Madurai-2

Meenakshi Temple

Pedicab Ride

Jan. 9, 2013- On A Dark, Not Stormy, Night

I know it's India. I know there are frequent blackouts here. I know there are more blackouts here than in other cities. I know that nighttime blackouts make David's CPAP machine turn off then on. I did not know I'd be affected by blackouts at night.

I was asleep. The room was dark. So what if we lost power for a few minutes...more like seconds? WRONG! At this hotel with it's techno touch pad electrical system, when there's a power failure then the electricity returns, ALL lights in the rooms go on even if they'd been turned OFF. That includes 4:30 AM. We were soundly sleeping when this happened. We just looked at each, got the giggles, & switched the lights off....again. We were so privileged to have this modern Indian moment because we were in the renovated rooms. Those rooms not yet brought up to the 21st century don't provide the full experience.

The beauty of traveling with strangers is they haven't heard our old travel tales & lifetime of anecdotes. They don't know about our careers, triumphs, & the glitches of our lives. Do the math. Most of us are over sixty-five. Multiply this by sixteen in the group & you have an endless variety of fascinating conversation, tall tales, & humor.

Comfor & Other Zones

Madurai is the seat of Dravidian culture & we were primed for our visit to the Meenakshi Temple today. The building itself takes up fifteen acres &, as all temples of its ilk, serves as a community center. Located mid-town it provides a mercantile & social center as well as cares for the spiritual needs of the people. Started in the 5th century, building continued through the 17th. Talk about a capital building project.

We had to remove shoes & socks for this visit. It was beyond my comfort level but I complied. We'd been prepared in advance & brought sanitizing wipes from home.  The temple is dedicated to Shiva & Parveti. The tale is that a king had a daughter who was born with three breasts. He was distraught until a wise person told him the third breast would disappear when she met her true love. Wouldn't you know it was the god Shiva who filled the bill.

A museum is part of the temple complex & we were set free for ten minutes to see the entire thing. It was more than enough time. That was followed by a much too long visit to a rug store where they sold Kashmiri knotted (rather than loomed) rugs. I'm semi interested in something maybe for our entry hall but they don't understand “maybe” here. The salesman followed me to the rest room asking all the time if I'd like another color or size or didn't I like rugs at all?

By that time I was feeling punk. I was sleep deprived after the sunrise "light" display, my stomach was threatening to revolt, & the heat was getting to me again. Our next stop was a lame palace museum.At least that’s what I was told by those who went. I stayed on the bus & napped.

I revived at lunch which was at a very plain restaurant catering to tour groups & Indians alike. The starters were fish sticks, chicken tenders, & french fries. When I saw ketchup on the table I dug in. Indian fare followed & now Charles has David's number. He shares his food with him. David said what Charles eats is not oppressively spicy & has real flavor. We both got heartburn.

Our afternoon activity was a forty-five minute pedi-cab (pedal rickshaw) ride through the back streets of Madurai. We each had our own rickshaw as two people would be too heavy for one man to pedal. The area was like an outdoor drive-thru Super Walmart & Home Depot combined. Streets were categorized by the products sold & it wasn't uncommon to find cows being milked outside hardware stores. I've noticed that if Indians smoke they don't do it in public & I have yet to see cigarettes for sale at any of the stands we've come upon.  At one point Charles came up beside our procession on the back of the motor bike driven by the owner of the pedi-cab concession. We were in such tight formation as all modes of traffic & pedestrians swarmed around us that my cab gently rear-ended the one in front. No hard feelings. A festival was about to begin & we plowed through a crowd of sari-clad women & police as we played follow-the-leader back to the cab stand.  Police here are unarmed. As usual people waved & smiled. We were definitely the show.

There's a night ceremony back at the temple but I'll send this now on the unreliable wi-fi so we don't have to pay another day's fee. I'll catch you up tomorrow.

Toby