Madurai

February 23, 2019

Eventually we caught another train into Madurai, arriving late for a brief stay before flying on to Sri Lanka. The next morning we drank some coffee at a shop with a real espresso machine! Indian chai is delicious (and ubiquitous), but sometimes you just want a coffee in the morning. We wandered into an active Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, and ate at KFC for lunch – guess we’ve been on the road long enough to warrant “American” food? We don’t eat KFC at home to really compare, but the chicken was pretty spicy and they offered a bizarre drink consisting of lime juice, Sprite, and cumin powder (surprisingly better than it sounds). Fries are still fries, though. American fast food joints like KFC and McDonalds are far more high-end (and more expensive) than the fast food most locals eat. Then we headed to the Gandhi museum which mostly told the story of British colonialism and the long fight for Indian independence.

We finished our time in Madurai at the Meenakshi Hindu temple next to our hotel, a large and very active temple. The entrances were covered by huge intricately carved gopurams with an insane amount of detail on these 150 foot tall towers. There is no photography inside the temple, so words will have to do. Inside was as intricate and beautiful as the outside. No shoes allowed, all smooth stone floors. A large lotus pond was ringed by a covered area where every surface was decorated with colorful carvings, paintings, statues, and shrines. It was an explosion of gilded beauty, and everywhere people were worshiping at the various shrines. The inner sanctum was reserved for practicing Hindus, so we didn’t get to go in. Some of the paintings were designed with an optical illusion to make it appear that the subject was always looking at the viewer no matter what side you looked at it from. Pretty cool. Thousands of people come daily to worship at all hours, and even at 8:00 pm there were hundreds of people praying, meditating, offering flowers to Ganesha, preparing strings of lemons that were used to decorate another shrine (maybe Shiva?), burning small votive oil lamps in prescribed areas, or just relaxing with friends and family, eating local fruits (pineapple, banana, coconut, watermelon) or breads and sweets. The experience was an incredible glimpse into Hindu religious life.

All 15 stories (and this was one of 4 towers like this)

Closer

Closer still

Vishnu temple

Street watermelon