temple of Karnataka.

Sculptures

Other than that, we spent the whole afternoon and evening, just walking around and admiring this beautiful place. At sunset, the colours of the stone were even prettier. What an architectural marvel it is, in the middle of nowhere.

After spending a lot of time at the temple, we drove back to Thanjavur. Today, we had dinner at Ariya Bhavan, which again served tasty food and very quick service. The town felt quite simple too with some museums and historical places to see. There were many churches and mosques everywhere too.

Finding a hotel to stay in Thanjavur had been tough. There were no good 4-5 star hotels in or around Thanjavur. We found some resort kind of places on the outskirts but they were all booked out already. The other option was to stay far off in Trichy, but that would have been inconvenient. In the end, we booked the one option we found in Thanjavur, the Hyders Mahal Palace and Hotel. We were apprehensive about it but in the end the experience turned out to be interesting but fine. 

It was located in the city but on a main road. So it was easy to get to without having to drive on trafficked roads. All around it was green forested area, which was quite welcome. It also turned out to be a completely new hotel. So everything was brand new. So new that many things were still unopened. Like the mattress still had the plastic cover on it and we had to ask the guys to remove it before we could sleep on it 😆. The switches all still had plastic on it. So we did have some teething troubles.

Also, the manager and the other guys didn't know how to run the hotel - we had to ask them for everything. Cups in the room, toiletries, and so on. It was funny actually, us telling them how they need to host guests. They were very friendly and helpful except they didn't know much 😂. Either way, the quality of the hotel amenities was new and good, so it turned out fine.

Also they had a guard from Nepal who spoke Hindi. It felt like such a welcome change that someone could understand our language. As most people we interacted with till now did not speak any English either and no Hindi anyways. So communication had been tough. But it was so much easier here that we could explain what we needed. Language is such a big part of the experience travelling anywhere I think.


Day 6: Thanjavur

We took the next day easy, spending all our time in Thanjavur city itself. We saw the Brihadeshwar temple in the morning, the Thanjavur Palace in the afternoon and then went back to Brihadeshwar temple at night. It was a relaxed day, and I was very happy we spent so much time at the Brihadeshwar temple, it was just fabulous.

First view

We had seen the top of the temple a few times while driving towards our hotel, as it was close to the main road. Still seeing it up close was a different experience altogether. Nothing prepares you for what you feel when you approach it. It is majestic, it is grand, it is spectacular, it's an architectural marvel.

Brihadeshwar temple

All around the temple is a canal and a moat. And some remnants of a fort, though the temple is the main surviving structure from the Chola times. You walk in through three intricately carved gates. And are greeted by a huge statue of Nandi and then a covered platform, with the main temple behind it all. All around the complex are pillared halls. And there are many other small temples in the complex, which were built by later kings, including the Marathas who were the last rulers in Thanjavur.

Sculptures

The sculptures everywhere are just outstanding - so intricate, so fresh, so grand - most of them based on mythological stories. There are carvings everywhere and thousands of different figures all around. And there are inscriptions along the pillared halls on the sides. There are also hundreds of shivlings in those pillared halls.

It was just such a pleasure to explore it all. We spent a few hours walking around, taking it all in. The crowds there were crazy though, long queues for everything. We did manage to get a quick darshan of the deity. For me though, it was the architecture of the temple which was just outstanding. This was my favourite temple on this trip along with the Chidambaram temple.

Sculptures

Sculptures

After spending some time here, we went to Thanjavur Maratha Palace which was the home of the Maratha kings who ruled Thanjavur much after the Cholas. It had a few museums, a darbar hall, an old antiques library and housed the famous Chola bronzes. It was a great place but run down and not well maintained. The museums had barely anything - random things left behind by the kings. And they all had separate tickets to get in.

Thanjavur Palace

The Saraswati library was outstanding though, it had old palm leaf scriptures, some so small and delicately written that it was difficult to even imagine how they were made. There were a few painted books which were very old. And many other rare manuscripts from the Maratha kings’ collections. This display was really wow. I loved it. The Chola bronzes were also quite impressive. There was a room with dozens of Nataraja statues and they all looked lovely. The darbar hall was closed though which is also supposed to be impressive. There was also an AV show, showcasing Thanjavur and its cultural heritage, which was very good. 

Overall though, the palace was very badly maintained. Everything was broken. Also I realised, people fight so much here. And loudly. We saw 3 fights between the organisers and tourists that day - in the Brihadeshwar temple, at the ticket counter for the palace museums and in the restaurant when there was a long queue.

Temple at night

We went for a nap in in the afternoon, and then went to the Brihadeshwar temple again, to see it during sunset. We were expecting fewer crowds but that didn't happen! The temple looked sparkling in the lighting though, as stunning as in the morning.

Inscriptions on the walls

We went out to town in the evening. It was so quiet. We also had orange coconut water for the first time. For dinner, we went to a very different type of restaurant, the Abhirami Bhavan. The menu focused on a different variety of dosa - the ghee roast dosa. It was so spicy and yummy though heavy. It was also so cheap! Three of us ate for just Rs. 300. Interestingly, they called a person from UP who worked next door to talk to us to take our order in Hindi 😆. He used to sell Chinese food next door. 

After dinner, we decided to explore the market a bit. We saw many artificial gold jewellery shops selling very good jewellery. The designs were nice and almost felt real gold. It's the first time we got to see them, I was impressed. Other than that, we wanted to look at and buy the famous Thanjavur paintings but somehow did not get time for it. As we had a long day the next day, we called it a night soon.


Day 7: Rameswaram

Today was one of the longest days of our trip. We had not originally planned to visit Rameswaram, but later added it to our itinerary. So we drove about 6-7 hours till there, visited the temple and Dhanushkodi beach and then drove another 3 hours to reach Madurai very late at night.

We left early around 8 am and chose to drive by the sea, instead of on the new highways. That was a mistake I think. We didn't see much of the coast at all. We stopped at the Manora fort on the way which is supposed to be a scenic watch tower. The restaurant and garden next to it were closed and there was nothing to do there. It was also a bit dirty and not well maintained. 

The area on both sides of the roads was fully inhabited. There was a lot of greenery, sometimes forested and lots of time with rice fields. Sometimes we saw the sea and beaches, but mostly it felt like an inland drive. And somehow, there wasn’t a lot of beauty around.

Pamban bridge

On the way to Rameswaram, we crossed the Pamban bridge over the sea which was fun to cross. Many cars just stopped on the bridge to take a look! From there, it looked like Rameswaram island had some turquoise water beaches. We also passed by APJ Kalam’s memorial. He belonged to this island, and his home was also on the way.

Our first stop on the island was Dhanushkodi beach. But it was tough to get there as the traffic that day was a nightmare. Cars were just stuck everywhere. We somehow got through it and drove the 25 kms along the narrow stretch of the land. The whole drive was through green mangroves and backwaters or sandy beaches all around. There were a few temples on the sides too. On the way, there was a village called Dhanushkodi which had so many food shops. But it was mostly destroyed during a cyclone in the past. And now it only had kuccha huts. But there was a lot of plastic on the seaside and that spoilt the experience for me.

At the end of the road is a lighthouse. It was so crowded, we stopped early and just walked a bit along the coast. Both sides had huge boulders along the sea. And completely different seas. One side of the road was the Bay of Bengal with huge waves, the other side was the Indian Ocean which was calm. We saw the sunset there, it was nice. We then drove back and stopped at a beach on the way, which was pretty and less crowded. I wish we had enough time to swim in the water. But because of the traffic, we had wasted a lot of time already. It was so crowded everywhere, I felt there is no point visiting this place in the peak season.

Ramanathaswamy temple

We then drove back and visited the Ramanathaswamy temple in the evening. It is one of the 4 dhams of India and located right next to the sea. It had 4 gopurams all around. We did a VIP darshan, of all the deities in the temple. We saw the famed longest temple corridor of the world, with its 1212 pillars, the painted roof and columns. But somehow, the experience felt a bit underwhelming, maybe because they were VIP darshan without all the waiting which is also part of the process?

Longest temple corridor

For dinner, we stopped at a town called Ramnathpuram, at Bheemas. The rest of the drive was on highways and we didn't mind as it was at night. We reached our hotel in Madurai, Gateway Madurai very late at night, though we could already see how awesome it was. It was located on a hilltop, with bungalows in the old colonial style, surrounded by greenery all around. 



Day 8: Madurai

View of Madurai

We finally experienced our hotel in the morning and it was fabulous. From the hotel, we had a 180 degrees view of the town below, and it was so scenic. Interestingly, we could also hear everything from down below, including loudspeaker music from the temples! We could even see the Meenakshi temple gopuram from there. And the whole morning, there was fog hanging around the city which made it look almost magical.

After a lazy morning, we went for a VIP darshan to the Meenakshi temple. I loved the experience there, it felt better planned and less chaotic than the other temples. We got off from our cars a bit earlier and then walked to the temple. The area all around it was a pedestrian zone with no cars and very well managed. It was quite empty with lots of space to walk. I really liked the crowd management here.

Inside the temple, the huge sculptures on the pillars and the walls were just amazing. And there were so many of them, everywhere. We walked through all the corridors, doing all the darshans (again VIP darshan). We also saw the 1000 pillar hall, the temple tank and the museum.

There is a Shiva and Parvati shrine in side the temple, and each night the Shiva deity is taken to Parvati’s shrine. The shivling here also felt like it had some divine energy. This was the first temple where I finally felt some peace and quiet, a sense of spirituality. I really liked being here. I must commend the temple management for making it possible, given the huge crowds coming in daily. Interestingly, no phones were allowed inside which is great as there are no distractions. There was a lot of renovation going on though which hid parts of the temple. Still it was a lovely experience.

View from poolside

After the temple, we walked to one of the nearby saree shops, Pothys, and spent some time shopping there. We came back to our hotel in the afternoon and explored the hotel. It was a spread out property located on top of a hill with a view of the whole town below. It was apparently the home of the British owners of one of the mills in the area and was very luxurious. There were many bungalows for residents, all surrounded by greenery. When I was swimming, there were some 10-15 peacocks walking around the pool. And the view of the town from the poolside was stunning. We could even see a faraway lake and sunset beyond it.

In the evening, we went for dinner into town, to Sree Sabarees. It wasn't as good as the other places we had gone to. After dinner, we checked out a few more shops. We wanted to check out some local sarees in the city but did not get a chance to do that. Overall, I liked Madurai town. The traffic wasn’t chaotic and felt quite well managed. And the city felt like a slow, well planned place.


Day 9: Back to Delhi

The last day was short of course. We enjoyed the hotel as much as we could in the morning, then left for the airport. The road to the airport was quite bad and the airport was quite small, though convenient.


Looking back on the trip, I think I absolutely loved the temple architecture I experienced. It’s something I haven't seen in other parts of the country. But I did feel overwhelmed by the omnipresence of religion around. And the overall unwelcome and unfriendly behaviour for tourists dampened my overall experience.

Temples of Tamil Nadu (2): Chennai to Thanjavur

Itinerary (1)

Rock cut Pallava temples

Different parts of Tamil Nadu have been ruled by different kings with their own culture and architectural styles. The Cholas were based in Thanjavur, and ruled from the 9th to the 13th century CE. The Pallavas developed Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram and their temples from the 4th to the 9th century CE. And the Pandyas built the temples of Madurai, ruling in the state on and off from 3rd century BCE to the 14th century CE.

Because of all these different empires, the temples in different regions vary somewhat. And during our travels, we got a chance to explore and appreciate some of these different temple styles.


Day 1: Chennai

On our first day, we landed at Chennai airport from Delhi. We didn’t do much touristy stuff that day though. We just went saree shopping in the city and then drove to Mahabalipuram where we were staying for the next three nights.

Chennai airport felt quite old unlike the shinier airports of Bangalore and Delhi. We found our driver in the parking lot and then we were off. We drove to Ranganathan Street in T. Nagar area, in the older part of town. There were many huge saree showrooms there. We first walked into Kumaran which had about 3-4 football sized floors displaying all kinds of sarees. However, the people there did not seem very interested in selling - there was no salesmanship and we were quite underwhelmed. So we went to RMKV and Nallis after and bought a few sarees from there.

Tamil Nadu is saree heaven! Women in the state wear sarees regularly and the state is home to many regional weaves. There are many types of cottons, like Coimbatore cotton (or silk), Kovai Cora cotton, Chettinad cotton (also known as Kandaangi), Chinnalapatti cotton, Dindigul cotton, Thousand Butta cotton and Kanchi cotton. There are many varieties of silk sarees too like Kanchipuram silk, Konrad silk (temple design from Arni), Rasipuram silk (also known as Salem silk), Thirubuvanam silk (from Kumbakonam) and Thanjavur silk. There are also some other traditional styles like the Kodalikarrupur sarees which are very rare now. And Madurai has its very own Sungudi cotton weave.

I checked out a few of these types of sarees in the shops. And I am sure, there is a lot more to see than in my list. Still, it was such a pleasure to learn about them and try to figure out the differences. There are many shops to go to. The large retail chains like Nalli, Pothys, RMKV, Kanakavalli and Chennai silks are popular. For a more premium experience, one can go to exclusive stores like Sundari silks, Tulsi silks. Hayagrivas silks, Palam silks, Srinivasa silks and Rasi silks.

After the tiring saree shopping, our driver took us to a local eating place, Geetham and we were impressed. First of all, one had to specify whether they want to go to a veg or a non-veg restaurant before going there - that was important! But either way, the food was outstanding. The dosas were so tasty, the food cheap and the service extremely quick and efficient. We enjoyed the experience. And this became the norm going forward.

The weather in Chennai didn't feel as hot as I had expected, it was quite comfortable. The city felt relaxed and slow. There was a lot of greenery around. And like other typical Indian cities, metro construction was going on 😂. There were hundreds of temples, everywhere. I also noticed that nothing was written in Hindi anywhere, at all. It did feel weird in the beginning, but felt normal over the next few days. And the city was so disciplined! Everyone just drove calmly and properly, definitely a different experience after having just landed from Delhi. 

After the shopping, we drove towards Mahabalipuram, on the East Coast Road (ECR) which apparently runs all the way till Kanyakumari. There was construction all along the road, and we could not see the sea from there at all. Didn’t really feel like a coastal road 😂. The drive was quick and comfortable though, took us less than 2 hours.

Four Points

Our hotel - Four Points by Sheraton, Mahabalipuram - was lovely. It has small villas surrounded by trees everywhere. It had a huge pool and there were hammocks everywhere to relax. You could walk around within the huge hotel compound itself. The hotel was outside of town, in the midst of rural greenery. Everyday in the evening, there was a sea breeze which made the weather quite pleasant. As it was December, it was fully lighted up too. Overall it was very quiet and had a very relaxed resort-ey vibe to it.


Day 2: Kanchipuram

We did a day trip to Kanchipuram and was I impressed by all it had to offer! Kanchipuram was a city built by the Pallavas and was their capital from the 4th to the 9th century CE. It is known as the “City of a thousand temples”, though we got to see only three of them. And it's also famous for its stunning Kanjeevaram sarees, a true display of skill and art! The Kanchi Matha is also one of the seven sacred spots or sapta puri of Hinduism and a prestigious seat of Hindu learning. It just has so much history and culture to offer. We went to a few temples and did saree shopping. I wasn’t aware we could visit the Matha though, would have loved to go there too.

The drive from Mahabalipuram to Kanchipuram was through green areas, and took us about 2.5 hours. Kanchipuram town felt like a bustling place, after the calmness of Mahabalipuram outskirts. It felt like an old city with its narrow roads. But surprisingly, it didn't feel chaotic. While driving in the city, we passed by so many temples, I could now believe there were 1000+ temples in town. There were carved statues on the roads too. We also encountered loads of buses taking groups of pilgrims (mostly women) to temples. And many of these buses were quite colourful and loud. Seeing so many tourist buses with pilgrims was definitely a new sight for me.

Kailasanathar temple sculptures

We first went to the Kailasanathar temple, which is supposedly the oldest surviving temple from 7-8th century CE and not an active temple now. The architecture and sculptures there were quite rich, and there was a sense of quiet and calmness there. Inside the temple, there was a very narrow tunnel that one can choose to crawl through for attaining moksha. We didn’t walk through it though. We then drove to the next temple, and realised that temples in Tamil Nadu close in the afternoons! This one was closed from 1230 pm to 430 pm. That was a bit of a surprise for us as we had no clue!

As we had time now, we drove to A.S. Babu Sah, a shop someone had suggested we go to (and which was marketed all over town). When driving there, many people tried to divert us to some other shops too. At A.S. Babu, we had to leave our shoes outside before entering. And when we walked in, we were in for a shock!

It was an enormous wholesale shop with four floors, each selling a different type and range of sarees (though only from Kanchipuram). One floor for cottons, one for cotton-silk, one for silks less than Rs. 10,000 and the fourth floor for expensive silk sarees. Each floor had sales people who spoke multiple languages (hindi, english, tamil, telugu, kannada, malayalam, gujarati and more). And based on what language you spoke, a salesperson would approach you, put a bedsheet on the floor and then start showing you hundreds of sarees within your range. Till you get exhausted!

The number of designs they had were unlimited. All around, the shelves were stacked with sarees. It was also very loud and there was so much chaos all around. It was maddening. The processes were all streamlined though, working like a well oiled machine. And there were so many people, families from different states, many in big groups, buying sarees in bulk for weddings. It was lovely to see all the saree designs, but so tough to choose from! So we spent a few hours there, while waiting for the temples to open.

Ekambareswarar gate

After one burst of saree shopping, we left to visit the Ekambareswarar temple, one of the Pancha Bhoota temples of Shivji. We went there at 430pm when it was about to open again, but were shocked by the number of people waiting to get in! We avoided the crowd and went in 15 mins later. It felt more normal then. Still we encountered a long queue for the darshan. You could get VIP (faster) darshan though by paying Rs. 100.

Ekambareswarar tank

I walked around the vast complex (it’s 25 acres!), admiring its many beautifully adorned gates and the hall with the 1000 pillars. There was also a water tank in the complex. The temple has multiple gopurams, whose reflections look ethereal in the waters of the pond. There is an ancient mango tree there which I could not find. I also saw some women at one side wearing the same coloured sarees (yellow and green), dancing (in a style similar to garba) and singing bhajans. My guess is they were pilgrims from the same sect and following some specific rituals. We also saw loads of women in red sarees, all coming in the pilgrim buses we had seen earlier. I think there was some traditional pilgrimage happening at that time of the year.

Kamakshi Amman temple

We then walked to another nearby temple, the Kamakshi Amman Temple which had a water tank within the complex and a stunning view at sunset. It was still closed though, as different temples have different opening and closing times! So we walked around, and seeing the queue of people sitting in line, we ate prasad, sat there for a while and then went back to saree shopping 😍. There were some more famous temples to visit in town, like the Varadharaja Perumal temple and the Vaikuntha Perumal temple but as we were short on time, we skipped those.

I was quite surprised to see how temples were different here than what had I experienced before. Most of the women wore sarees in the temples while the men mostly wore dhotis. And that the pujaris put ash on the forehead of the devotees, that was new for me.

After a few more hours spent shopping for sarees (we spent a total of 6 hours in the shop!), we finally ate food at another ‘veg restaurant’, the Adyar Anand Bhavan. While we were eating, girls wearing bharatnatyam costumes just walked in for dinner after a performance. It was nice to see girls walking around in such traditional clothes. After a tasty meal, and with our hearts (and shopping bags) full, we drove back late at night to Mahabalipuram.

The drive back was quicker, taking us just 1.5 hours. On the way, we saw lots of churches decorated for Christmas as it was close to Christmas time. The churches were gaudily decorated with flashy lights - I had never seen churches decorated so brightly before. Also, the driving felt so non-chaotic and relaxed. People even gave signals on the highways when overtaking someone! That felt so different from North India.


Day 3: Mahabalipuram

Rock cut hill faces

We spent one whole day exploring Mahabalipuram, though I must say I found it less impressive than Kanchipuram, which had a lot more to see and explore. Mahabalipuram is located next to the sea and for people from Chennai, is a kind of a weekend seaside getaway as it is cooler than the city. It was a major port from Pallava times from the 7th century AD, and also has a huge complex of rock cut temples near the sea which are quite impressive. In the morning, we explored those places, then tried to visit a nearby beach. In the afternoon, we went back to our hotel for an afternoon nap. And in the evening, we again went to the Shore temple to enjoy the Dance Festival.

Pancha Ratha

The whole Mahabalipuram temple complex is spread out near the sea and has a lot to see. There was a combined ticket for the whole area. We first drove to the Pancha Rathas, where there are five monuments named after the Pandavas and Draupadi.

The Shore Temple

Then we drove to the Shore Temple which is a historic Pallava temple surrounded by the sea on three sides. It’s a beautiful temple built in Pallava style of architecture. And in front of it, is a courtyard with hundreds of Nandi statues all around. On both sides of the temple is the beach but it wasn't very inviting. On one side, there were thousands of small shops crowded with people (I think it may have been a religious mela going on at that time) and even getting to the beach would have been tough. On the other side, it was rocky and didn’t look too clean.

Hill-top temple

From there, we walked towards the other group of temples inside the temple complex. There were just so many small and big temples, most of them within 5-10 mins walking from each other. There were hilltop temples, small shivs temples, viharas with sculpted pillars, temples cut into the hill faces and so on.

Viharas

They were all so intricately carved, so impressive. The famous lighthouse on the way also had a panoramic view of the sea and greenery around. It was raining that day though, so that tempered our experience. Also, the school holidays had started, and there were crowds everywhere. It was crazy. But overall, I loved these old magnificent temples.

Sadras beach

It was tough to get out of the complex though given all the crazy traffic on the roads. Somehow we got out and then thought of going to a local beach. We found one on Google, in Sadras village, called the Sadras beach. The beach was nice but there was nothing to do there. No facilities, no changing rooms, no place to sit, nothing. Just some fisherman with their boats going out to sea. And the ruins of a Dutch fort. There were too many waves in the water as it was a very windy day. Everything made it tough to swim there, so we didn’t. (I should have made a note to myself to not listen to Google anymore too 😜).

Dance festival

We went back to our hotel for an afternoon nap, and then came back to the Shore Temple. In the evening, there was a week long Dance Festival being held in front of the temple in the open air. We saw a few folk and bharatnatyam performances there. It was just so nice to be out in the open with the sea breeze blowing - the whole atmosphere was so pleasant. We walked to the temple again, it looked so serene, lighted up at night amid the sounds of the waves on the beaches around. It was so beautiful, we enjoyed our evening out a lot.


Day 4: Pondicherry and Chidambaram

After Mahabalipuram, our next stay was in Thanjavur, the old Chola capital. It was a long day of driving till there, at least 6 hours. So we broke up the driving by stopping at two places on the way. First was Pondicherry, which was a bit of a let down as it was too crowded for us to enjoy its serenity and calmness. The second was the famous Nataraja temple of Chidambaram, which was a dream. I loved it.

The route from Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry is also along the East Coast Road but there was no coast to see again 😂. The roads were far from the coast. We did see a lot of waterbodies and backwaters there though. And all along there was a lot of greenery, including many mango orchards. The houses around were colourful and we drove by loads of temples on the way. But overall, it wasn't really too scenic a drive.

Alamparai fort

We took one detour on the way and stopped by a random fort next to the sea. It was the Alamparai fort, located next to a fishing village, with a beautiful backwater beach next to it. It was a 17th century fort, but in ruins now. The walls were so thick and the beach there had such clean water with no waves. It was so calm, I loved it. It would be a beautiful place to host corporate events in the evenings. While driving back from there, we bought local coconut oil from a village on the way.

In Pondicherry, we first visited Auroville which was a bit of a mess to get to as Google Maps was taking us through small forest roads. We followed it for a while, through orchards and huge bungalows on both sides. But then we chickened out seeing the narrow barely there road and drove back to take the main but longer route. It was also narrow, with loads of traffic but at least there was a road. We were impressed with the number of fancy cafes on the way though.

We didn’t know the philosophy or what to expect in Auroville. Apparently it is an experimental township inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and has attracted many people from India and abroad. People visit Auroville to learning more about this philosophy. And when visiting, most people visit the Matrimandir (the meditation centre).

The Matrimandir

Auroville from the inside was huge with lots of green space and had loads of activities going on. Apparently for entering the Matrimandir hall you need to register a few days before. Otherwise if you turn up on the day, you can take a walk and view Matrimandir from afar.

So we decided to walk there. And the walk was weird. The path took us through things like an artificial zoo! There were a few boards explaining the philosophy of the place. I didn’t find any of it interesting though. Even the Matrimandir, (which you can only see from far) was not that impressive. I didn't understand the concept of this place and why people visit it. We could have definitely avoided it - it felt like a total waste of time and effort.

Temples on the way

After that, we drove to Pondicherry town. It felt more like a Tamil town than an ex-French place. We had lunch at Meenakshi veg restaurant right in front of which was another temple. And enjoyed the food.

Streets of Whitetown

After that, we drove to Whitetown, the old French part of town. We mostly walked through the old streets with their pastel coloured houses, all along the sea. It had a very European feel to it, tree lined streets with two storey coloured houses around. It would have been beautiful in the past.

I walked along the Rue Dumas and Rue Romain Rolland. Then by some parks and old churches. And some cute cafes. The whole area was a pedestrian only zone and easy to walk along. But with the crazy end of year crowds, it wasn't as fun as I expected. A bit underwhelming actually. I could see the potential of its charm, but didn't feel it really.

Pondicherry Waterfront

We then walked on the waterfront, which had a rocky beach and didn't feel that inviting either. We walked past the Gandhi statue and went into a shilp mela with handicrafts from different states. It was the most interesting place we saw in Pondicherry 😂. Not really impressed, we left soon enough. Our next stop was the Chidambaram temple in the town of Chidambaram. And all along the way, we drove by loads of decorated churches.

Chidambaram city was a bit tough to get into. The roads were all clogged with traffic. We also passed by tourist buses with women dancing inside. At one point, we just got out of the car and walked to the temple. And what a majestic experience it was.

Pillars in the temple

The Chidambaram temple is a huge complex, surrounded by a huge water tank and with pillared halls and many smaller temples around. The main temple was just massive. It has four main gopurams and thousands of sculptures and pillars everywhere. It felt like such a spectacular architectural marvel built of solid rock which has stood its ground for centuries.

We walked inside with awe. There was a festival going on - the Brahmotsav - so there were hundreds of priests chanting mantras. Everything was lighted up, inside and outside. We saw the Nataraja moorti but from so far, it looked different from how I had imagined it to be. The temple is also said to be the home of bharatnatyam. Then we saw some bharatnatyam performances being done by children. It felt so different from North Indian temples - rock solid, with no bells, no water anywhere. Everywhere, there was just so much energy, it was infectious. There were also a lot of crowds inside. But somehow everything still felt spiritual. 

Chidambaram gate

On the outside too, there were people everywhere. The temple gates decorated with colourful statues stood as guardians to this stunning temple. The water tank was huge and reflected the lights from the gopurams. But I felt a strange calmness even though it was filled with thousands of people. It did have a power to it. An energy which I can’t explain.

Chidambaram temple tank

We had dinner at Adyar Anand Bhavan which was the first place we ate at, where the food was not that tasty. And then we drove to Thanjavur all the way at night. When we reached Thanjavur, it felt so empty. It also felt like a smaller town than the others. 

There were a few more places to see on this drive but we didn't have time. I was fascinated with Tranquebar, an old Danish fort along the sea. But we couldn’t go there. It had been a long day anyways, with 8 hours of driving, and 7 hours of visiting places. Also, I had been excited about Pondicherry but it was a disappointment. Maybe it had more to do with the time of the year and the crowds than the place? Maybe my experience would be different at a different time? But I loved the Chidambaram temple, totally. 

Temples of Tamil Nadu (1): Itinerary

I had lived in Tamil Nadu for a year in 1987-88 when we had toured some places around. But since then, I somehow never got a chance to revisit the place. So last year, we spent a week travelling and exploring the state. We criss-crossed across, visiting a few historical towns, doing darshan in temples, shopping for sarees and stopping at a few of the beaches. Overall, I was amazed by the outstanding temple architecture and the deeply embedded presence of religion in daily life in the state. I have somehow never experienced it so much anywhere else. I was also quite struck by the distance between north and south India, both physically and metaphorically.


Itinerary

Our overall holiday was for about 8 days and 8 nights, with stays at the following locations:
Day 1 - 3: Land in Chennai, drive to Mahabalipuram (2 hours); 3 nights stay in Mahabalipuram at Four Points by Sheraton, Mahabalipuram
Day 4 - 6: Drive to Thanjavur (via Chidambaram temple and Pondicherry, 6 hours); 3 nights stay in Thanjavur at Hyders Mahal and Hotel
Day 7 - 8: Drive to Madurai (via Rameswaram, 7-8 hours); 2 nights stay at Taj Gateway Madurai


The detailed itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Land in Chennai, saree shopping at Ranganathan Street (in T. Nagar), drive to Mahabalipuram (2 hours) (Potential stops to add to the itinerary: visit to Kapaleeshwarar Temple (Mylapore, Chennai), classical performances at Kalakshetra or Narada Gana Sabha and visit to Chennai beach)

Day 2: Day trip to Kanchipuram (2.5 hours one way), visit to Ekambareshwarar Temple, Kailasanathar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple, and kanjeevaram saree shopping at AS Babu Sah (Other places to add to itinerary: Varadharaja Perumal temple, Vaikuntha Perumal temple, and Kanchi Matha)

Day 3: Exploring the rock-cut temples of Mahabalipuram - Shore Temple and Pancha Rathas, visit to Sadras beach and dance festival at night by the Shore Temple

Day 4: Drive to Thanjavur (6 hours), visit Pondicherry and the Chidambaram Nataraja temple on the way (Other places to add to the itinerary: Tranquebar)

Day 5: Visit Kumbakonam temples (30 mins one way) (Kumbeshwarar and Mahamaham Tank) and Chola Brihadeshwar temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram (60 mins one way)

Day 6: Visit Brihadeshwar Temple and Thanjavur Maratha Palace in Thanjavur

Day 7: Drive to Madurai via Rameswaram (7-8 hours); visit Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi beach

Day 8: Visit Meenakshi Amman Temple and saree shopping in Madurai

Day 9: Fly back to Delhi


In the end we visited about 9 temples on this trip, while one other was closed by the time we reached. Ekambareshwarar Temple, Kailasanathar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple (closed) in Kanchipuram; Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram temple in Chidambaram, Kumbeshwarar temple in Kumbakonam, Brihadeshwar temple in Cholapuram, Brihadeshwar temple in Thanjavur, Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram and Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai. If someone wants, they can visit hundreds more, they just need to plan their days better as most of the temples close in the afternoon.

Other than these, there is no dearth of ancient ruins and regions to visit in Tamil Nadu. One can also visit the Chettinad region (near Karaikudi) for its heritage, haveli architecture and cuisine, Kanyakumari and Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum, and so on. If we just had the time.


Map

Learning the Dutch way of life (2)

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Dutch way of life: Part 1

Work to live

I can talk about this for hours. Work life for the Dutch is like a different world altogether. Of course, my view is based on what I have seen and may be somewhat limited. But I was still amazed by it.

Summer evenings

I used to joke, ‘for the Dutch there is life and all the hobbies they want to pursue; in between when they have time, they work’ 😂. Or at least it felt like that. On the whole, most people 

prioritise their personal lives a lot more than in other cultures I have seen. Most people don't work long hours, are ok with taking a pay cut or slower career growth to have a better life, take long holidays and somehow did not seem to take their work as seriously as I was used to before. In fact, many times I felt that a lot of people finished their hours in office, and just left work at the workplace, not really going the extra mile (and hours) to make it better.

Taking breaks for personal tasks - going to see the doctor, getting a vaccine, shopping for household goods, getting haircuts, doing christmas shopping, meeting friends for lunch, doing child duties and so on - during the workday was quite normal. And somehow no one seemed to make up for that by working extra hours later. It was just acceptable to take time for personal things whenever needed. Of course, there were exceptions, but this way of working seemed to be the norm. (I noticed a lot more about the work culture in the Netherlands but would prefer not to list it all. Suffice to say, it was shocking for me to see this way of working).

Fall in the canals

For the rest, I loved that they did not believe much in hierarchy. In fact, I stopped saying the word ‘boss’ in the Netherlands, and started using the word ‘manager’ instead. People took a lot of holidays and were not embarrassed about it. Sabbaticals were very common. Part time work was very common. I loved experiencing all these ways to make work more flexible.

The rules around work life in the Netherlands also supported this way of working. A huge majority of the population works part time, with four days a week being much more common and acceptable than in the UK. Mental health is prioritised and mental health leave is quite common, where, in cases of work stress or burnout, an employee can get up to two years off, to recover from work related stress. The unemployment benefits are also quite generous here (I heard the government pays up to 70% of the last drawn salary in case of job loss, but haven’t confirmed it).

Lights at night

I also noticed something surprising. The Dutch keep their work and private life very separate. Going out for drinks and dinner with their colleagues is not as common as the Thursday evening work drinks in London. Overall, it was quite a journey for me to get used to the way of working in the Netherlands. But it was definitely a nice experience to be able to prioritise my personal life enough too.


Keeping things in line

The Dutch like rules and order. Most people make all their plans including social plans three months in advance (and I am not exaggerating!). In fact, all these plans are added to their calendars, and it’s close to impossible to find a free slot to meet someone closer to the day - they just flatly refuse, that I have no time! Eventually, I had to do the same and my calendar would also get booked in advance. Which is inevitable as if you don’t do that, you won't be able to be a part of the local calendar. Also, tickets for events and even restaurants get all booked out early. So planning in advance is the only option.

Amstel Park

The downside of course was when my Indian friends would visit Amsterdam and let me know only a few days in advance, it was tough even for me to find time to meet them 😂. This was also very different from Indian culture where even on the day, people are not ready to commit to meet 😂. London is a happy medium, we make plans one or two weeks in advance which feels a lot easier to manage.

Overall, there were benefits to having an organised life. People would always turn up, and on time - it was helpful. Some parts of it were funny too. If someone sent a dinner invitation from say 5-8 pm, at 8 pm, people would just get up and start leaving (I saw this happen so many times at office events and drinks!). It was really funny to notice this the first few times.

Sunny evenings

There were downsides to all this organised life too. I felt it was tough for the Dutch to accept last minute changes to plans. Of course it happened, but I always sensed a kind of discomfort when that was discussed. Breaking rules or changing plans once decided was tough for most. I have also heard stories about guests being asked to leave as it was time for their hosts’ dinner 😂. Imagine my shock when compared to India, where being invited at 5 pm means people can turn up at 8 pm and stay for as long as they wanted 😂. It was tough for me to straddle these different worlds.


Being direct

The Dutch are known to be very direct in their communication style, and that is quite true. They don't hold back what they think. And this is taught to them since childhood; to ask questions, be curious, and share their opinions. I however thought that what is called directness sometimes borders on rudeness, as there is a fine line between the two. Having lived in London for so long, I do value politeness and I found the Dutch way of communication could be a bit more considerate of other people than it currently is.

Summer views

Still it is quite commendable to see the level of honesty in the people, and the country. The Dutch are more open and accepting of their colonial history, the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and its role in the historical slave trade, than other European countries I have visited. I noticed this on my visits to the museums in Amsterdam.

In the exhibits, there were many paintings showcasing the colonial history of the country, with paintings portraying the lives of the people in the colonies more positively than it actually was. All such exhibits had explanatory notes posted next to them, accepting and highlighting the colonial past of the country, including some of the wrongs done by them. I respected them more for not whitewashing their entire history - it is commendable for a country to accept the realities of its past, accept the mistakes and move on.

Museumplein

The Dutch also question historical traditions quite often, discuss them openly and look for solutions. Another example of this is the traditional character of Black Piet which used to accompany Sinterklaas, the original Dutch Santa Claus. There have been discussions on him for years, how it made fun of the African people and their culture. And so they are increasingly being replaced by Sooty Piet.

I am not sure if it is linked to the directness or the practicality of the Dutch, but they are not known for expressing their emotions much. (I am not making it up, it has been confirmed by the insta content creators again 😂). They don't generally express a lot of joy and excitement about things, their reactions almost feel dry and flat. Initially, I had a tough time figuring out whether my team was happy or excited about events or not. Their reactions felt so emotionless sometimes, almost like the Nordics. Thankfully when I saw other insta creators face the same challenges, I realised it wasn’t just me who felt this way! And I just learnt to deal with it. They do love cosiness though, known as 'gezellig'. It's a term mentioned so many times, it becomes a part of the local experience.


Driven by language

Summer time

I think I can go on for hours about the Dutch language. It is a tough language to learn, apparently with more exceptions to the rule than rules being followed 😂. Though it is the pronunciation that is just so hard to get right. It takes a long time to even hear the difference say, between the ‘oo’, ‘ou’, ‘uu’ and other similar combinations - speaking is a different matter altogether.

And interestingly, for the Dutch, if you say what you think is the right way to say something, but it isn’t, they just won't get it. The minor differences sound so much more different to them than to the untrained ear. Try asking someone for directions to the Van Gogh museum or telling someone that you visited Scheveningen or the Keukenhof Gardens. If you don’t get the pronunciation right, they will just not understand it, at all! Even if both ways of saying may sound the same to you 😂.

Beauty in the fall

Other than the pronunciation, there were also some words or phrases used in the Netherlands which surprised me a bit and took some time to get used to. For example, I always had to double check if the next week meant the current ongoing week or the next one 😂. Quite often my colleagues would use the terms 'week 18' or 'week 35' in discussions, a way of referring to weeks in the year that I had never come across before moving to the Netherlands. Also, when someone said 'the afternoon', they meant the time between 2 pm and 6 pm, very strictly! I was used to using the word 'evening' for any time after 4 pm, but that wasn’t allowed in the Netherlands 😂.

The translation of Dutch to English sometimes led to specific phrases being used differently than the English I was used to. Terms like ‘father of my wife’, instead of ‘my wife’s father’; ‘make a photo’ instead of take a photo’; ’ do sports, instead of ‘play sports’; pronouncing ‘ideas’ as ‘id’ - all this took time to get used to.

Nights in the fall

Also, the way the language is structured has also led to differences in behaviour. Apparently in Dutch, there are two words for family - familie and gezin - the close nuclear family and the extended family. I think that shows in how they are with their families too, the close family is different from the extended family. Interestingly, they also have different words for different kinds of shopping, the fun kind of shopping, winkelen and the everyday boring one, boodschappen doen. It was interesting to know shopping could also be of different types.


Quirky habits and traditions

There were many other interesting quirks about the Dutch which I noticed over the course of the four years in the Netherlands. I am listing a few here.

Summer time

Interestingly, whenever at work we would introduce ourselves, my Dutch colleagues mostly stated their age right after their names. I found that unusual. And when I asked a colleague about it, she said, yes that’s expected and normal. Either way, I never gave in to this trend. Also discussing haircuts and hairdressers frequently at work was something I found unusual. The Dutch favourite pastime is supposed to be complaining. To be honest, there was a bit of it but I didn't notice it as being too much. Anyways the complaining felt quite jovial most of the time. Also the Dutch congratulate not just the person whose birthday it is, but the whole family too! And personalised gifts on birthdays are quite important. They all felt like very unique traditions.

Cute rides

I found driving in Central Amsterdam a nightmare - the narrow criss-crossing roads, the aggressive cyclists, and the risk of the car falling into the canal 😂. The canal was always like a risk in my mind, seeing the cars parked just inches away from them was so scary. I did park like that a few times but my heart would be pounding at such moments. It was tough! Thankfully I had the option of cycling in the city, and avoided driving there, it helped immensely. In Amsterdam, you will also notice this small little electric car zipping on the roads. Its so cute, and very popular. It seats two, is electricity run, can be parked easily anywhere, protects from the rain and is allowed to drive in the cycle lane. I think it’s like the covered cycle for the Dutch and everyone who visited the city loved seeing it.

The Dutch have one of the best road infrastructure in the world, with many multi lane highways (often with 6-10 lanes), straight and flat roads, and it would be so easy to drive fast safely there. But they also have one of the lowest speed limits in Europe, 100 kmph on the highways during the day! This is partly due to environmental and nitrogen emission concerns, but it is also the butt of many jokes in Europe.

Sunny winter days

Dutch politics was quite interesting too. One, they have some 20-30 national parties as apparently anyone who has a differing point of view can form their own party. As a result, coalition governments are the norm, and forming them can take time given all the divergent views in the country. So quite often, even after elections, it takes a year or two for the next coalition to form, and the caretaker government keeps governing during this period. In the last ten years, caretaker governments have been governing for 3-3.5 of those ten years! Wow! Also, the previous prime minister of the country, Mark Rutte often cycled to work! There are photographs of him across the internet on a simple bike, with no bodyguards. (Coming from India, this is something very difficult to imagine!)

Even though the Dutch are very egalitarian in their outlook, somehow they are comfortable having a royal family. This is quite a paradox and I couldn’t understand it. The Dutch also love their museums. There are some 80-100 museums in Amsterdam alone! And over 400 in the whole country.

Winter nights

Dutch houses are quite unique. With their very narrow staircases, leaning structures, huge windows and so on. Because of the narrow staircases, heavy and huge stuff cannot be taken up through them - that is shifted into a building through the windows! There are metal hooks fixed to all the old buildings which are used for transporting heavy furniture through the windows, using ropes. Some of this has been replaced with machines which can move the furniture from the ground up till the windows. Both these ways are always fascinating to watch. The Dutch also have a love for window cleaning - they are cleaned every month without fail, something very different from the British.

Art in the parks

There is a huge abundance of flower shops and stands in Amsterdam - everywhere. I had six flower shops within a 5 mins walking distance from my place. It may be because of the country being the flower trading hub of the world, either way I loved that. I started buying a lot more flowers for home than I did before. Also, there are many farmer markets across the city and it was a nice experience to buy fresh produce easily.

The Dutch love their beer. In fact, for periods in its history, beer in Amsterdam was cheaper than water and was drunk instead of it as it could be sanitised more easily, while the water, especially from the canals, was infected. Still I think the Dutch drink a lot less than their British neighbours.

They have some unusual traditional sporting events, which don’t exist anywhere else. There is one about sitting on a pole in a canal for as long as possible, known as the paalzitten. And then there is one called the haringhangen, where people cling on to slippery herring fish in the canal, and the one to last the longest is the winner.

The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas, which is a Dutch festival and was the inspiration for Santa Claus. Now they celebrate both Christmas and Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas comes first, from Spain, on a boat, with his helpers and Piets along with him. And it is only when he leaves by mid-December, that Christmas trees are supposed to be put up in houses and shops. Interestingly, this way, Dutch children get two rounds of gifts in the festive season, from Sinterklaas and then Santa Claus.

Painting at the Rijks

Art is very important for the Dutch. No wonder such a small country had so many greats - Van Gogh, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rembrandt etc.. Everyone regularly goes to museums and concerts, even children from an early age, to instil this appreciation for art. Also art has influenced a lot of ideas about freedom and expression in the country. And is a part of everyone’s daily life, a lot more than many other places I have visited.


Historical and cultural context

I read a few books about the Netherlands and what led to the country to become what it did. I found some interesting insights which may have shaped the Netherlands of today. Sharing some of these, for interest (or just for fun 😀).

Historically the Netherlands never had a feudal system, as most farmers owned their own land. But they all had to manage water together so they could farm effectively. Because of all that, the society became highly individualistic with relatively less hierarchy in their culture. But the collective also became important as the farmers needed to work together to make the water management work. There is a term for that too, the polder way of working.

Summer evenings

Amsterdam was a very religious city with a strong Protestant influence historically. But it was even then open to other ideas. Even though they were Protestant and religious themselves, they allowed other religions to exist peacefully. This policy of tolerance has always existed in Amsterdam. If it's going to happen, let it happen; and so they chose to regulate many things rather than prohibit them altogether, like prostitution, weed, euthanasia, LGBTQ and so on. Amsterdam in also credited with instilling a lot of its values - diversity, trading mentality, freedom of religion etc.- to New York, as Amsterdam was the inspiration for the city of New York (originally called New Amsterdam).

In the Netherlands, a lot of the other cities don’t really like Amsterdam. There is a perception that people there are too transactional. Amsterdam had initially sided with the Spanish in the Eighty Years War (one of the Dutch Civil Wars), so the rest of the Netherlands still hold it against them. Someone I know in the Netherlands actually called Amsterdam a ‘dump’, asking me why anyone would want to live there 😂. I didn't have the heart to tell him, it's the prettiest place I have ever lived in!

Frozen canals

Given how small the Netherlands is (roughly 300 km by 200 km), it's interesting to see how people across the country see each other as different. The south of the Netherlands is treated as a different culture altogether, a place barely 100 kms away 😂. I met many colleagues who had moved from the south to the north and shared how they had to adjust to a different culture. Having moved from India to the Netherlands, across thousands of kms, I couldn't help but laugh at those comments.

There is also a Bible Belt in the Netherlands, in the central part. And the southern Catholic region is lot more religious too. (The north is quite atheist). The south is famous for hosting the famous and crazy Carnival every year in February. The people from the north love to joke about it. The Dutch also have a healthy rivalry with the Belgians, and love making fun of them. Well they are in the south, so that makes sense 😂.

The taxes in the Netherlands are extremely high with top rates of 49-52%. Still I did not see a single Dutch person complain about it, ever! The Dutch get so much back for their taxes - childcare support, unemployment benefits, subsidised college education, a generous pension, great roads and infrastructure and more - most don’t mind it much. Life is just so much easier and more convenient here, that it feels that the taxes are worth it.

Summer evenings

With all its quirks, Amsterdam and the Netherlands are a unique experience, a must-do at least once in a lifetime. The Netherlands turns up in all the lists of happiest places to live in, and I would agree with it. I loved it, and am so grateful I got a chance to live in such an amazing place.


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