Tamil Nadu 2006 |
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Week 4Mar 2, 3, and 4, 2006 |
Nothing of interest to report today really. I've picked up a slightly upset tum, first time in four trips to India, so I can't complain. Not too bad but feel under the weather. And it is getting steadily hotter. I hate air conditioning, but I've turned on the one in my room for the first time tonight and it is making things more comfortable.
I've now got a desk in the Informatics section here and hope to get more involved with the other workers.
The only curious thing I have seen this evening was a brand new hatchback parked on the threshold of a temple. It was decorated with garlands of flowers and had just been sprinkled with holy water, so it was obviously being given a good blessing before it set off on the Chennai Roads. Cars here need all the help they can get!
A working day and also a rainy one, the first since I have been here. It has lowered the temperature nicely, but the roads are dirty and lethally slippery. I have been even more careful crossing roads than normal, because they are like oiled skid pans. I have been drawing up ideas for creating accessibility maps for measuring rural deprivation. We were involved in similar work in Honduras and it was the more worthwhile output of the project. We'll see what MSSRF think. I've gone through a full dose of Delhi belly over the last 24 hours, but without serious consequences.
Pretty well over the crummy tummy today, but taking it easy on the food front. I'll avoid the dried fruit in the future. Saturday is a full working day and I've been writing up proposals all day. In the evening I caught an auto and went to the Kapaleeswarar (these names defeat me) temple in the Mylapore district. Its the biggest temple in Chennai, but not that big in Tamil Nadu terms. The temple in Trichy we went to four years ago covers 70 acres and has a small city within it. But it is still quite big and very lively, it was the evening puja. Hundreds of people thronging around a series of quite small shrines, all surrounded by burning oil and butter lamps. People are praying everywhere, many prostrating themselves before each shrine. After it turned dark (about 6:30) six teenage girls sat down at one end of the pillared hall and began to sing rhythmic songs to a set of tabla drums. Quite beautiful. I think there is music at this temple most evenings so I shall come back. After that I walked to the centre of town and spoiled myself with dinner at the Taj Connemara hotel.
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This is one of the strangest sights, and I've seen some odd things. This is a view down into the temple tank, which is huge, probably one hundred yards square, with steps down into it for bathing all round. It is HEAVING with catfish. Stalls sell bread and puffed rice for people to feed to them, and the fish literally heave themselves out of the water in a frenzy the moment anything touches the surface. I believe catfish are vegetarian, but you wouldn't catch me bathing in with this lot |
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The gopporum over the main temple entrance. Covered in
painted sculpture, very life like. The temple is an ancient foundation but
was destroyed by the Portuguese and rebuilt about 300 years ago. You leave
your shoes at the entrance and it's barefoot inside. The central shrines are
only open to Hindus, but you can look into them and see the dressed statues.
There are infernos of lamps burning everywhere. Seeing the place in the dark
is the best time. Strictly no photography inside, so I'm afraid this is all you are going to see. |