REFUGEE

It’s often been said that Tamil Nadu is a mini-India, with a little bit of everything that the rest of the country has to offer: rivers,

waterfalls, valleys, seaside , mountains, wildlife, architecture, colour you name it...

Probably the only attraction the state doesn’t have is snow-clad peaks, but trust me, you won’t miss them!

Our fortnight’s trip to this southern state of India only reinforced this India-in-anutshell impression. And I was in a dilemma about what to focus on: the grand architecture or awesome scenic beauty. Given the surfeit of both, two travelogues have emerged, and I’ll first talk about the amazing structures we came across.

Tamil Nadu’s buildings exemplify ‘poetry in stone’ and our first glimpse of this great tradition was at Mahabalipuram, 60 km from Chennai, down the eastern coastal highway. It began in the 7th century as a port of the Pallava dynasty, named after its great king Mamalla, and hence the local name was Mamallapuram.

I wasn’t at all surprised that it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, as this architecturally lyrical ancient city has practically the entire epic of Mahabharata carved in stone.... Those who say that graphic novels are a 21st century phenomenon should have a dekko of the 1200-year-old carvings at Mahabalipuram!

The landmark is, of course, the magnificent Shore Temple, believed to be the lone survivor of the seven magnificent structures. Even the remaining one bears the evidence of the eroding effects of the salt-laden winds and pounding waves of the Bay of Bengal.

Despite that, the area is adorned by carved stones depicting the Mahabharata, starting from a group of five chariots called the ‘Panch Rath’ belonging to the Pandavas to a unique carving of Arjuna’s penance. Other enclaves are dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar.

Difficult as it was to tear ourselves away from Mahabalipuram’s grandeur, our next stop was Kanchipuram, (one of the holiest sites of India), the “city of a thousand temples” . True, we didn’t have the time to check out all 1000 of them, but like most people, we made it a point to visit the Ekambaranath temple with its grand ‘gopuram’ or gateway.

While Chidambaram, Sri Kalahasti, Thiruvannamalai and the Thiruvanaikoli represent the sky, air, fire and water respectively, Ekambaranath symbolizes the element of earth. Our next stop was the temple town of Madurai. The gigantic Meenakshi Amman temple’s presence is felt throughout the entire town, and the air is thick with the aroma of the flower and incense sticks sold by vendors at every corner. The temple complex is enormous. The halls, ponds, pillars and even museums of this Shiv-Durga temple is absolutely stunning.

There are twelve massive gopurams, each rising from solid granite bases and are intricately decorated with stucco figures of mythical creatures, all vibrantly coloured. Inside the complex is the mind boggling ‘hall of thousand pillars’ with each pillar carved differently. t was almost impossible to get a full length photograph of the hall as it is always crowded by visitors and devotees. There is also a museum

that displays photos, drawings and thousand year old relics. And the musical pillars are amazing: when struck, each pillar actually emits a musical note!

To see an entirely different structure, we went to the tip of India’s mainland, Kanyakumari, to see the waters of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal meet. It has many temples, but Kanyakumari’s main attraction is the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. The breathtaking structure stands silhouetted against the Bay of Bengal, with waves mercilessly lashing its walls. But it has withstood it all — even the tsunami of 2004.

Regular ferry services operate between the shore and the memorial. The rock, a couple of hundred metres from the shore is considered sacred as Hindus believe it was blessed by Kanya Kumarika, the virgin goddess. Swami Vivekananda had come there in 1892 to meditate before he set out on his famed tour to spread the message of Hindusim to the western world.

There are two pavilions on the rock, one of which is for Swami Vivekananda. It comprises a meditation and an assembly hall built in traditional Indian temple style. There is also a beautiful statue of him inside . As photography is in the Vivekananda memorial we had to be content taking photos of the exterior and the seascape....

We returned at dusk to watch the sun setting on the waves. It was dramatic: the entire sky seemed to be ablaze with colour. The temperature dropped and a cool wind swept our faces. Mesmerised, we watched as the colours quietened eventually and the big round red ball dipped peacefully below the horizon bathing the soft waves of the three seas with a mellow glow. Then the moon took centre stage and the waves turned silver!

Suddenly there was clapping. We came out of our trance to see that thousands of people had gathered around us to watch this wonderful sunset too! With such natural grandeur around, no wonder Tamil Nadu’s ancient kings and architects had been inspired to think on a grand scale too!