I am provided with Rajaram, a skinny, English speaking guide to show me around Trichy. We pass by an onion market….zillions of them heaped up on the ground. First stop Srirenganathaswamy (these long names take an age to type!) This temple is a main Shiva pilgrim site. Hoards are walking barefoot towards it. Twenty one towers including one of 13 stories, 14th century origins and priests with strange hairstyle in white robes and body markings. There’s a 1000 pillar hall used for events, ornate painted walls and detailed stone carvings. Guide pointed out a series of erotic depictions (so not completely family-friendly).
Second stop to river Karasi to see people bathing in a ritual for recently departed where ashes get scattered upon the water. Got ‘blessed’ by a sad-looking elephant for a few rupees (he pats heads with his trunk). Had a cup of chai (tea) at a filthy roadside shack (great taste) then on to third stop. Rock Fort is a huge mound older than the Himalayas or Greenland. Guide and I climb up the 437 chiselled steps with him enthusiastically pointing out views over the town (not that pleasant).
Then Rajaram insisted on singing me a ‘devotional song’ sung to ladies, in Tamil, his language. This performance was done loudly, in front of loads of visitors and went on for some time. No one batted an eyelid but I managed to get them to applaud at the end (mainly to cover my embarrassment!) Raj then asked a passer-by to take a photo of us and wants me to email it to him. Oh dear.
Left Raj. Swami and I drove on to Madurai and yet another guide waiting to show me “the finest temple in South India.” The Sri Meenakshi is dedicated to the ´fish-eyed’ Goddess, wife of Shiva. It´s an amazing 6 hectare complex with 12 gopurams (towers) and it is said 33 million (!) impressive sculptures of gods, demons and heroes. I am exhausted and thankfully this hotel is clean and comfortable. (more on hotel standards to follow).
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