5) Tiruchirappalli also known as Trichy

---

Due to the fact that this weekend was an ideal one for weddings, many hotels were fully booked. But in the end we got a room in the oldest hotel in town, set around a nice courtyard with shrubs, flowers and banana trees. Very nice indeed!

The first sight we went to see was the temple town Srinangam, just north of Trichy, easy to reach by local bus. It was boiling hot, and for the first time Klaudia got real problems with her blood pressure. Normally an addict to strong espresso, she has had to do without this stimulating drink for a week now. Desperately she tried Indian coffee - and astonishingly enough she liked it! It is fascinating to watch how the freshly brewed light brown liquid is poured from a height of about 1m from one tumbler into another to cool it down. Afterwards she had enough energy for the 21 gopurams (= temple gates) of the Sri Ranganathasvami Temple. Another striking feature were the seven concentric walls, turning practically the whole town into one huge temple. When Klaudia spotted the bustle of all the vendors selling practically everything from cooking pots to sweets, false flowers and plastic nick-knack, she was reminded of the story in the Old Testament when Jesus threw out all vendors from "his father's house".

Unlike in the catholic churches, Hindu temples are full of life, people sleeping, families gathering and eating on the floor. When Stephan had gone off to take some pictures, Klaudia sat down behind a pillar to immerge herself into the unique atmosphere. All of a sudden, a group of little school-boys crowed around her and greeted her warmly. They had a short chat, then they left, each of them trying to shake Klaudia's hand with a lot of giggles. We spent quite some time inside (only until the fifth wall, the limit for non-Hindus) admiring the plain gopurams and some striking carved pillars and very old sculptures of gopis (= milk maids).

Trichy also boasts of an impressive Rock Fort, standing on an 84m high rock. We approached it, but decided against climbing the 400 or so steps and admired it from below, where we had a better view anyway. At the foot of the fort lies the picturesque Old Bazaar, which was not too crowded on a Sunday and therefore it was quite a pleasure to walk around and look at the open shops. In Trichy, three big religions (Hinduism, Islamism and Christendom) live together in relative harmony, the respective buildings giving a lively demonstration of this fact. One church we went to was St. Joseph's College Church, designed as a smaller version of the Cathedral of Lourdes.

---