Southern India 2012: Day 15 Sun. Dec. 2

the winning cricket team in the park

Before we began our city tour of Thanjanvur, we were treated by a surprise visit from the Deputy Minister of Tamilnadu province, the political leader from the socialist party on the left, not currently in power. He was accompanied by many security men, other politicians, the press, and the military, carrying rifles. The lobby was a frantic place, kind of like a “Ballywood” movie.

all granite

art in the park

We departed for the Brihadeeswarar Temple, which was carved out of granite in the year 1010 AD. The temple had a monolithic solid granite block on top, weighing 82 tons. The workmen built a long wooden 6 mile long ramp and covered it with sand. They used 90 elephants to pull the dome to the top, which was 187 feet off the ground. We did enter the chamber at the bottom to receive a blessing from god Shiva of white ash. Oh, there was also a monolithic 25 ton black granite bull sitting in the middle of the park. This was Shiva’s mod of transportation. There were a group of holy men sitting on the grass around a fire, chanting and throwing seeds on the flames. The lead guru was chanting and texting on his cell phone. This was a bit weird to experience. It was a beautiful afternoon and we sat for a while under a fragipani tree and enjoyed the people. We stopped to pick up our shoes from the shoeman who took his job very seriously. Organizing thousands of people’s shoes could cause this man a lot of stress.

Sue and Milla outside the bronze Shiva art gallery. Paint was splashed over the windows.

2 bronze statues

chatting about Canada

Shiva needs a hand.

elephants love to bless Kathy

typical temple worshippers

This city, as many others in India, has a palace and that was our next stop. It was built in 1550. We went to see the King’s bronze statues and painted ceilings, which were created from precious stones + gold and silver. Sue and Milla are pictured standing in front of a small elephant under bamboo scaffolding in front of the dirty palace. The washroom at the palace was very disgusting, but when you got to go, you just do it. On the way out of the palace, we witnessed some men carving sitars from neem wood. We were all very tired but we did stop one more time at a artisan’s house to see him create a bronze-alloy-carving from scratch. His statues were made from gold, silver, lead, zinc, and copper. Sue purchased a “Shiva” statue. It will look nice on her mantle next to her “statue of David”.

beggar women outside the ubeat church having lunch

Nandi, Shiva's bull, watches over the tallest heaviest chakara.

All this sightseeing was done before lunch. After a spaghetti with cream sauce lunch at the hotel, Sue and Rob took their own tuk tuk adventure around the city to see the “real” sights. The most fun was at the ball park, where Rob played cricket with the teen boys. Check out the winning team photo! Kathy and Milla also had a great adventure on a Tuk Tuk ride. They decided to run errands in Thanjavur better known as Tanjore. The ATM machines were all out of money, but the cigarette and liquor stores had what was needed. Kathy then, headed off on her own to yet another ATM machine and no luck was had. She did meet a lot of great people on the way willing to direct her in her search. When she got back to the hotel, a wedding was in progress. Trees surrounding the hotel were lit up. Fireworks were in the air and motorcycles were everywhere. A happy bride and groom were spotted along with guests eating dinner around the pool area. This must have been a “love” wedding.

We have to get up early tomorrow for an 8 hour drive to a seaside town where Sue expects to buy many gold bars cheap.

bronze maker