Many A Sadhu In Tamil Nadu

Trip Start Sep 29, 2007
1
189
221
Trip End Ongoing


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow
Where I stayed
Hotel Tamil nadu
(Tiruchirappalli hotels)

Flag of India  , Tamil Nadu,
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Turns out the chequered jester trousers that a tailor made in Madurai are lucky pants because the state bus was a dream ride from Rameswaram to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy). The bus was a rattler playing Hindi music but the driver was a safe one and the conductor was gold storing the backpack up front with him and minding it at chai stops.  I was first on so scored my favourite seat and never had to stand up. The bus had no windows so there was fresh air (and dust) all the way. The roads took us through many interesting small villages and farms and all kinds of people were using the bus to get around, the Tamil folk are a friendly kind. The trend for ladies here is to get two really large, gold nose piercings on each nostril. I've started to show them my little diamond nose stud which they think is hilariously funny because it's so small. The train is easier but the state bus makes for a richer experience, you're up close and personal with the locals. The bus has been a good way to get to know the women better too because they are usually up for a chat and you sit very close to them sunset at the temple
sunset at the temple
 . I don't think there are many single white females in these parts or using the state buses in rural areas because people on the streets and at bus stops had the extreme stare bear happening, especially young girls. This is a country where it's rude not to stare and i must look very very white. I give them a huge smile back which makes them giggle and drop their jaws in excitement. Sometimes i blow kisses or get monkey out for a dance. Sometimes the whole bus will watch me and my journey, what i eat, what i take pictures of etc. Being the only white person makes me feel more like an adventurer somehow, like i'm in the real deal India. A feral, stuffed toy babboon with dreadlocks was swinging off his rear vision mirror perch as the driver rounded corners like a champion, it was a good day on the road.

Once in Trichy i ate noodles at the Banana Leaf restaurant and checked into the Tamil Nadu Hotel which was in the junction and over-priced but i couldn't be bothered trekking around with my pack on. The ladies in the restaurant were so fascinated by my clothes and sunglasses that they sat at the table and watched me eat. The next night they asked me to take their photograph and then everyone elses, the waiters, the boss etc. Everybody loves a digital camera especially the children who love to see their faces on screen. Sometimes i go wild and let loose with the video camera then surprise them with it and tell them they will be Bollywood stars someday. I've been taking more and more photos of the people now, they fascinate me to no end. I could stare at them staring at me all day. They're simply wonderful. It's easy to get shots, people ask you to take them on the street. Some people haven't been photgraphed before and are not sure what to do in front of the lens so they give a stern look and i have to remind them to smile. The general conversation i have multiple times a day contains the  questions what is your name? you are coming from? where are you going? how many days here? then are you married?

A good trick for the solo traveller is to pull the sheets off your double bed and find that there are always two single matresses underneath then you drag one on top of the other and wallah temples in the middle of the city
temples in the middle of the city
 ! you have a mattress that's 4cm instead of 2cm thick. It's hot as hell here and a dirty, noisy, sprawling city. We had bought Mono Loco a new outfit in the temple in Madurai that was a gold chest plate and turban hat so he didn't really want to take it off and i folded and let him sleep in it. He really misses his other mum because i don't let him eat candy because it's not sattvic (pure). Maybe i should join the crew at Sadhana Forest before i am more insane with my only friend being a monkey and the Starry -Eyed Sue meditation cushion.

I spent some time researching my next few weeks on the internet and tying up some loose ends then ventured out on the local city bus to climb the steps of the rock fort temples Sri Thayumanaswamy and Vinayaka Temple. I managed to score an el cheapo watch with alarm clock from a vendor near the entrance. I stopped to share a chai with the a crew of painters and the people who were selling various things from toy bears clanging cymbols together and fairy floss to plastic princess crowns and faux Dolce & Gabbana belts. The temples are perched high up on a  massive rocky outcrop and you are required to walk up many steps to reach the summit temple which i was happy to find out is dedicated to Ganesha. The elephant man seems to be showing up for me quite alot lately clearing all the obstacles and all that jazz. Non-Hindus are not supposed to enter the temples but for some reason the priest invited me in for a small donation and i recieved a blessing and powder on the forehead inside a state bus
inside a state bus
 . I had a sense that i had to do it and was glad that the priest had let me in. I am regretting slightly that i didn't go for the water dunk at Rameswaram and have made a mental note to sat yes to opportunities like that in the future.  I accidentally stood put my right barefoot in some feral water trough at the summit temple, um.... not sure what was in there but i got my foot out right away and had to let it dry. At the bottom i gave all my coins to the beggars and disabled people lined up along the walls at the entrance. I ate an onion oothupuram which is a rice flour and coconut pancake and I bought some halwa, a turkish delight type sweet made from vegetabls, cereal, nuts and fruit, i'm back on the food trail.

I have only seen a total of three tourists here in Trichy and i can't really work out why there's not more, it's a real Indian city where you get the whole mix of the daily life and the temples are a little different. It's one of  those cities where your eyes can be taking in multiple random scenes and happenings all at once in one glance and you never know what surprises are coming next. Anything can happen on the streets of India, i love it. In Trichy i started to feel very comfortable amongst the locals and feel quite immersed now. I've always felt at home here but something has changed, i feel a deeper love for the people and i feel very safe. The Indian people are by far the coolest cats in the world, my heart hurts thinking about them and their smiles church near temple
church near temple
 . The children get me very emotional, their spirits are very high. They overwhelm me. Everything feels authentic and i'm now seeing things i never noticed before as i walk down the street. I'm learning to communicate using the right words too, rewards that come with time invested here. Travel is getting easier here because i'm learning the people. I read somewhere that Indians have  a deep connection with their inner child and that all you have to do is make their eyes twinkle. They love to laugh and love play time, they live in the moment in joy. I have also learned that it's a country of extremes and that it's good to mix the travel up a bit by going out into the real India then coming back in to see another white person every now and then. This is my kind of country and i'm now absolutely certain i was living here in a past life. India has me hook, line and sinker.

The public bus i took from Trichy to Ponducherry had a tv that worked so as we hurtled down the road like a nuthouse on wheels we listened to the crazy Bollywood movie at full power volume as a soundtrack. I had scored the driver groupie seat, the single one next to the driver with good leg room (for my pack), a good view out the windscreen and in the crash zone. All my Indian bus dreams had come true. With this many temples around the state there are many sadhus and wanderers along the sides of the road and i sometimes throw them a rupee or two, they do look hungry and i admire them for renouncing everything and giving themselves over to the spiritual path smiling painter
smiling painter
 . There are no female sadhus as i have seen. Sometimes i feel like one.

The bus stations in rural towns are mostly of the same design and have this feral, open air piss trough for men, sometimes it's like a moat all the way around the station so all of them smell like hot wee and it makes a wait at the bus station all that more exciting. I saw a roadworks sign today that read 'Men At Work' but as usual, right next to the sign were all the workers who were women in those chain gang lines where they carry heavy loads of rocks, bricks or soil in a wok shaped container on top of their heads. Very hard work. There was also alot of land clearing being done by hand.

My temple hopping in Tamil Nadu has come to a stop for now but i do plan to do a day trip from Auroville to Chidambaram for the Shiva cosmic dancer temple.

So, I'm off to Sadhana Forest, an organic farming community in Auroville to work for two weeks with some beautiful pixie people.
Slideshow Print this entry