What Got me here is strictly divine intervention!! There I was, enjoying marital bliss, all of 6 years old, and I waspacked off to tour the southern part of TN, of course with a noble 'desh-seva' cause!!
Cribs and bickering turned to fait accompli, partly due to the weather and inother part due to there really being no other way than to enjoy what we couldwhile we were at it..! (sounds corny, eh?!)
Soon, we landed at the famed, old temple city of India - Madurai.
Let me admit, I'm no great-shakes temple man. I loved them for the solitude and the serenity than the divinity and other fruits linked to such places of Hindu sanctity. Under the above conditions, I wasn't too keen on the 6 days ahead!
'City' it seemed, right at first sight! The road from Dindigul curvedinto Madurai city, and the first sight was what the driver introduced as "River saar, craasingMadurai"! Good he did,or I would have taken 2 points from the local bodies for a huge, open drain-likethingy, with hardly any water, lots of cows, clothes drying and a few children 'swimming' in the 'Black See'! Indian city, at its best!
Luckily, the anguish disappeared as we were past the mightygates of Hotel North Gate, a 3 * luxury we'd bask in for the next 6days! A word about the hotel, on hindsight - it's clean, the rooms are good, asis the AC, the view is "Whattt!", the menu is good (for less than a week),buffet is too-much-colour&oil-for-too-much-money, room service respondswith Yank greetings followed by a series of "Saaar"...from respect, admiration, discomfort, confusion, distress to...sheer agony! So take your chances with your Tamil! Whew...But the ratesare a steal, with Single rooms (= 2-bedded!) of the best kind below 1K and thevery central location of the joint.
Before I forget, let me admit that I haven't gone much around the city (sorry!), but you will find the entire thing atthis link, which gives you the whole truth. So check it out for your 'touristy'supplements.
https://madurai.tn.nic.in/tourism.html
In order of my visits, here are my picks and reasons thereof:
1. Madurai MeenakshiAmman Temple:It was out of a senseof sheer duty that I decided to visit the place, which I had seen countlesstimes in South Indian as well as Hindi films, for ages (with a cap at 32years!). I didn't want to take pangaswith any Godly kinds, and I didn'twant to look like Anil Kumble facing Brett Lee, when anyone asked me laterabout IT! You have to slip your shoes under something at the entry, and there isnothing there!
Enter the colourful portals, from under carved, faded and re-painted sculptures- on ceilings, doors and walls, and, you are in a dinghy corridor with granitewalls. Carved and curved bodies of humans as well as other living organismsattached to the umbilical cords of Hindu mythology are all around. Go furtherand you find shops selling bric-bracs and elephants accepting currecny in theirtrunks in lieu of 'blessings', which you find many 'devotees'humbly accepting (ormaybe it's the weight of the trunk causing the bent torso!).
Go still further into the incense&oil smelling smoke and you lose track ofthe outside world. Folks, that is whenI lost track of my earlierfeelings of apathy. The sheer magnitude and beauty of the ageing architectureall around is overpowering. You've to be a good, devout Hindu, to keep youreyes of walls and on Gods! And, you have to be Real Good (sorry for thinking ofthe Godrej Chicken here!) to figure out the many routes and Godly identitiesinside! For anyone who is in doubt about Hindus being polytheist, all it needsis one trip here! Despite my conservative and semi-religiousupbringing (still can rattle more shlokas than any average Brahmin Joe!),Icould only place less than 30% of the inhabitants. Apart from all this, thereis an awesome 1000-pillar hall within the precincts of the temple. The experience, for me, was just profound. I saw similar expressions on the faces of theforeigners nearby too. You can now well guess the 'state' of the good, devoutHindu who would find himself in here! A hurried tour inside takes no less than70 minutes!
For further info on this site, check out the following link
https://madurai.com/meena.htm
Gandhi Museum:It was initially the Summer Palace, presumedbuilt in 1700, later converted to what it is today. I walked the 2 km from the Templeto this place, primarily to prepare myself to polish off the buffet lunch laterthat noon, when I would be back at the Hotel!! The entry is free, as in theother 4 Gandhi Museums (the others are at Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata &all 5 come under the Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi). My 'oh-so-dekha-hua' turnedto patriotism and a sense of ignorance of history when I saw some foreigners actually studying the History Charts of the Freedom struggle, repletewith photographs. I retraced my steps slowly to the entrance and began again!Suffices to say, I know the history well enough now to take on the likes ofHarsh and Daya on their own turfs!! By the way, there is a donation counterwhere you can contribute some denomination of 'Gandhi' towards theupkeep. I did, and talked up the elderly gentleman while his aide was changingmy currency to smaller ones! I was shown an 'exclusive' staircase up to thetop, where there was a Birla-Mandir-like mandap, from where you get quite ascenic view of Madurai! I exited ahungry man, though the spirit felt satiated, what with almost 30-odd originalitems used by The Gandhi stored in there, including his blood-stained dhotiworn when he was assassinated. You do feel a very undescribably strong emotionwhen you are in there, believe me. For more, visit https://madurai.com/gandhi.htm
Thirumalai Nayak Palace:I am bad at history, so please read the correct genat the following link.
https://madurai.com/palace.htm
What I can sayis that it has decent interiors and architecture. There also is a Light& Sound show. If you've been to one earlier, skip this, please!
Some General Stuff onWhat-Else:I always believed thatthe nearest near-misses ever on any road could be had in the back seat of arick outside Thane or Kandivli railway stations! That was until Madurai'syellows had me! The extent of control these guys have is more than I have onthe whereabouts of my longish nose! You'll expect metallic bangs every 100m,but it never happens! Strangely!
The climate now is dry and hot, and even a seasoned guy like mehad the going tough. Try to visit during Nov-Feb, if you lack AC body suits!
Kodaikanal, the lesser famed but better cousin of Ooty is 3 hours away fromhere.
That's my take on Madurai for you. Now, what you do with this info is all uptoyou! It's worth a visit, if the Auto had your adrenaline pumping, theTemple had you Praying or the Museum had you all mushy! Only wish it wasn't this mad!
