Kanyakumari, April 12
Door: rikdegoede
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Rick
12 April 2012 | India, New Delhi
Here I have to stop going south, because there is no more south. Kanyakumari (or Cape Comorin) is where India ends. Unbelievable, but true. There is an end to the chaos, noise, overcrowding and happy public urination. But the Indians do their best to keep it up until the very end. No nice beach resort here, but an overcrowded sea side bazaar. There is a statue of Tamil poet Thiruvallur, 40 meters tall, on a little island in front of the cape. This is where the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal meet. A vast expanse of water lies in front of me.
I hopped from place to place through Tamil Nadu: from Mamallapuram to Thanjavur, then to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), then to Madurai, and now to Kanyakumari. It's not that there are no trains, but they only run during the night or other unpractical times.
The most interesting about Tamil Nadu is its religious zeal. There are temples everywhere and they are incredibly colourful. The bigger ones are covered in thousands of statues of gods and goddesses. I was especially impressed by the big temples of Trichy and Madurai. In those houses of worship, the colourful towers stand above vast shadowy halls where mysterious rituals take place every moment. There is always some drumming, statue bearing, water pouring or torch walking going on by the brahmans, while hundreds of visitors kneel for the main idols.
These temples are supposed to be thousands of years old, and some where already described by the Greek traders that visited India in the first centuries AD. They don't look old though, because they have been constantly renovated and overpainted. The big temple of Thanjavur is different. This one is made entirely of ochre-coloured sandstone. It was constructed in the tenth century by the mighty king Rajaraja Chola, to celebrate his military victories. He captured Sumatra and Java and added these islands to an already huge overseas empire in Southeast Asia. Thanks to the Chola kings of Thanjavur, Hinduism and Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia.
My own goals were more modest. I just tried to see as many temples as the weather permitted. With the temperature soaring to 39 degrees centigrade, sight-seeing is not very comfortable here. The Tamil food is interesting. Different from the northern Indian cuisine, it involves a lot of sambar (spicy lentil sauce) and chutney (coconut flavour, or tomato). These are eaten on top of idly (small pancakes), dosa (bigger pancakes) or uthappam (fat pancakes). And the drinks are good too: fresh mango, watermelon or pineapple juice. I almost feel sorry to leave the state of Tamil Nadu for another new experience soon: Kerala.
I hopped from place to place through Tamil Nadu: from Mamallapuram to Thanjavur, then to Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), then to Madurai, and now to Kanyakumari. It's not that there are no trains, but they only run during the night or other unpractical times.
The most interesting about Tamil Nadu is its religious zeal. There are temples everywhere and they are incredibly colourful. The bigger ones are covered in thousands of statues of gods and goddesses. I was especially impressed by the big temples of Trichy and Madurai. In those houses of worship, the colourful towers stand above vast shadowy halls where mysterious rituals take place every moment. There is always some drumming, statue bearing, water pouring or torch walking going on by the brahmans, while hundreds of visitors kneel for the main idols.
These temples are supposed to be thousands of years old, and some where already described by the Greek traders that visited India in the first centuries AD. They don't look old though, because they have been constantly renovated and overpainted. The big temple of Thanjavur is different. This one is made entirely of ochre-coloured sandstone. It was constructed in the tenth century by the mighty king Rajaraja Chola, to celebrate his military victories. He captured Sumatra and Java and added these islands to an already huge overseas empire in Southeast Asia. Thanks to the Chola kings of Thanjavur, Hinduism and Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia.
My own goals were more modest. I just tried to see as many temples as the weather permitted. With the temperature soaring to 39 degrees centigrade, sight-seeing is not very comfortable here. The Tamil food is interesting. Different from the northern Indian cuisine, it involves a lot of sambar (spicy lentil sauce) and chutney (coconut flavour, or tomato). These are eaten on top of idly (small pancakes), dosa (bigger pancakes) or uthappam (fat pancakes). And the drinks are good too: fresh mango, watermelon or pineapple juice. I almost feel sorry to leave the state of Tamil Nadu for another new experience soon: Kerala.
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12 April 2012 - 22:06
Hanny:
Hi Rik, net voordat ik naar huis moest, zag ik op oma's computer dat je weer een verslag had geschreven. Ik had net gezegd dat je rond de 11e op het zuidelijkste punt hoopte te zijn! Volgende week zal ik oma weer eens wat foto's laten zien. Wat zijn ze weer incredibly mooi!!! En nu dus weer verder, noord nu! Vandaag op amb.service bureau in Rdam visumspullen ingeleverd: dat ging niet zonder moeite! 2,5 uur gewacht op email van school met de juiste (Eng) verklaring.... net voor de koerier kwam was het binnen....bijna 65euro met double entry (vanwege stop in Delhi op terugvlucht) Nu maar hopen dat het volgende week donderdag klaar is. Maar dat lukt denk ik niet. We zien wel. Ik probeer me het lange wachten in India vast voor te stellen en kalm te blijven!
groetjes en goede reis, mamma
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