Kanchipuram - and onwards

Day Three - 6th February 2019

Kanchipuram and on to Chettinad

We had arranged a taxi through the hotel the previous evening and informed them that we would be leaving earlier than planned, so checking out and paying by card proved no problem. 

The route to Kanchipuram was our first journey through Indian countryside, and proved no less exciting than our journey from the hotel  I was struck by the number of police check points (unmanned), and by the road-side workshops, mostly, it seemed, making religious statues.  Who buys all these? .  

What we had not done was look up temple opening times - most were closed for an extended midday break. Nor had we checked where the saree making workshops were, putting our sightseeing in the hands of the driver. These were our two goals for the day.

Kanchipuram

In Vaishnavism Hindu theology, Kanchipuram is one of the seven Tirtha (pilgrimage) sites, for spiritual release, and also a holy pilgrimage site in Shaivism, so was high on our list of places to go.  Arriving in the town, as we approached the Kamakshi Amman Temple, we were informed that it was closed!  The driver suggested we use the time til it was opened to visit the saree workshop we had asked to see. This proved to be a shop, from which the driver derived commission.  There was a loom in a backshop for disappointed travelers to view, but it was not a working one.  An Indian family were sitting on the floor reviewing sarees of beautiful material, but otherwise we were the only ones there, and held captive til F. had been dressed in fine cloths. We bought some shawls and left.  There followed a long discussion with the driver and shop staff about the workshops.  The city is well known for its hand woven silk sarees and most of the city's workforce is involved in the weaving industry, so we expected no problems,  but the easy way out was found and we were informed that they were closed on Wednesdays.

A thali meal

It was, however, time for lunch, and it here that we experienced our first thali meal.  In Tamil Nadu, thali meals are served on plates as well as on a banana leaf. Considered to be the birthplace of the elaborate sappadu (meal), most restaurants in Tamil Nadu offer a vegetarian thali that has sambar, rasam, poriyal. kootu, kara kozhambu, pappadam, keerai, payasam, to name a few. If you are not sure what to choose from the menu, this is the answer.

All restaurants seemed to provide a sink in the dining area for hand washing before and after a meal.  We had been warned by a friend, also a careful person, of the dangers of eating 'local', who herself had become dangerously ill, so were careful and experienced no problems.  Our driver, who had recommended the dish, ate with his fingers, but we opted for a fork. All of us drank bottled water, breaking the seal ourselves.

Kailasanatha Temple

It was now time to visit a couple of temples.  Our first stop was the Kailasanatha Temple,  the oldest structure in Kanchipuram. The temple was built from 685-705CE by a Rajasimha (Narasimhavarman II) ruler of the Pallava Dynasty. The structure contains 58 small shrines which are dedicated to various forms of Shiva.  I am not sure that we found them all!

We arrived at the second with some time in hand as it was not due to open til 4pm.  We had been advised that photography was not allowed in the Varadaraja Perumal Temple, so left our camera in the car. Paying to have our footwear looked after by a young boy (the only time we were asked to do this), we entered the temple complex. There were notices about paying to enter, but we found nowhere to pay.  

Varadaraja Perumal Temple

The main temple block is only open to Hindu worshipers, we discovered after a while of sitting waiting with many Indian tourists (We saw no other Europeans today).  However, an apparently helpful 'guide' took us off to see the marriage rooms, a 100 pillar building within the complex.  After an interesting tour of the building we were persuaded to leave a gift behind a dish, and then to tip the guide. We did not rush our visit although the guide tried to chivvy us along, and it soon became apparent why.  It was official opening time, and the ticket collectors had set up in the entrance.  We now had to pay to get out - and presumably the guide picked up our gift!

Our original plan for this day had been to return to our hotel, but now involved travelling overnight to Chettinad, our next planned stop.

Our taxi took us from Kanchipuram to the Perumgalathur bus station, in Chennai.  

Perungulathur is the main bus boarding station for passengers to reach all southern cities of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  It lies alongside a busy highway and the main railway line.  This is an incredibly busy place where one has first to identify the bus company's stance, and then negotiate the traffic to get on the bus at the appointed time.  In our case, when it eventually arrived, it stopped on the highway, causing traffic to back up and leaving us to negotiate the traffic to reach it. Fortunately, the company representative looked after us well, making sure we did not get run over, got on the right bus and showed us the correct bunk.  It was then a question of making sure the driver would wake us when we reached our stop (assuming we actually got to sleep, which we did).

A 2+1 sleeper bus

We had booked a double bunk (Not sure that we actually knew that!) in a 2+1 sleeper coach. which has a double bunk on one side, upper and lower, and single bunks on the other side.  The bus had air conditioning which made the blanket supplied essential.

Our tickets cost almost Rs 1,000 each including agents booking fee - about £11 for the 420km trip.

We left Chennai at about 9:30pm and arrived in Karaikudi in the early hours of 7th February. There was one stop along the way, and then we were in a near empty bus station wondering how to get from there to our hotel in the village of Kandukathan.  Karaikudi also has a mainline station to which we would later return to buy tickets for the next stage of our journey.  

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