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Published: February 18th 2015
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Today is a temple day. We rise early in Tranquebar, the morning sea mist lingering over the Danish fort. Off we go, aiming for
Gangaikonda Cholapuram, one of the great Chola temples built by King Rajendra Chola I in the early part of the 11
th century. It is a magnificently carved temple, though extremely difficult to locate; Mr Hussein asks for confirming directions many times, and it is always “another 3 km” away.......anyway when located it is virtually deserted. It is under the Architectural Survey of India (ASI) so basically it is a historic monument with a small “active” shrine in the middle. Just as we like it, more carving and history than in a living temple. It’s one of the ‘wow’ sights of the holiday so far.
Because we like to go off the beaten track, we have realised by now that our itinerary includes a lot of places Mr Hussain does not know. He has no satnav or map (and indeed did not seem to be much good at map reading when we gave him a street plan of Pondicherry), so has to reply entirely on asking passers-by. Mercifully, he has none of the false pride that British men
are so prone to that stops them from asking for directions. Policemen are addressed as ‘sir, men of his own age as ‘anna’, older men have a different title and so on. Women, of course, are never asked for directions.
On then to Kumbakonam, a complete mess of a town, full of ‘living temples’ i.e. ones that are still in use for worshippers. The ridiculous notion that we could see three or four becomes clear very quickly as we sit in gridlocked traffic. We identify one on our list, the Nageswaran temple, another Chola temple, and scoot round fairly swiftly as time is passing and all temples close at 2pm for the Indian equivalent of a siesta. On to Darasuram. This temple was built by another Chola king in the 12
th century. Each king seemed to need to build a new temple and capital to establish his mark on posterity. The heat has really built up now and we swelter our way around, seeking any shade available.
Enough! We head for Thanjavur, stopping en route at a petrol station for a toilet break. In one of the more bizarre photocalls, as Sara stands guard for David by
the non locking toilet door she is approached by a young man with a cameraphone who begs to be allowed to take her picture. It never happens in London......
The hotel in Thanjavur is a fairly new business hotel. For a mere £35/night we have a suite comprising a massive bedroom, bathroom and sitting room. Dinner is taken in the veggie restaurant across the street, where we splash out £4 (between us) for our meal and drinks. We opt to sit inside, to avoid the roar and fumes of the non stop traffic that assail those choosing to sit outdoors, and in the vain hope of avoiding the mosquitoes. But no, Sara once more provides dinner for a couple of mosquitoes that were passing by, despite being plastered in repellent and covered head to toe in long sleeved shirt, trousers and socks. The AC room seems to be the sole preserve of families with small children and foreigners. The other customers are incurious, but the waiters stand and watch us for pretty much the whole meal.
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