My mommy's temple

Madhurai, Tamil Nadu December 21, 2005

Well, that's how i like to think of it as. Seems fitting that I celebrate my mom's birthday by visiting the Meenakshi Temple in Madhurai ( for those of you who still don't get the connection, my mom's name is Minaxi)... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

I can't believe its been 1 week since i last wrote. I left Puri and took a day tour of Konark to see the beautiful Sun Temple by the sea. The sights were amazing but even more entertaining was the tour guide who spoke a cross between hindi, oriya and bengali none of the other tourists could understand. The train ride down to Chennai was surprisingly pleasant filled up mostly of conversations with a woman from Chennai, a man from Oriya, and two girls from Israel. I had a night in Chennai which i would like to forget and then in the morning a lovely bus ride along the coast of Tamil Nadu to Pondicherry to meet up with Dave and Whinona. Pondicherry used to be a french colony and its influence along with that of Shri Aurobindo (political activist, who later became a saint and who inspired Auroville) has made it a nice little seaside town with its rocky beaches and resorts. After two nights there we were off to Madhurai via 2 stops - Chidambaram to see the Lord Nataraja temple and then to Trijivpur (Tanjore) where the temple there is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temple in Tanjore has definitely become my favorite... it brought to me the same feeling as some of the quieter temples of Angor Wat. Entering the temple grounds brought you to a different world, away from all the noise of the touts and auto rickshaws. The Meenakshi temple was also very impressive. The 4 main towers decorated in typical South Indian Style with colorful gods and goddesses sculpted into each tier.

Not much else to write about other than the food is still spectacular, we had the most amazing thali this afternoon for lunch. For those of you out there who think Indian food is nothing but chicken tikka masala please go out and find yourself a browngirl or brownboy or venture out on your own to the nearest South Indian restaurant you can find. Try some masala dosas, fried idly, utthapam, vada, rasam soup, and... anything on the menu. Its definitely not tikka masala but its just as good