We were reflecting that we’ve now been here for a week, and are totally blown away. It is amazing how quickly we’ve settled into the rhythm, the noise and smells (me), openness and friendliness of the people, the warmth, and especially the food.
Firstly, before we left we were given a tour round the hotel by the head waiter, who clearly loves his job and the house.
Can’t remember half the details he told us, but the one bit I do remember is that the enormous wooden pillars in the entrance come from Burma. The way they were transported over 100 years ago was to drop tree trunks into the see, and 2-3 months later they would wash ashore and be collected. Simple.
A quick stop at the Ghandi Museum – Madurai was one of the many significant places.
Hotel is ok – private pool!
Tour of the Palace:
And then on to the main event of the day, and one of the highlights of the holiday, namely Madurai Temple. It is the most important, although not the biggest. A great guide who was knowledgeable, spoke terrific English, and was also entertaining.
No cameras allowed, so this was all I could get:
So thanks to Google Images for the next 2!
Describing it, though, defeats me utterly. All a mishmash of stories, sights, Hinduism, people milling about, so nothing more here. Instead a few random bits and pieces from the day:
No adultery in the Temple please.
Nothing allowed in, so no camera, shoes, bag (containing passports and money). View from the queue – crosses my mind if it was an almighty scam we’re in a bit of a mess as I gazed at the view.
Interesting sculpture. If you look inside his mouth there is a ball which is completely loose – but the whole thing was carved out of solid granite – so how did they do it?
Finally, buying a new suitcase:
