Week 1 pt 5 Feb 11, 2006

<< back to engagement party

Feb 11, Saturday To the bronze gallery in the National Museum

Quiet at MSSRF on a Saturday. I felt brave and caught a bus into the centre of Chennai. Actually quite easy. I knew the numbers of the buses, and they are painted quite clearly on the bus stops. The buses look rough, but rule the road. They stop for no one. Every lane is treated as a bus lane so they actually get around quite quickly. The bus terminal at Parry's is next to George Town, the original heart of old Madras, where the English East India Company ruled. Tiny roads packed with people, animals and activity. What India is all about.

I had lunch at a well recommended vegetarian restaurant which was excellent, but you can't linger over your food. You eat, you pay, you go. After that I walked down through town to the main museum, which houses one of the greatest collections of antique bronze sculpture in the world. It is stunning. If you want to use a camera you have to pay an extra 200 Rs. and sign a form stating that you will not use any images for commercial purposes and that the Government of Tamil Nadu must be acknowledged if they are to be used for research or education, which this web site is all about, so take that as an acknowledgement and look on.

	Parry's bus station. Looks chaotic, but is very organised. I need to get a bus from here to Mamalluporum in a few days, but I didn't spot the stand for it this time.
	The high courts building by the bus depot. Endlessly touted as one of the largest legal campuses in the World. I was moved on when I sat down to make some notes, because I was opposite a police station. I must look dodgy.
	George Town. Need I say more. A barefoot blacksmith was beating a red hot rod on a section of old railway line as an anvil just a few feet from here. I didn't dare photograph him as I was worried I might distract him with horrible consequences.
	Parvati, consort of Siva. Solid bronze from the 14th century. The original of my own statue which heads each page of this diary, but five time bigger and 600 years older. I think this is one of the great works of world art.
	Ardhanarisvara. A magnificent bronze statue, half life size and one of the strangest images in religion. He/she is a fusion of Siva and Parvati, half male, half female

If you are interested, click any of these thumbnails to see even more statues

On to Feb 12 >>>

^^top