2/27/09, by Laura S (in my 20s; my main interests are foreignlanguages, computer programming, and world religions)The short version: started at Blue Mango, rode a bus for hours,stopped at Gandhi museum, arrived in Madurai, went to huge Hindutemple, visited underground bazaar.The long version:Woke up to a stuffy room (no electricity again!) & croaking soundsfrom our toilet. I got up and turned off the water to the toilet,which stopped the sound. Couldn't sleep again, and since it wasgetting light, I threw on a t-shirt & went up to the guesthouse roofto exercise facing the Ghats. Running my feet through the dust on theroof (practicing rond-de-jambe) made a perfect circle! I could seeTamar & Bruce making their morning rounds on their job, with Sambotagging along.Breakfast was "simple" according to Tamar--just fruit salad, homemadewheat bread, homemade peanut butter, homemade jam, excellent strongcoffee.... Only the basics, really ^.^ Bruce asked Cathy about workingwith agents and marketing books, and got a lot of good information.>>>Bus ride out of town: transit is always a bit of an adventure. Once wetried to pass an autorickshaw that was passing an oxen-drawn cart on atwo-lane road. We passed dozens of Hindu temples and at least onemosque and a handful of Christian churches; this area, at least,doesn't seem to have as many roadside churches as Kerala did.The bus driver suggested we stop to take photos of brickmaking; Istayed on the bus for a couple reasons. One, I'd seen some brickmakingbriefly through the bus window before. Secondly, though, and moresignificantly, our conversations with the women at Blue Mango made memuch more conscious of the gender gulf in this culture, and it lookedat first as though all the brick makers were men. I felt reallyuncomfortable being part of a group of white women walking into anall-men's working space... Later, though, I did see a couple Indianwomen walking around the work area, so it would have been fine. I'mglad I can trust the other people to get photos, at least!>>>We stopped for a little over an hour at a Gandhi museum. For me, themain attraction was the bookstore; I felt like I'd taken in too muchover the past few days to absorbe any more info--besides, I wanted toread a lot more about Hinduism before visiting the huge Hindu templelater that afternoon. I sat in the "library" (which had practically nobooks!) till it was time to board the bus again.>>>From the bus windows, we could also see miles & miles of rice paddies.It looked like they used a similar method to my farm in South Korea:grow seedlings in one thick carpet (but not in trays like Korea--justin the ground); then plow, flood, & smooth an old paddy. The majordifference was the labor intensivity of transplanting the seedlings;here, they take them by hand in clumps, and then spread them outevenly.We reached Madurai, which was a jumble of people of people and shopsand 2-wheelers---back to the constant horns & death-defyingpedestrians!>>>The temple was slightly disappointing because the famous hugeintricate carved & painted towers were covered up for renovations. Forme, though, the thrilling part is how temples and other places ofworship are actually used: a woman whispering her hopes into the earof a stone bull who communicates directly with Shiva; women bowing andpraying to the goddess who looks out for pregnancy; the man throwingnegative energy (in the form of a white ball) out of his head andagainst the wall; Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, smelling ofvinegar; simple oil lamps (bowl, oil, wick) actually functioning;young girls with fresh jasmine in their hair... This is why I lovereligious sites: they are alive with meaning and purpose, however,obtuse.My jottings from the temple tour:Temple of goddess Minakshi, more than 2000 years old (though not allbuilt at the same time); everything is repainted every 12 years, whichtakes 18 months. Here, Shiva (the male god) is not so important;Minakshi is the main focus of worship. She was the answer to herfather's prayers for a child, but was born with 3 breasts; it wasforetold that her 3rd breast would fall off when she met the mansupposed to be her husband.To enter the temple, foreigners pay 50 rupees (about a dollar);Indians pay 5 rupees (about 10 cents).1000 Pillar Hall was built in the 16th century, and has 985 pillars.Used to be used for marriages & dances.The guide (Daisy) had a different definition of "miracle" than I do;she would say, for example, "This hall was built in only 12 hours. Itwas a miracle! They were able to do that because they carved thepillars for 600 years before assembling everything." Or, "Come overhere to see a miracle! This musical column has hollow stone tubes, soif we hit them, it makes different sounds. Usually we don't strikethem, so we can preserve them--but today, miracle! This man will do ademonstration for you." It sounds more like miracles of will thanmiracles of physical impossibilities--which I kind of like. It meanswe're all capable of performing miracles, if we just are willing totry extra hard.Minakshi here is made of 1.5 meters of emeralds & has her sari changed6 times per day; old saris are auctioned off. Foreigners, however(judged on a purely racial basis), were not allowed in to see her.In the Shiva hall, Shiva's marriage is celebrated every year. Peoplealso discuss marriages here: dowry, timing of marriage, etc. This isauspicious.Smell of flowers everywhere200 pilgrims have lunch/dinner here every day.There's a Golden Lotus Tank where, in the 8th century, poets wouldgather. They wrote things on palm leaves and threw them in the tank;ones with good writing would float, and bad ones sank. (Too bad thiswould work less well in the electronic age... I imagine most laptopswould sink.)Every night, there's a procession from the Shiva temple with the Shivastatue and singers through 5 places: air, water, sky, fire, and onemore (earth?). Then they wash his footprints, and put him to bed inMinakshi's room with the door closed. (!)Shiva & Parvati, both good dancers, had a dance competition; hisearring fell off and he put it back on with his foot, so he won.East tower repainting paid for by large automobile company; it's notunusual for large companies to give these sorts of religiousdonations.>>>After the temple tour, we went through an "emporium" (store withhigh-quality traditional Indian crafts) that gave us coke bottles &also a really entertaining rug sales pitch. I also met a reallyhelpful sales guy who told me a lot about Hindu traditions--and saidhe'd had to study it all because he's Muslim!I wandered through an underground bazaar with Laura & Barb. The marketwas actually beautiful, with stalls in between old columns and underthe watchful eyes of actively venerated goddesses. There were morevendors than shoppers, so walking through the rows of stalls was alittle intense. Haggling was the rule--and Barb taught me aboutlooking for quality fabric while Laura taught me how to haggle nicely^.^ Wendy also very graciously went back to the gauntlet ofshopkeepers with me so I could buy some bags I'd previously walkedaway from.I spent the evening writing emails to home & watching Indian TV; it'sfunny how much more interesting--yet more fantastical--the commercialsseem to me after having spent a few days in more rural areas. Everysingle person on TV is light skinned, and I even saw an employmentadvertisement for a "fair receptionist". I was shocked by thesexuality in music videos, too--in a puritannical "She needs to putsome clothes on!" kind of way. The women in the videos were wearingloose-fitting pants with small, tight shirts, which is much morefabric than you'd see on MTV in the States; it's funny how quickly mysense of modest clothing has been completely recalibrated.I heard (after the fact) that the rest of the group had gone to adownstairs bar--so I hope they have good memories of that!At the temple, I'd wanted to bow at the multiple shrines, but WhitePeople Don't and it would have been inappropriate--so instead, I endedthe day as I'd started it: with three full prostrations to thesubcontinent, thanking it & myself for being there.
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