Weekend Excursions

After the exhausting first week of school, our family was ready to do some sightseeing over the weekend. On Saturdays, Vidya Mandir school is in session, but usually just for special events (sports day, geography bee, track and field meet, etc). Mike had to go in to proctor a math exam, but the kids got to stay home. They were so happy to sleep in and watch Saturday morning cartoons on the Disney Channel and Pogo (kids’ channel with English language programs, including Mr. Bean – one of our favorites!).

In the afternoon, we were taken by Mr. Umapathi (our exchange teacher’s husband) and Balaji (her son) to the Periyar Science Museum and Biral Planetarium. Once there, we were treated like VIP’s – one of the guards escorted us around and showed us the Optical Illusions room, which had all kinds of cool trick mirrors. The planetarium show was wonderfully air-conditioned (a huge plus!) although a little out of date, as it said we would be sending robotic missions to the moon in 2008! The 3-D movie was “trippy” (Taz’ quote) but got a huge response from the audience, who exclaimed with excitement and fear at each thing that popped out at us.

On Sunday, we decided to try the “Hop On / Hop Off” bus run by the Tamil Nadu Tourist Corporation. The idea here being that you take the bus from downtown Chennai and you can get off at many different stops along the ECR (East Coast Road) and then “hop on” again at half hour intervals to continue the ride. A great idea . . . in theory! We went first to Dakshina Chitra, an excellent outdoor folk museum with recreated houses from Southern India (provinces of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka). On the grounds was a large open area where local craftspeople demonstrated and sold their wares. Taz and James learned how to engrave on a palm leaf with a stylus to make intricate drawings. I spoke at length with one artist about his miniature paintings, which is a big interest of mine, due to my writing. We also saw people making woven grass yoga mats (they smelled wonderful!) and carving designs on stone elephants.

Our bus came as scheduled, about an hour and a half later, and we proceeded to Mamallapuram (also called Mahabalipuram). This coastal village is famous for its rock cut temples, which were created by the Pallava dynasty in the 7th century AD. The South Shore temple, which overlooks the Bay of Bengal, was huge and impressive, though a lot of the details of the rock carving had been eroded by the salt air and wind. We then walked over to see “Arjuna’s Penance” – an elaborate bas-relief carved into a rock face. On the hill above it were more carved rock caves and “Krishna’s Butterball” – an immense natural boulder perched precariously on a slope. There were tons of goats wandering everywhere, as well as women sitting on the rocks, selling cut up cucumbers!

Alas, when it was time to leave, our “hop on” did not go as planned. For some unknown reason, our bus never showed up, and we waited for an hour at the bus stop. It was hard for the kids, as they were pretty exhausted by this time, and the humidity was intense. Every time a city bus pulled into the stop, crowds of people would run after it and try to hop on board, while it was still moving! Luckily, when our bus did come, it stopped first! On our return trip, as we drove into Chennai, we saw all these large Ganesha idols (elephant god), draped in garlands, being pulled along the road in make-shift floats, with people walking alongside. Some of them were taller than a bus! Apparently, the idols were going to be immersed in the sea, as the final part of the Vinayaga Chaturthi ritual that had begun a week ago. We were tempted to follow them and watch the process, but we had been warned that the crowds might be too intense, so we proceeded along to our apartment, to rest up for our second week of school.