Blogs from Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia

Next out of this world temple - Thillai Natarajah Temple. To try to begin to illustrate what I mean I will copy and paste a snipit from Wikipedia's description of it: The deity that presides here is கூத்தன் - Thillai Koothan (Thillai Nataraja - Shiva, Lord of Dance). Chidambaram is the birthplace of this sculpture and bronze image representation of Shiva as the cosmic dancer, a Tamilian concept and motif in Chola art that has since become notable as a symbol of Hinduism; the shrine is the only Shiva temple to have its main deity represented in this anthropomorphic form, as the supreme being who performs all cosmic activities. So yeah I saw some out of it stuff there, that I'm not even going to bother trying to explain or rationalise. I think I spent about ... read more

Well what a day sunday turned out to be. Boarded a private minibus (rather swanky for Rs 200) to Pondicherry at 8am (well 9 as it was late) expecting to be dropped in Pondy (as the locals call it) around 11-12. Instead, and to my disappointment as i was keen to explore pondy alone, the bus turned out to be a tour, stopping in nearby auroville and on to the major sights in Pondy. Auroville turned out to be a Hippy style eco commune centred around a Giant golden Sphere (the Matrimandir), that tourists were not allowed in. Founded by local Ashram Sri Aurobindu it is designed to be a place of perfect concentration, all of which was a bit lost on me and frustrating as it was not on my itenary and now that it ... read more

Inmiddels alweer teveel gebeurd om op te noemen. zijn dus inmiddels (arthur en ik) naar een plaats gegaan waar zo'n beetje niemand ooit een blank persoon heeft gezien, levert erg grappige dingen op (mensen die zelfs de buchauffeur toejuichen omdat hij ons in de bus heeft zitten. op zich nog knap dat ze ons kunnen ontdekken: tijdens het merendeel van de reizen hangt de helft van de passagiers ergens buiten omdat er binnen geen plaats meer is. maar voor ons wordt goed gezorgd hoor! inmiddels tactisch proberen te brengen dat drie megavolle avondmaaltijden ("s ochtends, 'smiddags en 's avonds) toch iets teveel van het goede is, dus 's ochtends staan er inmiddels boterhammen klaar, naja, lijkt in ieder geval op een boterham..is niet de alison versie van de AH.. zijn nu een week met het project ... read more

10 km outside of Pondicherry lies the community of Auroville. This Trippy Hippy settlement is mainly made up of French and German spiritualists (read ‘lost tourists) looking for enlightenment. I went seeking my own holy grail … I was still looking for a beach. The commune was set up in 1968 by Sri Aurbindo – A UK educated Indian who preached the importance of Independence and spiritual unity. With ‘the Mother’ he returned to India and set up a community (not unlike a kibbutz) so that “there should be somewhere on earth that no one can claim as property”. Auroville forms a 15km or so circle and right in the centre next to a Banyan tree lives its spiritual heart – The Matrimandir. Its secrets are privy only to those staying within the community. As a ... read more