Southern India
Chennai
Leisurely breakfast followed by a relaxing morning by the pool before meeting up with the rest of the group for an afternoon tour of the city of Chennai (Madras). First we visited the city museum where we saw a collection of bronze statues and stone carvings mainly of the Hindu gods, principally Shiva. From here we moved on to Fort George which was the British military base from way back and we saw a collection of weapons and military uniforms. Also there was St. Mary’s church which is the oldest Anglican Church east of Suez. From here it was a short drive along the coast of the Bay of Bengal to visit the church of St Thomas. 2000 years ago St Thomas (doubting Thomas) came to India and died here. The current church only dates from the 1800’s, but there had been an earlier church there before and we descended into the crypt which contains the grave of the Saint. The final part of the tour was a visit to the 13 km long beach ( just like Seamills apparently) where we were amused by the rides for the children. Back to the hotel for another spicy meal and a beer. Out of the air conditioned restaurant back into the heat at 10pm and watched the bats flying by the side of the swimming pool. Onto our next destination in the morning so our alarm set for 6.30!
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Temples Of Kanchipurum
A two hour drive this morning took us to the city of Kanchipuram. On the way we were reminded of our previous visit to India as we watched the motorbikes with upto 5 people on one bike, the cows in the middle of the road, the roadside shrines, bullock carts, and all the other sights and sounds which characterise the country for us. The city has over 100 temples , mostly dedicated to either the god Shiva – the destroyer (of evil) or Vishnu – the protector. The first of the two temples we visited dates back to the 16th century and covers a vast area and was full of pilgrims and tourists. The tall entrance way dominates the landscape (13 stories high if I remember right) and elaborately decorated. The temple itself is full of massive granite columns which are heavily decorated with sculptures of the gods, goddesses, musicians and dancers. After lunch we visited a second and older temple which dates back to the 8th century. This one was much smaller, different in construction and decoration, and was also no longer a working temple. There were still traces of painting on some of the sculptures. The other thing the city is famous for is its silk weavers. The silk itself is brought in from another part of India, but the weaving takes place here and we had a short visit to a family workshop and their retail outlet, ( not tempted to buy, but some lovely items). Then it was another couple of hours on the bus to drive to our hotel for the next two nights in Mahabalipuram. A lovely hotel with our room opening onto a balcony overlooking the largest swimming pool in South East Asia – we are looking forward to a swim tomorrow.
Temples Of Mahabalipuram
A short 10 minute drive from the hotel to the first of our stops this morning. This city was a centre of stone carving and huge solid rocks of granite (many metres tall and long) were used to showcase designs for temple architecture. The first site we looked at was carved about 1500 years ago in the 6th century and amongst other things showed images of one of the incarnations of the god Vishnu and told the story of how when asked to protect his people and the cows from rain, raised up the height of the mountain to shelter them. Other structures illustrated other tales of the god and one pillar showed the 10 different incarnations of Vishnu as a pig, turtle and various other forms. From here it was another 10 minute drive to see the Five Rathas. The word Ratha means wagon or carriage which the temples here resemble. The five Rathas together with various animals (notably a particularly fine elephant) were carved from one single rock which must have been immense and it must have taken many years to cut and sculpt the granite. After a short break in a local coffee shop we finished the morning’s tour at a small temple at the sea shore. There were at one time five temples here but only one now survives and the sculptures are very weathered. The existence of the other four temples was only proved in 2004 when the tsunami revealed their presence under the sea, which now again covers them (archaeological investigation continues). Then it was back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon which we spent walking down to the beach for a paddle in the sea and a swim in the hotel pool. Tonight we are going to eat in the hotel’s seafood restaurant (vegetarians catered for – we checked!) down at the seashore. Alarm set for 6.30 am again tomorrow as we leave for our next destination.
Drive To Tanjore
Our day started with a 2 hour drive to Pondicherry. The temperature so far has been hot around 32 degrees, but this is sometimes uncomfortable as the humidity has been quite high. This will change later in the tour when we get to the West coast which is apparently cooler. On the road we stopped to watch a man in the fields with an ox drawn plough and further along saw men harvesting salt from the salt pans. Pondicherry was originally a French colony, and the French influence is seen all over the town – in the street names, police uniforms and styles of architecture. Our first stop in the town was to see a French church and from here we walked along the promenade where we saw a statue of Gandhi. Leaving the waterfront we saw a pleasant park and the governor’s residence and then went to a small museum ( no photographs unfortunately) which had collections of bronze sculptures, coins and French period furniture. This took us up to a very good lunch to prepare us for the 4 hour drive to Tanjore. The drive was through a very rural area, passing through a few small towns. Landscape is fairly flat with paddy fields of rice and some sugarcane production. We also saw bricks being made and left to dry in the sun. Crossing one of the rivers we saw many crocodiles and were disturbed to see men bathing in the same stretch of water. Arrived at the hotel just after 6 pm to be greeted with strongly scented garlands of flowers and marks placed on our foreheads. Lovely location by the side of the river but this does mean lots of mosquitos!
Tour Of Tanjore
Once again we were among the first people down for breakfast where we sat on the terrace and watched ox drawn carts crossing the river where the drivers were collecting sand. Our tour started with another temple visit. This was a big complex, surrounded by a defensive wall and with a succession of gateways. Construction started in 1002 but continued with later additions. The gateways had many carvings of the god Shiva and told some of the stories of him. Shiva was a great dancer and many of the images of him show him in various dancing poses. Today’s story told of his wife Parvetha challenging him to a dancing competition. During the dance, Shiva’s earring fell off and while continuing to dance he picked it up with his foot and replaced it in his ear. Parvetha immediately declared him to be the winner for his superior footwork. We spent an hour or two exploring the main temple and the smaller ones around it. Agin many elaborate carvings. At the top of the main temple is a big gooseberry shaped ball made of granite weighing many tons. A ramp had to be made to enable elephants to drag this construction to the top of the temple. Our second stop in Tanjore was the Palace, where we saw another collection of bronze statues, many dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries and in the main part of the palace we saw the elaborately decorated chamber where the Maharajah would hold his audiences, very beautiful. After a light lunch,we had a 3.5hour drive along the motorway to our destination for the next two nights in Maduri. The landscape has started to change and we could see more hills in the mid distance. One of the unexpected sights on the motorway was to see an elephant being carried on the back of an open truck – not something we often see on the M6!
Tour Of Maduri
On the way down to breakfast this morning we were watching the peacocks as there are many in the grounds of the hotel. We were told that 10 years ago there were three, now there are over forty. Our first visit this morning was to the vast temple complex. The original temple here was dedicated to Shiva, but this was largely destroyed by the Muslims in the 12 century. The sacred shrine survived and the temple complex was rebuilt in the 15th century and is now dedicated to Shiva’s wife, Parvetha. There are now separate shrines to the god and goddess. Each night the statue is taken from Shiva’s shrine and taken to be placed alongside that of his wife in Parvetha’s shrine. There were very strict rules governing our entrance to the temple, no hats, shoes, shorts, socks, knives or cameras (but we were allowed to take photos with our phones); the women had their clothing adjusted to ensure they were modestly dressed. The temple has 14 gateways which are very tall and elaborately decorated – they are repainted every 8 years. The pillars were made of single pieces of granite and were elaborately carved with images of gods and mythical animals. The sights, sounds and scents of the temple made for a very nice experience. On the way out we explored the hall of 1000 columns, again richly carved and decorated. After this we had a bicycle rickshaw ride round the market area of the city (did wonder if our travel insurance covered us for this as the policy excludes hazardous sports and activities!). Lovely smells from the area selling spices, streets full of different types of onions, pots and pans sellers. Saw a lot of deliveries being made by bicycles modified to form a small truck – some of the men were having to cycle with very heavy loads ( including our rickshaw driver). From here we visited another palace, where we saw the room where the Maharajah held his audiences, and a second room which was used for dancing. After lunch, our final stop for the day was to visit the Gandhi memorial museum. Here we saw some of the history of the British in India and the independence movement as well as the personal history of Gandhi. Tomorrow we leave the state of Tamil Nadu and head into Kerula -the spice state.
Entry Into Kerala – The Land Of Spice
A four or five hour drive this morning took us to Periyar where we will spend tonight. The journey took us through coconut plantations , rice fields and then as we neared the mountains we saw grapes being grown. We stopped along the way to watch a family making bricks. While we were there the work seemed to be predominantly done by the women with the men standing looking on ( presumably supervising). The women earn around 5 pound a day for this which is enough for food but not luxuries. The women take the clay and throw it into a mould which makes 4 bricks at a time, they are then marked with the manufacturer’s mark and air dried before firing in a kiln. We also stopped to watch the local people washing their clothes in the river. The final part of the ride took us up a steep zig zagging road, with superb views through the trees to the valley below. There was a new hazard on the road today, a monkey sitting in the road which refused to move until the last possible moment. The hotel (the spice garden is high up on the mountain side, so it’s a lot cooler here. We were treated with tea flavoured with home grown herbs. The rooms are in the form of bungalows scattered around the grounds which are full of spice trees – as you walk around the scents are amazing. Later this afternoon we are going to see a demonstration of the local form of martial arts. We did notice that one of the types of massage available in the hotel is based on this form of martial art (almost tempted to try it just to see!). Tomorrow we are due to get up early for a visit to the park before breakfast, so alarms are set for 6 am.
Periyar National Park And Drive To Kumarakom
Left the hotel at 6.30 for a 15 minute drive to the entrance to the park. Hadn’t realised until then that we were being taken for a walk in a tiger reserve. To start the walk we first had to cross a river which was accomplished by means of a bamboo raft.  This consisted of about 8 or 9 pieces of bamboo lashed together and could carry 6 people plus guides all standing up for each crossing. Took a little bit of balancing but we made it safely. The park was originally home to native people, but when the park was formed they had to move out, but many have been given employment as park guides, security men or Rangers.( Poaching was a problem in the past). We didn’t see many animals or birds but we could hear them all around us. We saw evidence that elephants had passed by recently in the form of droppings and damage to tree trunks. We saw some monkeys high up in the trees and also a giant squirrel. There were interesting trees, the trunk of one looked like a cobra, another was growing like a twisted vine which would strangle other trees. After breakfast we began our journey back down the mountain from about 1000 metres to sea level. Another winding road with sharp twists and turns, first passing through coffee plantations and then a  tea growing area with lush green vegetation. Coconuts form an essential ingredient of cooking in this area and we were told that they are training monkeys to go up the trees and harvest the nuts. The region we were entering has a high proportion of Christians and we have seen a lot of churches and church-run schools today. It is also a rich part of India and we saw a big difference in the quality of the shops in town and some of the housing developments. A late lunch was provided for us in the bungalow of a very friendly elderly couple, in their eighties they had been married over 60 years. They run a rubber plantation and we were shown the collection of latex from the trees and had an explanation of the subsequent processing. We also saw pineapples growing, and sampled some mace and smelt some cinnamon bark cut straight from the tree. When we got to Kumarakom we saw some of the canals and the rice boats similar to the ones we will be staying on tomorrow. We had a short 10 minute boat ride to take us to our current hotel and as soon as we arrived set off on another boat for a sunset cruise. Unfortunately heavy cloud meant we didn’t see
Rice Boats and the Kerala Backwaters
A leisurely breakfast this morning as our day on the rice boat was due to begin at midday. Although the boats are now built for us tourists the design is that which was, and still is, used for transporting rice on the waterways. The rice fields here and the houses are actually below sea level, but the banks of the waterways are built up to reduce the risk of flooding. We had a welcome drink of fresh coconut water and were promptly underway. Lunch was surged with a variety of local home style curries which included some beautifully cooked fish. There were six people plus a crew of three on each boat. Mid afternoon we transferred to a motorised canoe for a gentle ride through the backwaters. We returned to the boat and moored up for the night just in time to watch the sunset. Then it was time for dinner and more home style cooking. A pleasant end to a most relaxing day.
Cochin City Tour
While we had breakfast the boat sailed and took us to rejoin our bus, and then we had a two and a half hour journey to get to Cochin. On the bus we were told the mythical story of the formation of the land of Kerala. Originally the mountains dropped straight down and into the sea, but the god Vishnu was asked to create new land. He threw his axe far away into the sea and land was created between the mountains and the spot in the sea where his axe fell. As well as spices this is the land of coconuts and this forms an essential ingredient of most or all of the cooking. We broke the journey for a brief visit to see a factory making coir mats. Coir Is made from the fibres of the shell of the coconut; the fibres are wound together to form strands which are wound together to form cords which are then woven to form mats and carpets. We arrived at our hotel in time for lunch after which we had a city tour. The hotel is situated on a man made island which was created by the British in the 1920’s from the soil which had been excavated during the formation of a new harbour. Our first stop on the tour was a palace which was originally made for the local King by the Portuguese as an apology for ransacking a temple. Later the Portuguese got kicked out by the Dutch who remodelled the palace ( later of course the British kicked out the Dutch). We saw the throne room with some of the old carriages in it and then went into the next room which had some beautiful and detailed wall paintings dating to the 1600’s. These murals told stories of Vishnu from one of the epic Indian books. Also in the palace we saw some of the portraits of the Mararajahs and learned more of the history of the royal family. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs of the palace or of the next place we visited – the Jewish Synagogue. The size of the Jewish population in the city has declined and the synagogue has a congregation of only 13 ( apparently there has to be at least ten people to form a congregation. It was built by the Dutch and the floor was composed of blue and white tiles showing scenes which at first sight appeared identical, but each one was unique. We did get some photos of the streets in this area which is known as Jew Town full of tourist shops and shopkeepers trying to entice you into their store – “I’ll give you a good discount because you have got a nice moustache” and “your friends are in my shop, come, in come in”. From here we visited a church which was originally built as a Catholic Church by the Portuguese, then became Protestant under the Dutch and then an Anglican Church when the British came along. A notable feature of the church are the punkas ( the cloth fans suspended from the roof, and swung by the punk’s whallas pulling on ropes outside the church building). The final stop was the Chinese fishing nets – it was fun to watch the fish sellers and the shoppers arguing about the price of fish! The evening finished with a visit to a local’s house where we were giving a cookery demonstration and a lovely meal. This coincided with one of the groups birthday so a cake and candles appeared much to her surprise.
101 Uses for the Coconut Tree
A lazy start to this morning. Up at 7 am so we could have a leisurely breakfast before this morning’s tour to the agricultural and fishing village of Kumbalanghi. This is on a privately owned island. A short bus ride took us to the waterside where a small boat was waiting for us. Two men punted us across to the island where we were greeted with a drink of fresh coconut water from the green coconut and then it was on to see the village fish and crab farm and a demonstration of casting the fishing nets for the crabs and fish. Our local guide grew up on this island and is studying to become an optometrist. She has returned here to complete her exams as currently she is working in Specsavers in Woolwich, London! Next it was back to the coconuts . We saw the husk removed from the coconut, the nut cracked open and another taste of the coconut water and of the flesh of the coconut. The flash wash is then shredded ( another taste) and mixed with water to make coconut milk (also tasted). Then on to see the coconut fibres being collected and after softening in water for several months, being wound together to make a rope. With the leaves of the coconut we saw demonstrations of basket weaving and weaving of roofing materials. The central vein of the leaves could be stripped out and bound together to make brushes and brooms. Another use of the coconut fibres was to make some very fine necklaces and earrings (very lightweight). A scary sight was watching a man climb the tree to harvest the coconuts, just holding on with his feet and hands and shimmying up. Waste materials from the coconut trees were used as fuel and we saw shellfish being boiled over the fire and sieved to remove the fish from the shell. The shells could be recycled, added to cement for strength. We also had a demonstration of pottery making with pots being thrown on the potter’s wheel in a matter of minutes. A short walk through a garden full of orchids took us to a nice spot overlooking the water where we had our lunchtime curries including one we hadn’t tried before – pineapple curry (surprisingly we really liked it). A short yuk yuk ride returned us to the bus for the ride back to the hotel. This evening we are going to see a demonstration of a local traditional form of dance which dates back to the 16th century. The performance is to last an hour and apparently it also takes an hour for the performers to put on their makeup. We are expecting a colourful evening. Tomorrows 7 hour coach ride has been replaced with 3 hours on the train.
A Travelling Day to Ooty
A Short bus ride to the railway station to catch the 9.10 train to Coimbatore. The journey was about three and a half hours and was quite an experience. The first train we saw was about 30 carriages long and we think ours must have been a similar size. Our carriage had air conditioning which took the temperature down to about 25 degrees. Every few minutes someone would come along the carriage shouldering trays of snacks or different curries or with drinks of coffee or chai (tea). They shouted out what they were selling like a market trader ; we couldn’t always work out what they were calling, but our favourite was “Coffee Offee Offee Coff-ee). A young Indian boy at the other end of the carriage was very taken with John’s beard and kept popping his head up for a look and then hiding – this developed into quite a game. We passed through a largely forested area, with a few towns along the way. Eventually the mountains came into view. By the time we got to Coimbatore we had left Kerala and re-entered Tamil Nadu. We rejoined our coach and travelled for an hour towards the hills and our destination of Ooty. For the next few hours we travelled along another bending route up the side of the Blue Mountain (this included 14 hairpin bends). The mountain is named because of a flower which only blooms every so many years and when it does the mountain appears blue ( next due to happen in 2018). The road has brought us up to a height of 2000 metres, so it is a lot cooler and the locals are wearing cardigans,scarves and woolly hats. Ooty was built as a summer resort for the British so they could escape the Summer heat. The area contains leopards and elephants. We also saw a few monkeys, one of which climbed through our driver’s window, raced through the cab stealing a banana on the way and escaped through the opposite window. After a short visit to the botanical gardens at the end of the day and then on to our hotel. A lovely hotel with our own villa instead of a room. We declined the offer of having the wood fire lit in our bedroom. There was a blazing fire in the dining room when we had dinner – it was just like having lunch in The Drovers!
The Toy Train From Ooty
An 8.30 start after breakfast and a short drive to get the toy train down to Coonoor where we spent time visiting Sim’s Park, a botanical garden. The train is a narrow gauge railway similar to those in Wales. Our train was diesel powered and took about an hour. Didn’t have a lot of time here but it was a pleasant place to be with lovely trees, roses and a boating lake. Later in the year there will be a spectacular display of dahlias. Next it was to drive past tea plantations and a visit to a tea factory, where we saw some of the processing of the tea after harvesting. Apparently in this area a lot of the tea plantations were started by Scottish soldiers. We had a lunchtime curry in another of the heritage hotels and the it was back to the station to continue our journey on the train, this time with a steam locomotive. This second journey was even more scenic than the first and took about two and a half hours. Much steeper than the first journey and with spectacular views of tree plantations and right down into the valley below. Overall the tow journeys took us from a height of over 2000 metres (over 7000feet) down to a little over 300 metres (1000 feet). By now it was 6pm and time to board the bus for the return trip to Ooty on the same road as yesterday with all its bends and hairpin bends, but this time in the dark. We thought today would be a gentle relaxing day but it was quite tiring as we arrived at the hotel at about 9 pm. Time for a very rushed meal, so rather than a curry we opted for veggie burgers and fish and chips.
Bandipur National Park
On our way out of Ooty this morning we made a short stop to visit St Stephen’s church. A lovely building from the 1800’s, very English in style. It had some beautiful (imported) stained glass windows and lots of interesting memorials to British soldiers and their wives and some of the Clergymen. A couple of hours drive along a winding down hill road through beautiful countryside took us out of Tamil Nadu and into the state of Kenataka, and into the National Park. This contains over 400 tigers, it would be lovely to see one! On the way in we did see some elephants , but these were domesticated rather than wild. There were lots of spotted deer and monkeys including some Langurs which have very long tails and a white beard. After our curry at lunchtime we set off on our safari by a rather large jeep, along dusty bumpy trails for a few hours until sunset. We saw lots of spotted deer, a few jungle fowl, some Sambar deer,lots of monkeys, both langurs and macaques. There were peacocks everywhere. We saw a mongoose. Haven’t seen a tiger yet but there was one close to us as there was a mongoose giving a warning and the deer also were alert and warning each other. The highlight were a couple of elephants, in one case it was a mother and its young . We were very close and the mother herded the youngster back into the undergrowth making a few warning noises to us to keep away.
Early Morning Safari and on to Mysore
Up at 5.30 am and saw the sunrise as we started our safari. Didn’t see any tigers, but within a few minutes spotted a female leopard sitting on top of a rock. Watched her for a while before continuing along the bumpy dirt tracks. Not long before we spotted a larger male leopard, but you will have to wait ‘till we get back to the UK to see the pictures. Again we saw lots of deer and peacocks, but also, woodpeckers, a kingfisher, a jungle owlet, a spotted eagle and some jungle fowl. We saw another mongoose and also saw some wild boar as well as more monkeys. All in all a good day in the jungle and worth getting up for! After a late breakfast we set off on the road to the city of Mysore, arriving in time for lunch. This afternoon started with a visit to see the small railway museum, seeing the various locomotives and the maharani’s carriage. From here it was a small ride to start a walking tour of the vegetable and flower market. The entrances have metal bollards designed to stop the cows from wandering in off the street. Watched the garlands of flowers being assembled and saw the large variety of fruit and veg available. A big day tomorrow at the palace.
Mysore Palaces
Late start this morning at 9 am. The population of Mysore is about 1.2 million and it is regarded as the 2nd cleanest city in India – it is certainly a very beautiful place. It has an up and coming economy as the IT industry is spreading to here from Bangalore. Drove through an area which was full of the colonial houses left by the British and the very impressive race course. First stop was a hill top temple where we watched the pilgrims visiting and saw the flower sellers and the priests and then it was down to see a 6 metre high statue of a bull, carved out of a single piece of rock, again a significant place for the Hindus to visit. As we came down the hill, we stopped to take photos of the panoramic view of the city. We spent an hour in an art gallery with wonderful paintings and furniture. Then came the highlight of the morning, the visit to the royal palace. Unfortunately we could only take photos of the exterior, but the interiors were amazing. The original palace was made of wood but this burnt down and was replaced by the present building in 1897. Lots of materials for its construction were brought in from far and wide including the iron work which came from Glasgow. After the usual lunch we drove about 20km out of the city to visit the Summer palace of Tipu Sultan. He was a Muslim who overthrew the King of Mysore and then (supported by the French) fought a series of wars against the British who eventually killed him and restored the control of Mysore to the Muslim kings, towards the end of the 17 hundreds. The building was made of wood and built in a mixture of Hindu and Muslim styles. Inside were incredible wall paintings (again not allowed to photograph inside). About 10 minutes further along the road we drove through the remains of Tipu Sultan’s palace and fort and saw the place where his body was found. At sunset we returned to the main palace in Mysore itself, to see the palace illuminated by 90000 bulbs. This happens every Sunday and was quite a magical effect.
Hassan
After breakfast, we drove for a while to a farming village where we visited the local school, where we had a great welcome from the children. There are a lot of private schools in India, but the government schools are free and provide free meals, free school uniforms and in some cases a bicycle so the children can get to school. Education is not compulsory, but 99 per cent of children go to school. We did see some children in the village who weren’t at school and asked one why he wasn’t there. He became shy and embarrassed, but eventually with a smile decided that it was because his grandfather had died! The school day started with all the children lined up outside the school with one boy at the front calling out commands to sing, stand at attention, while the teachers called out at children who were fidgeting or not paying attention. They sang a song and the national anthem and then welcomed us. We went into one of the classrooms with the younger children who recited the British alphabet, followed by the alphabet in their own local language which contains over 50 letters. They sang and danced for us. We sang “twinkle twinkle little star” to them, which they knew and repeated. We asked them what they wanted to be when they were older, most said the police or teacher, but one boy wanted to become a film star. We continued our journey after visiting the village and arrived at our hotel just in time for lunch. There was a shortage of rooms so we have been upgraded to a suite, so we are living in luxury with a dining room, bed room with a four poster bed and bathroom with a jacuzzi- the suite is immense. In the afternoon we drove to see some more temples. These dated back to the 12th century and were very different to those we had seen before. The first was dedicated to Shiva and was built in soapstone. This is a soft stone which makes it easier to carve, but it hardens with age. The temple is covered with intricate carvings showing tales of the gods, musicians and dancers and wild and mythical animals. The second temple was built a few years earlier and is dedicated to Vishnu. Again many elaborate carvings and a later 16th century gateway. Really enjoyed looking at the carvings and having an explanation of the stories they told.
Drive to Bangalore
After breakfast we were treated to a short magic show which was great fun. One of us got brought out of the audience to participate in one of the tricks. Then it was off on a journey along the motorway to Bangalore. On the wash we stopped to visit a very important Jain Temple and pilgrimage site. This is situated on top of a hill and we had to climb (barefoot or in socks) over 600 steps to get to the top. (The Jains are members of a religion which objects to killing living things, so they sweep the ground in front of them so they don’t tread on any insects, and have a restricted diet, not eating anything that grows below the ground because it might contain worms etc). At the top of the hill, a single piece of granite was carved into a statue of a King. The statue was made in the tenth century and is 57 feet high, possibly the largest statue from a single piece of stone in the world. A brief stop for lunch in a coffee shop then back onto the motorway. On the 7 th March is a large religious festival at a temple dedicated to Shiva and on the way we saw some of the tens of thousands of pilgrims who walk to this festival. Many of them who walk from Bangalore will cover a distance of 350 km over ten days, all on foot. We arrive in Bangalore at about 4 o’clock, just in time for a swim before a 10 course Indian meal for tea. Bangalore is a large city with a population of about ten million. On the way we passed through a very industrial district, the city is a very important base for the IT industry. Tomorrow we will tour the city.
2850
Wondering about the number? 2850 is the number of kilometres we have travelled on the way to Bangalore and the completion of the main part of the trip (by the way that translates as roughly 1782 miles). Our first visit was to a Bull (or Nandi) temple. Another huge statue of a bull carved out of a single piece of granite, the black colour is due to a coating of charcoal and oil. As part of the religious rituals the statues in the temples are washed every morning usually with water, yoghurt, honey or in the case of one statue we saw this morning, butter. From here we went to see the palace of Tipu Sultan ( whose summer palace we saw a few days ago). The construction of the palace was started by his father and is made of teak wood. A beautiful building, but sadly little remains of the original murals. A small museum told us more about Tipu Sultan. He had an intense dislike of the British, he had a huge chair built for his coronation but said he would not sit in it until the British was driven out of the region. We saw a replica of one of his prized possessions ( the original is in the Victoria and Albert museum in London), this is a musical box in the form of a tiger killing a British soldier. Early in the history of warfare he developed rockets which could be launched at the enemy. We saw a replica of one ( a real one can be seen in the Armaments museum at Woolwich Arsenal in London). The rockets could reach a distance of 2.5km and consisted of a sword attached to the base of the rocket, so effectively it was a way of launching swords at a distant enemy. Tipu Sultan was, however, a good and fair administrator of his lands, introducing land reforms to increase productivity and issuing a code of practice for his ministers and civil servants to stop them from cheating the poor. Afterwards we spent an hour in the local botanical gardens, initially laid out by Tipu, but more recently with the help of Kew Gardens, London. We saw some lovely trees, a bandstand and a glasshouse amongst other things. The final stop of this part of the tour was an art gallery attached to an art school. We particularly liked the paintings showing some of the Hindu myths, some very colourful landscape paintings and some leather puppets. Finally it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide, driver and bus boy. Tomorrow we have a wake up call arranged for 4.30 am an then we fly off to Hyderabad for the next part of the trip.
Arrival in Hyderabad
So it was up early for the 50 minute flight to Hyderabad, followed by a similar amount of time to leave the airport car park and again to drive to the city. Completely different deal to the city than Bangalore. Population of about 8 million. It achieved independence from Britain a year later than the rest of India and only after action by the Indian police, but the year did give the ruling King time to remove his money from the country before independence! There was time to settle into the hotel and have lunch before starting the afternoon’s tour. First we went to see the Salar Jung Museum which was founded around the personal collection of a former prime minister. A large museum so we only had time to see some of the highlights of its 48 rooms. We saw an imposing musical clock, lots of ivory, jade and glass. There was an unusual collection of walking sticks with amusing handles. We really enjoyed the visit and would have liked to spend more time there. Then it was on to see the royal palace, the Chowmahalla Palace ( translates as four palaces). Here we saw the Durbar hall where the King held his audiences with his ministers and subjects, and saw various photographs of the royal family. We then went on to see the four constituent palaces, where there were exhibitions of costumes, armour and in the courtyard the Royal cars including a rather grand Rolls Royce. The final part of the tour took in the Mecca Mosque – the second largest mosque in India after the one which we had seen previously in New Delhi. In the same area was the Charminar (translates as four minarets). This is the iconic building of the city and was constructed as a way of giving thanks for the ending of an outbreak of plague in the city. One of the images carved on the face of the building is of a cat, because the cats scared away the rats which carried the plague. We climbed up a steep spiral staircase which took us up to the first floor of the building from where we got a view of the mosque and the surrounding market. This was the end of a long afternoon so it was time to return to the hotel and a welcome drink and curry.
Morning Tour of Hyderabad
Out at 9 am into a hot sunny morning. Our first stop was a Hindu Temple which was only opened in 1976. The temple is built on a hill and constructed in white marble from Rajasthan. Lots of lovely carved panels with illustrations of some of the Hindu myths of the gods. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in the temple complex itself, only from outside. Then we drove off to see the tombs of the royal dynasty which ruled in the 1600’s. There were the tombs of 7 kings together with those of wives and nobles. That of the last king was incomplete because he was defeated by the Moghuls and imprisoned for 14 years. ( The Moghul emperors were subsequently replaced by the royal family whose palaces we saw yesterday – the Nizams). One of the tombs was of the daughter of the 4th King, she was married to the 5 th King and was the mother of the 6 th King. There were small mosques built for the funerals of each, and we also saw the site for the bathing of the bodies of commoners prior to burial. The whole site is being restored which they hope to complete by 2023. Our final visit was to the Fort of Golconda, the fort and palace of the kings whose tombs we had just seen. Lots of steps up to the top for fine views of the city. Tomorrow (Saturday) we are being picked up at 4 am for the drive to the airport and our 7.30 am flight home.
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