Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Madurai: India's Deep South Part 8

A Gandhi Museum, the Nayak's Palace and the Finest Hindu Temple in India

From Munnar to Madurai

Descending the Kannon Devan Hills

India

Omelette, sambar and fruit made a good breakfast after which we set out with Thomas on the long morning’s drive to Madurai. The tanker drivers’ strike, he told us, had been settled last night, which was good news and meant we would not have to push the car any time soon.

Tea plantations in the Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala

Descending the Kannan Devan Hills from Munnar to the plain was no great distance, but it took some time, partly because the road twisted and turned and partly because the countryside demanded a series of picture stops.

Tea Plantations in the Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala

I shall not reproduce them all here but the view of tessellated tea bushes with wind breaks of silver oak and stands of eucalyptus trees surrounded by rugged hills was endlessly changing and fascinating.

Tea Plantations in the Kannan Devan Hills, Kerala
The silver oak is not a true oak. Native to Australia it has adapted well to the local conditions

Lower down a small lake nestled among the tea bushes...

A lake among the tea bushes, Kannan Dean Hills

....and further down again the tea gave way to forest. I am never quite sure where the Cardamom Hills are, the name seems to be applied to various southern parts of the Western Ghats, but with cardamom dominating the underbrush this area had as good a claim as any.

Cardamom growing beneath the trees on the lower slopes of the Kannan Devan Hills

Somewhere on the lower slopes we crossed from Kerala back into Tamil Nadu.

In this post we travel from Munnar to Madurai

The demarcation between the hills and plain was sharp and as we approached the flat land a turn in the road gave us one last look at the enchanted hills.

A last look at the Kannan Devan Hills

Across the Tamil Nadu Plain to Madurai

Tamil Nadu

The temperature had increased steadily as we had descended from the pleasant warmth of Munnar to the furnace of the plain, but cocooned in the air conditioned car we hardly noticed as we sped along on the wider and straighter road.

On the way we encountered a water jar salesman - most rural Indians collect their water daily from a well, tank or stream and the arrival of the lightweight plastic jar has made life much easier.

Travelling water jar salesman, Tamil Nadu

We passed through small towns and villages...

Shop in a small town, Tamil Nadu

... and nearing Madurai we passed this family heading into townfor a day out.

Family day out, near Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Madurai

Madurai is surprisingly little known outside India but it has been a major religious and commercial centre for over 2,000 years and is now, with 1.5 million inhabitants, the third biggest city in Tamil Nadu.

Lunch and the Gandhi Museum, Madurai

We checked in to our hotel, an upmarket glass and marble affair beside a busy road. With no shops or other restaurants nearby, the hotel was the only option for lunch and at great expense (by local standards) I enjoyed sambar with chapattis while Lynne ate a chicken sandwich with chutney. ‘Better to eat local,’ I said sagely but she did not listen.

When the fierceness of the heat had subsided a local guide arrived and we set off for the Gandhi Museum. Opened in 1959, the museum is housed in the Tamukkam Palace, built for Rani Mangammal, wife of a Nayak ruler and Queen Regent after his death in 1684. Following the fall of the Nayaks the house endured a chequered history and was, at one time, the residence of the British Collector of Madurai. On independence it passed to the Tamil Nadu government who donated it for use as a museum.

Gandhi Museum, Tamukkam Place, Madurai

The museum tells the Gandhi story from his birth in 1868, through his training as a barrister in London, and years in South Africa to the struggle for Indian independence. As one of the five Gandhi Sanghralayas it exhibits a part of the bloodied clothing he was wearing when shot down in 1948 by a Hindu nationalist.

Gandhi walking, Pondicherry 2009
The statue of Gandhi walking seen rather distantly outside the museum is repeated all over India

It is not an easy museum to visit if you are British; we are very much the villains of the piece. On the whole that is fair enough (no one could try to excuse, for example, the 1919 Amritsar massacre) and Gandhi’s consistent commitment to non-violent resistance is inspirational, but the attack does feel relentless. A 'what have the Romans ever done for us' moment might have provided balance – so I am supplying one myself.

Gandhi walking with followers, Hassan, Karnataka, 2010

When the British arrived India was a patchwork of often warring states ruled by hereditary despots, when they left it was a united country committed to nurturing its new democracy, an ideal espoused by Gandhi and those who struggled for independence alongside him – a happy consequence of their British educations. The creation of an all-India consciousness – even if only in opposition to us - was a remarkable achievement. On this journey we travelled through Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, three states with a combined population of over 170m (the same as the UK, France and Spain combined) with three different official languages each written in a different alphabet. Neighbours among India’s 29 states and 7 territories often differ from each other far more than do any of the 50 states of the USA, yet each is as committed to its Indian identity as Texas and Vermont are to being American.

I am not defending colonialism, merely suggesting we should not judge 19th century people by 21st century standards and now the dust has settled both countries have reasons to be grateful to each other – we gave them cricket and they gave us curry, gifts whose importance should not be underestimated.

The Nayak Palace

We visited Madurai in 2009 on our first trip to India and had returned primarily to revisit the huge Meenakshi Amman Temple, maybe the world's finest Hindu Temple, that dominates the city centre. Inn 2009 its 14 richly decorated gopuram (gateway towers) were covered in scaffolding for repainting and the scaffolding was hung with banana leaves to protect the painters from the sun. We saw only the bare outlines. Before returning we had checked that no repainting was scheduled, but now it was already half past four and the local guide wanted to take us to the Nayak’s Palace, I began to fret that we would only see the temple in the dark.

One of the scaffolding and banana leaf covered gopuram, Madurai 2009

After some discussion we went along with his plan. We also saw the palace in 2009, but since then more has been restored and it was worth re-visiting. The Nayak dynasty ruled a region similar to modern Tamil Nadu from 1529 to 1736 and the Thirumalai Palace was built in 1636 by King Thirumalai (who else?). We saw the King’s Hall….

King's Hall, Nayak's Palace, Madurai

…the pillars and corridors that connect the ceremonial rooms….

Pillars and corridors, Nayak's Palace, Madurai

…the decorated ceilings….

Decorated ceiling, Nayak's Palace. Masurai

…and the auditorium with a display of statues from Nayak times and from the earlier Pandyan Kingdom.

Royal auditorium, Nayak's Palace, Madurai

Impressive though the rooms are, what remains is only a quarter of the royal complex once occupying this site.

Markets and Brahmins on the Way to the Meenakshi Amman Temple

Leaving the palace we drove the 2km to the temple first passing through the wholesale vegetable market. Each street is dedicated to a single vegetable and our route took us down onion road….

Just a few of the onions, Madurai

…and then past a rather poverty stricken retail market.

Retail fruit and veg, Madurai

We parked and walked to the temple through the posher streets occupied by Brahmins – for all Gandhi’s efforts to modernise India and destroy the caste system, it still hangs on.

Brahmin dwellings around the Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

The Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

And then we emerged beside the temple. There was still plenty of light to see the gopuram, but the narrow streets meant we were too close to get an overall view…

North gopura, Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

…though parts of the north gopura are impressive enough in close-up.

North gopura, Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

Originating in the 6th century BC, the current Meenakshi Amman Temple was mostly constructed in the 17th century. It is dedicated to Meenakshi, also known as Parvati and it was here she married Sundareswarar (Shiva) to whom it is secondarily dedicated. In 2009 in Kanchipuram near Chennai we saw the mango tree beneath which Parvati and Shiva were married - fortunately gods can easily remarry as different avatars.

To enter the temple we had to deposit our bags, shoes and cameras, which would have been mildly annoying had they not allowed camera phones to be taken in – and even sold a permit to use them – which made it very annoying.

I have no photos of the interior from this visit, but I do have some from 2009 when the rules were more relaxed – and the paint was very fresh.

Lynne at Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Feb 2009

We spent over an hour in the temple, partly because it is huge and there is always something to see in a Hindu temple, partly because it is exciting just being among the shrines and stone pillars but mostly because we were waiting for the procession.

Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Feb 2009

Every evening Meenakshi is taken to her husband. Screened by gold curtains and sitting on a decorated plinth she is carried on bamboo poles by six priests behind a white ox, an elephant and a group of musicians.

Painter at work, Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Feb 2010

We found the elephant in a stone recess swaying ominously. Elephants are large (and hairy) even more so when seen close up in a confined space and this one seemed restless. The ox was nearby, standing placidly with a drum strapped to his back and a vacant expression on his face.

Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Feb 2010

The procession formed up with the ox and drummer at the front then the elephant and lastly the musicians. After a short wait the goddess arrived, the drum was struck and the musicians blew, very hard, down their …. let’s call them ‘pipes’ and with the ear splitting sound echoing round the stone chamber they set off at a smart lick. I think of processions as being slow and dignified but here everybody walked as though they were frightened of missing a train and the priests at the back, shouldering their bamboo poles, struggled to keep up.

They walked several times round the interior and although there was a crowd, it was easy to slip between the pillars and catch them two or three times on each circuit. I am sure I would have some excellent pictures if I had a camera phone. Eventually they disappeared into a sanctuary where only Hindus could follow.

Left alone, we caught our breath, adjusted to the ringing in our ears and went to reclaim our shoes, bag and cameras.

Outside the light was beginning to fade...

Gopura
Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

....and we were shown up to the roof of an antiques shop with a view over the whole site.

The Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

Lynne was unwell when we returned to the hotel. We retreated to the bar for a kill or cure but they had no gin so she drank rum, which may be equally efficacious. Afterwards she came to the dining room to watch me eat and toyed with some noodles. She was ill for the rest of the evening and first part of the night – I warned her about that chicken sandwich!

Top of a gopura at dusk
Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

03/03/2016

Leaving Madurai

Lynne felt better in the morning and we set off for Rameswaram.

Madurai's morning traffic

The Vandiyur Mariamman Temple Pond, Madurai

Our first stop was still in Madurai, only 2km south of the temple at the Vandiyur Mariamman Temple pond. The hole created when material was excavated to make the bricks for the Thirumalai Palace is kept full of water by its connection to the nearby Vagai River. 305m long by 290m wide it is the largest temple tank in Tamil Nadu and is the scene of a major float festival in the tenth or twelfth month of the Tamil calendar (depending on which source you read) when the Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareshwarar are brought from the temple to oversee proceedings. Unfortunately we were a fortnight too late (or too early).

Vandiyur Mariamman Temple pond, Madurai

Beside the tank some men were stringing out long lines of dyed cotton. I think they were drying it, or maybe something else – who knows?

Busy doing something, Vandiyur Mariamman Temple pond, Madurai

We drove on towards Rameswaram.

India's Deep South

Part 1: Bangalore to Mysore
Part 2: Mysore, Somnathpur and Srirangapatnam
Part 3: Kabini and the Nagarhole National Park
Part 4: The Road to Ooty
Part 5: The Nilgiri Blue Train to Coonoor
Part 6: Across the Palakkad Gap and up to Munnar
Part 7: Munnar - Tea, Dams and Elephants
Part 8: Madurai
Part 9: Rameswaram
Part 10: To the Very Tip of India
Part 11: The End of India and Beyond
Part 12: North to Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) and Kollam
Part 13: Ants, Mollywood and Varkala
Part 14: The Backwaters of Kerala (and some Coir)
Part 15: Marari Beach, Rest, Recreation and Refuse
Part 16: Kochi, a Second Visit

THE END

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Munnar - Tea, Dams and Elephants: India's Deep South Part 7

The Scenic Delights of the Kannan Devan Hills

Breakfast and Keralan Politics

India

Kerala

After the morning chill of Ooty it was pleasant to eat breakfast on the restaurant terrace. We like a good breakfast (why skimp when it is already paid for?) and Lynne took some fried potatoes and a pea-stuffed paratha from the buffet before asking the egg chef for a couple of fried eggs. He broke the yolk on the second one and before she could say anything he dumped it in the bin. Hotel chefs may have standards to maintain, but Lynne was shocked by the waste of a perfectly good egg.

Heading into town we discovered that Munnar was closed - private shop keepers and restaurant owners had left their shutters down in protest against taxation levels. Thomas also told us that he queued for petrol last night as Kerala’s tanker drivers were starting an indefinite strike today. We were leaving Kerala the next day and Thomas was confident all would be resolved before our return in four or fiv days - if not some major re-planning would be necessary.

Munnar's position in southern India

Trade unions are strong in Kerala, hence the frequency of strikes. It is India's most literate state (98% literacy compared with the 58% national average), the least corrupt, and most politically aware. Since 1981 the Government of Kerala has been in the hands of either a coalition of the left led by the Communists or of the centre led by the Congress Party, swapping every five years. 2016 was an election year and it was the Communist’s turn to win. [And in the election, on the15th of May, the Left Democratic Front did indeed win 93 out of the 140 seats. Kerala is out of step with much of India, the right wing NDA, who form the National Government, won only 1 seat].

Through the tea plantations to the museum, Munnar

Kannan Devan Tea Museum

We headed for the tea museum beyond the largely shuttered town.

Tea Museum, Munnar

In 1857 John Daniel Munroe came to the Kannan Devan Hills to settle a border dispute between the princely state of Travancore (now mostly in Kerala) and its neighbours. Although immediately attracted by the area’s beauty it was not until 1879 that he formed the North Travancore Land Planting and Agricultural Society. Tea was omitted from his original plan, but AH Sharp planted the first 50 acres in 1880 and now tea bushes cover these hills like vines cover the Cote d'Or. After much consolidation and change of ownership, and the departure of the British, many of the tea estates are in the hands of the huge Tata conglomerate, owners of Jaguar-Land Rover among much else.

As we examined the freshly picked tea, a museum guide climbed onto the wilting bed and treated us to a lecture extolling the benefits of green tea, not a traditional product of this area but one they are pushing hard. Among the many benefits claimed (so many they were, literally, too good to be true) is that green tea keeps you slim. ‘That is why,’ he told us ‘there are no fat people in China.’ Obviously he has not visited China recently. Ours were almost the only European faces in the room, but the lecture was conducted in English. Munnar is in Malayalam speaking Kerala, but only just over the border from Tamil speaking Tamil Nadu and only a couple of hours from Karnatica, where the language is Kannada. The national language is Hindi, but very often the middle classes, the sort of people who can afford a holiday and visit museums, prefer English.

Examining the freshly picked tea in the 'wilting room', Tea Museum, Munnar

The museum was running the machinery that does the cutting, rolling and sifting of the wilted leaves before oxidisation (for black tea). We had seen it all operating before in the Pedro tea factory in Sri Lanka, but here we were allowed to take photographs.

Rolling machine, Tea Museum, Munnar

We also watched an informative film. It was good on history but I would be surprised if the workers have quite such an idyllic existence as the propaganda suggested.

Cutting, Tea Museum, Munnar

After paying for the museum we were disappointed that they charged us 5 Rupees for a cuppa before we made our way to the chaotically disorganised shop.

Mattupetty Dam and Lake

From the tea museum we left Munnar…

Looking back to Munnar

…drove through tea plantations….

Tea plantation with ranks of silver oaks as wind breaks

…and beneath trees hung with bees’ nests…

Trees hung with bees' nests, near Munnar

….for 13 km to the Mattupetty Dam. Built between 1948-53, it produces valuable hydroelectricity but it is not particularly high or impressive…

Mattupetty Dam

…. though the area attracts local tourists in their hundreds, possibly because of the beauty of the lake behind.

The lake behind Mattupetty Dam

Ten minutes’ drive along the lakeside brought us to Echo Point. There is no ‘point’ but there is a line of stalls along the roadside and the general air of a seaside resort. We took advantage of the stalls to buy some roasted cashews – always at their best when fresh – and then found our way between them down to the beach. The attraction, as the name suggests, is the echo. Several people shouted and we clapped our hands, but the faint response was underwhelming. Then a child of five or six started yelling. Once the right register is hit the echo was seriously impressive, bouncing back, forth and back again among the surrounding hills.

Through the stalls at Echo Point. Sorry, but I have no picture of the echo

Wild Elephants

Thomas suggested we drive on to another dam and we agreed, there is not much to see or do in Munnar, even when it’s open, so we might as well. We were happy just to be in this extraordinarily beautiful area of bare, haze shrouded hills and green valleys, their floors and sides carpeted with tea bushes. Ranks of silver oaks march through the tea and stands of eucalyptus line the road.

On our way we encountered a line of parked cars and motorcycles and a crowd of some fifty people standing on a bank staring excitedly into the valley. It looked a strange scene, but Thomas knew exactly what was going on and very soon we found ourselves among the crowd. You might think that Indians, who live in a country full of wild elephants, might find them less exciting than we do, but not so. Only around 30,000 elephants survive in the wild and development has resulted in fragmented populations so you have to be in the right place to see them. This was the right place and we had arrived at exactly the right time to see a family walking through the edges of a tea plantation.

Elephants among the tea bushes, Munnar

The magic of a zoom lens showed us there were four adults, a juvenile and an infant.

Elephants among the tea bushes, near Munnar

Kundale (or Setuparvatipuram) Dam

After watching for a while we moved on to the Setuparvatipuram Dam (also called the Kundale Dam). Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma became Maharajah of Travancore at the age of 12 in 1924. According to the plaque the dam was opened in the 25th year of his reign, i.e. 1948 or 49, the year Travancore joined the Union of India and the monarchy was abolished. The monogram on the coat of arms is RV for Rama Varma not VR for Queen Victoria.

Plaque on the Setuparvatipuram Dam

Boating opportunities were available nearby and families picnicked in the woods beyond, otherwise Asia’s first ever arch dam is elegant but unremarkable.

The Setuparvatipuram Dam

Wherever people gather, others gather to sell them things. We called at a stall where a cheerful lady was hawking bags of sliced mango and pineapple for 10 rupees each. Lynne and I chose pineapple, Thomas picked a bag of mango and accepted the offered sprinkle of salt and chilli. Having never eaten pineapple with salt and chilli, I followed his lead but regretted it; a sweet and perfectly ripe pineapple requires no enhancement. ‘It was good with the mango,’ Thomas commented ‘as it was under-ripe.’ I remembered how good chilli sauce had been with under-ripe mango in Laos in November. A lesson learned, I thought.

Cheerful purveyor of pineapple and mango, Setuparvatipuram Dam

A St David's Day Lunch in Munnar?

We drove back to Munnar for lunch. With all the private restaurants closed we had to eat at a hotel, so Thomas went off to join the other drivers and we settled for an overpriced soup. Lynne chose the perhaps inappropriately titled ‘Tsunami seafood soup’ largely because it was St David’s Day and the menu promised leeks. I had onion soup with cheese dumplings. With a couple of chapattis both were pleasant if not memorable.

Christianity in Kerala and the 'English' Church in Munnar

18% of Kerala’s 33 million people are Christians, a higher proportion than in any other Indian state. Many Keralans, including Thomas, describe themselves as ‘Catholics’ but there are a several denominations that fit that description; some recognise the Pope in Rome while others do not. Legend says that St Thomas, the apostle, came to southern India shortly after the death of Christ and these churches, some of the most ancient in the world, trace their origins to his evangelising. Outside the south, Christianity is rare in India and usually the result of European missionary work, while here it is indigenous.

Munnar has a number of churches, but Thomas decided to show us the British Church. In 1894, the wife of the plantation’s general manager died and was buried overlooking the town. The plot developed into the British cemetery and eventually a church was built beside the graveyard. Neo-Gothic Christ Church was consecrated on Easter Sunday in 1911 and outside and in looks oddly familiar. Memorials to members of the British community, many of whom died tragically young, make interesting reading. In 1981 Christ Church, (like St Stephen’s in Ooty) was passed to the Church of South India, an alliance of Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists.

Christ Church, Munnar

We drove back through Munnar and out the other side to another viewpoint, but it was now too hazy and after a couple of largely unsatisfactory photographs we returned to our hotel.

A viewpoint, but it is too hazy, Munnar

At dinner my beef tenderloin with coconut, chilli, chutney and yoghurt was good and Lynne enjoyed mahi mahi fish with baby vegetables and a few French fries. For some reason we were given complimentary desserts. A nutty/honey cake was good, but another cake, stale and teamed with a sort of green blancmange formed a combination of the weird and the regrettable. Afterwards Kerala’s drink laws sent us back to our balcony and diminishing supply of duty free.