Temple Towns of the South

Time for vacation again! This time, our family was headed south to Pondicherry, for the Fulbright Conference. We were all excited to go, as the conference would give us a chance to re-connect with the five other Fulbright Exchange teachers posted in India and hear about all their adventures. Since we had a few free days before the meetings began, we decided to check out some of the famous Hindu temples of the South. Unlike North India, which was heavily influenced by various waves of Muslim invasions, the South was dominated by regional dynasties and developed its own unique religious and political institutions. The most visible legacy of these dynasties is their amazing temples, noted for their gigantic gateway towers, or gopura.

On Saturday, joined by fellow Fulbright teachers Evelina and James (who had flown in from Delhi and Mumbai, respectively), we flew out of Chennai to Tiruchirapalli (also known as Trichy, which is far easier to pronounce and spell!) in central Tamil Nadu. Due to flight delays, we did not actually get to our hotel until midnight. The kids are getting more used to travel in India now, as they barely complained about the late hour or the long wait for an extra bed and towels for our room.

Our first stop was the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, noted in one of our guidebooks as “the largest temple complex in India.” It was truly huge, composed of seven walled courtyards, covering more than 120 acres. We entered through an immense and very colorful gopura, which was crowded with a stunning array of carved Hindu gods, goddesses, and mythological figures. It is interesting to note that the temples are not just beautiful tourist attractions (for foreigners and Indians), but active prayer sites, and we saw a number of pilgrims performing puja, including small children with shaved heads. We declined the offer of a local guide, preferring instead to wander around on our own and absorb all the wonderful details. The kids were very excited at the appearance of the temple elephant, who had a neat trick: if you placed a coin in his trunk, he would scoop it up, give it to his handler, and then pat your head with his trunk as a blessing. James was blessed three times, so we figure he’s covered for luck. After Srirangam, we went on to the Rock Fort, which entailed climbing up 400 steps (James counted, and it was actually only 364). The view was pretty awesome, as we could see the gopura at Srirangam towering above all the other buildings in Trichy. James’ elephant blessing must have worked in our favor, as the rain held off until we were finished sightseeing in Trichy and headed to the next town, Thanjavur (also known as Tanjore).

In Tanjore, we stayed at a wonderful resort on the Cauvery River. We had a truly memorable swim at 7:00 p.m. that evening, in total darkness, as soft rain fell intermittently. Despite the rain, the air temperature was still in the 80’s and the water was even warmer! We were warned there were snakes on the paths, but all we saw was a lone frog, sharing the pool with us. In the morning, we went on to the Brihadishwara Temple (also known as “the Big Temple”) in Tanjore. This was another stunning monument, made of reddish sandstone, with two gopura gateways, a huge courtyard, a main temple building, and a pavilion containing the second largest Nandi (a bull, the vehicle of the god, Shiva) in India carved out of a single piece of black stone. Inside the temple wall was a passageway containing beautiful frescoes and Sanskrit carvings. Taz was able to recognize some of the letters, thanks to her Sanskrit classes at Vidya Mandir. Our final temple stop, on the road from Tanjore to Pondicherry, was at the awesomely named (take a deep breath, now) Gangaikondacholapuram. Unlike the other temples, which were crowded with pilgrims and families, it was very peaceful here, with only a few visitors and some pigeons and parakeets among all the carvings. As luck would have it, the rain started up again, just as we were leaving. Our drive took us through some lush scenery – palm trees, rice paddies, rivers and backwaters – a wonderful glimpse of the interior of Tamil Nadu. Even though we only saw a fraction of all the temples spread out across this region, we came away with a much greater appreciation of them, both for their artistic elements and their powerful spirituality.

A Big Week at Vidya Mandir

In a school of 1,400 students, there is always something going on. This past week at Vidya Mandir was more eventful than usual, however, for two reasons: Project Day and Mike’s birthday. Project Day was held last Saturday, November 14. It is a yearly event, kind of like an Open House or a Parents’ Day, but with much more work involved. Each grade is assigned a topic (such as history, cultural traditions, temples) and given an hour or so at the end of each day to create projects focused on this topic. For example, Taz’ class (7th Grade) was assigned fairy tales and folk tales, and the students worked together to make colorful posters, shadow boxes, mini puppet theaters, and models showcasing the various stories. The kids are pretty much left to their own devices, to see what they can come up with on their own, all with a variety of recycled materials, and they are amazingly inventive. For James’ class (3rd Grade), the topic was Indian festivals, however, James himself was pulled from the preparations, as he was one of the lucky few primary students who was selected to participate in a play.

Project Day, which was coincidently held on Children’s Day, started off with decent weather. We had just recovered from the first round of the Northeast monsoon, and were hoping the sunshine would hold for another day. No such luck. No sooner had we arrived at school at 9:00 a.m. that morning, than the skies opened up! I barely had time to run James over to the stage where the teachers were setting up for the play before getting soaked (I had gotten too smug during the small stretch of sunny weather and had neglected to bring my umbrella!). Even in the rain, the play went on as planned, with three performances, and James was very excited to be a part of it, especially since he got to wear his new Indian-style pajama kurta (long embroidered top). He was actually the focal point of the presentation, as an American kid visiting India, who is shown a variety of Indian dances – classical dance, regional folk dances, and even a Bollywood-style number. The dancers were all excellent, even though they were just primary school children. I was stunned by their beautiful costumes, their enthusiasm, and their expertise! All three shows went off without a hitch – no small feat, considering they had only practiced for two weeks!

In between performances, I wandered around the school, where the classrooms were set up to showcase the projects. Not only were the displays artistic and creative, but the students presenting them were eager to tell me all about them. (“Aunty, Aunty, you have not seen my project yet!”). There was a lot to take in, and I did not even make it to all the grades, but some of the things that really impressed me included: a model Navaratri display with mini kolu dolls made out of Styrofoam; a huge, room-sized model of Chennai, with various buildings made of cardboard; a beautiful drawing illustrating the Red Fort in Delhi, and a mini model of King Tut’s tomb and sarcophagus. And even through the rain poured down off and on all day, everyone’s spirits remained up, for the kids were so proud of their achievements.

Given the big excitement of Project Day, the next week was a little more low-key. Mike’s birthday was coming up on Thursday (November 19), but he had just planned to bring in some candy and milk sweets for the teachers and his classes. He hardly expected the day to turn out any differently than a regular Vidya Mandir school day. However, he sorely underestimated the enthusiasm of the students. For starters, he was greeted by hundreds of students (yes, hundreds!), all of whom wanted to shake his hand and give him birthday greetings. One of his 11th Grade classes brought in a cake, and another made him a colorful glazed plate with all their names written on it. He was also given a handsome crimson kurta, a beautiful metalwork box, a small bronze Ganesh figure and a number of other gifts. He is already something of a celebrity at the school, but on this day, he was a rock star! When he came home in the auto-rickshaw that afternoon, he was laden with goodies. To cap off the day, we shared wonderful snacks from our corner restaurant with our Tamil teacher, Prof. Dasarathan, when he came for our twice-weekly lesson. Now the rest of us are wishing that we could celebrate our birthdays in India, too!

The Western Peacock - by Taz Cullen

In the three months I have been living in India, I have been taking dance at Raack Dance Academy, a studio about 10 minutes from our apartment. My class is not Classical Indian Dance, but “Western Dance,” meaning we dance to music by artists like Michael Jackson. Sometimes we also dance to Bollywood music. The class meets three times a week. We performed on stage in October in a show put on by Raack. My class did a dance to Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White.”

When I went to my regular class last Wednesday, we were asked to perform our “Black or White” dance for an agent from Vijay TV. Vijay is a music television station in Chennai. After we danced, he picked ten of us to come back and audition on Thursday. I was one of the lucky ones picked! On Thursday, I had to be there from 4:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. for auditions and practice. At the end, I got picked! I still didn’t even know what I was being picked for! On Friday, I went for four hours of rehearsals! I found out then that our group would be dancing for the opening act of a Vijay TV show called “Super Singer Jr.” It is a show like American Idol, except the contestants are kids. I was really excited, because we would be on TV in India!

Little did I know how much work would be involved! On Saturday, we had six hours of practice! And this was during the huge monsoon in Chennai, so we had to get to Raack in an auto-rickshaw in the pouring rain. By Saturday afternoon, we still didn’t even have our costumes, but I knew I was going to be dressed like a peacock! Some of the little kids were going to wear flower costumes, including three of the boys! On Sunday, my dad and I had a really long day. We went to Raack at 8 a.m. (in the pouring rain again) and from there went to the Vijay TV studio. The TV studio was not at all what I expected!! It was moldy and funky-smelling, the changing room was smaller than a regular-sized bedroom, the bathroom did not have running water, and there were only 20 seats for the audience! I put on my peacock costume, which was pretty cool. We were there for about five hours, but we spent way too much time waiting around. We only ran through our dance three times to practice, and when we filmed it for the camera, it took five takes to get it right. But the hostess of the show could not memorize her lines, so we had to keep waiting until she got it right! Once we were finished performing, we had to exit through this tube-like tunnel, but when we got into the area that was hidden from the audience, it was really creepy, with dirty tarps, broken glass and wires hanging everywhere! There was nothing glamorous about this studio!

It was an interesting experience overall, but I won’t be going back to Vijay TV studio any time soon!

Rain, Rain, Go Away . . .

I feel like we’ve been waiting for the famous Northeast monsoon for weeks now. There was a lot of talk here in October, about how it was a much hotter month than usual (i.e. 95 degrees Farenheit instead of 85!), because the monsoon had not yet come. Then predictions of the upcoming monsoon were in The Hindu newspaper- first it was October 20 (conveniently right after Diwali), then October 26, and then it was just “coming.” Now it is finally here.

So what is a monsoon? According to the Internet, it is a seasonal wind in southern Asia, which blows from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter, bringing rain with it. The monsoon season is different all over India. On the west coast, in Kerala, the season is usually in September. In the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it was in October, when there was massive flooding. As much trouble as the monsoon causes, it is desperately needed for filling the reservoirs and for agriculture; some states receive up to 80% of their rainfall for the whole year during monsoon season. When we asked people here about the monsoon in Chennai, we were given a variety of answers, in terms of when it would arrive and how long it would last. As a result, we didn’t know if it would be more like a “rainy season” or if it would rain continuously for days on end. I’m thinking now that it might be the latter.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, the rain was fairly heavy at night and in the morning, but it cleared up by mid-afternoon. Not too bad, I thought – certainly not any worse than a few days of spring rain in Wisconsin. But then on Thursday night it started raining, and raining, and . . . raining. When we went out to catch our usual auto-rickshaw to school on Friday morning, our street was flooded in ankle-deep water. At one point during the commute, traffic at the intersection was unbelievable, with cars, auto-rickshaws, and motorcycles jumbled up in all directions, while a few hapless civilians tried to direct traffic without being run over. Few people wear raincoats or rubber boots here; most still dress as they usually do, though there were a lot of men and women with plastic bags on their heads! Although our street looked like a small river, our neighborhood was not hit as badly as some of the others; we heard tales of roads closed, knee-deep water, and two-hour traffic jams in some parts of Chennai.

Friday and was declared a holiday for all government schools in Chennai due to the rain. Unfortunately for our kids, who were hoping for a “monsoon day,” Vidya Mandir was still in session. It continued to rain all night and then all day on Saturday, with the roads getting progressively worse. We had already bought movie tickets for Saturday evening, so we braved the pouring rain, got soaked riding in an auto-rickshaw, and barely made it home, as it was slow going in the deep water. Now it is Sunday evening, and the rain has let up a little, but we’re still very leery of what is to come. And the kids are still hoping for a “monsoon day!”

Weekend in Hyderabad

Sometime during the middle of last week, we realized that we had reached the half-way point of our adventures in India. It is hard to believe we have been here ten weeks already! Time is moving more quickly now, and there is so much we still want to see and do. This past weekend, we decided to take advantage of another free Saturday to plan a whirlwind trip to Hyderabad. We chose the city not only because of its striking Islamic architecture and convenience by air (only an hour flight from Chennai), but also because another Fulbright exchange teacher, Greg Hellman, is working here, along with his family. We welcomed the chance to swap stories with him and his wife, Jennifer, and for our kids to meet theirs.

Our trip started off quite inauspiciously (never a good thing in India!) – the hire car to the airport was late, the Friday night traffic was horrible, and our flight was “indefinitely delayed.” Yikes! By the time we arrived in the city it was 11:00 p.m., but our moods brightened with a cheerful greeting from the wide-awake staff at the Marriott, who informed us that the midnight buffet would soon be starting! The hotel was gorgeous and our room was very luxurious – much nicer than at any chain hotel we’ve visited at in the U.S.

On Saturday, after a big breakfast and a swim in the pool, it was time for some serious sight-seeing. Hyderabad was founded in the late 16th century by Mohammed Quli Shah and, unlike most of South India, was under Muslim rule until the early 20th century. In its heyday, Hyderabad was renowned for its palaces, mosques and ornamental gardens, especially since it became the lone outpost of courtly Muslim culture in India after the Mughal Empire collapsed. Now it is a bustling city (the sixth largest in India) and the major hi-tech hub for the South (hence the nickname “Cyberabad”). Our first stop was the royal burial grounds where seven of the Qutb Shahi rulers were buried in large, ornamental tombs. Originally, the area had gardens with water-channels and pools, but now it has become overgrown and the water has dried up. However, the tombs themselves were quite striking – each one was topped with a large “onion” dome with small minarets (towers) around it. Inside the tombs, it was cool and dark, with high, arched ceilings, little niches, and narrow passageways (which James explored, of course). The acoustics were great – we heard one man chanting to Allah and the sound reverberated as though he was speaking through a microphone. It was very peaceful place, with no large groups of tourists, and only one snack-vendor. (I am certain we made his day when we loaded up with soda, chips and ice cream!).

From the tombs, we went on to Golconda, a massive fort which served as the citadel of the aforementioned Qutb Shahi dynasty. Originally built in the 12th century as a mud fort, it was transformed in the early 16th century into a fortified city of palaces, mosques and gardens. The ruins are so large that they cover an area of 15 square miles! As we drove towards the Golconda, we could see the massive stone walls – most of which appear to be holding up quite well. Visiting the fort involved a long climb up to the top, where the ruler had his throne room with a rooftop pavilion. It was worth the climb, as the views of Hyderabad were amazing, even though the city has a layer of smog reminiscent of Los Angeles on a bad day! There were a great many sights along the way, including a creepy jail, mosques, arched brick hallways, and a small Hindu temple, built into a cave. We even saw a film crew shooting a movie that involved four pretty young girls in very stylish salwar khameez outfits, a guy dressed like a maharajah waiting in the wings, and a tense director yelling out instructions in a mixture of Hindi and English!

On Sunday, we ventured into the heart of the Old City, to see Hyderabad’s landmark, Charminar (“four towers”), which was built in the 16th century. At the top, we had a marvelous view of the city in all four directions. From Charminar, we walked to the nearby Mecca Masjid, a huge mosque, built in the same time period, whose vast courtyard can hold as many as 10,000 worshippers! Then it was time for some serious shopping in the Laad Bazaar, known for its pearls, bangles and perfume. I got to try out my bargaining skills, as we bought a huge batch of bangles for Taz and her friends at home. We could have easily stayed in Hyderabad longer, but we left on Sunday afternoon to catch a flight back to Chennai. The kids had a wonderful time, and got along really well with the Hellman twins (Niko and Kaya, age 10). It was great for them to share their experiences with other American kids who know exactly what they are going through. We look forward to seeing them again, as well as all the other Fulbright exchange teachers, when we meet up for the November conference in Pondicherry.

Diwali – Festival of Lights (festival of “crackers”!)

It is Monday morning and Diwali (or Deepavali) has come and gone. Our quiet street is littered with debris and wrappers from hundreds of firecrackers set off this weekend. Everyone is moving a little more slowly, as the city resumes its normal routine after the big holiday.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we felt very fortunate to be in India for the nine-day Navaratri festival in September. Diwali, known as the “festival of lights,” is an even bigger Hindu festival, and the build-up for it was huge. Diwali commemorates the homecoming of King Rama after a 14-year exile in the forest and his victory over the demon-king Ravana. According to legend, the people of Ayodhya (the capital of Rama’s kingdom) welcomed their king home by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (dipa), thus the name Dipavali. Traditionally, people light diyas—small clay pots filled with oil—to signify victory of good over the evil. Although Diwali is only a one-day holiday (held on October 18 this year), the festivities last throughout the week. It is worth mentioning that President Obama observed Diwali this year by lighting a ceremonial lamp at the White House -- a gesture that had a big impact here, and even made the front page of The Hindu newspaper. People in this part of India celebrate Diwali by visiting family, wearing new clothes, giving gifts, eating lots of sweets, and setting off fireworks (“crackers”). And just like in the United States, there are constant newspaper and TV ads encouraging people to shop – for sweets, for clothes, and even for electronics!

Earlier in the week, Mike purchased firecrackers for us, and on Thursday evening (Oct. 15), we went out into our street to join in the fun. Some of the crackers, such as the sparklers and spinning chakara wheels, are fairly safe, but others explode with such ear-splitting noises and terrifying showers of sparks that I know they must be illegal back in the U.S.!! As our kids shared their sparklers, they watched some of the scarier looking firecrackers being set off – one of them was so powerful that the sparks shot up four stories past the roof of our building!! In addition to the smaller fireworks, there are huge ones (like the kind we have in Cedarburg for July 4^th) being set off all over the city.

On Friday night, we were invited over to a party at my yoga teacher’s house to watch the fireworks from her roof. It was fun, although we knew it was time to leave when some of the louder crackers went off and my ears began ringing! Even on our quiet street, the firecrackers started up again at six a.m. on Saturday morning, exploding like gunshots and continuing non-stop. It was then that I was truly glad we had decided to spent part of the weekend away, at a resort in Mahabalipuram, about an hour south of Chennai.

Thus far, we have stayed at some wonderful hotels in our Indian travels, but nothing could compare to this place – the GRT Temple Bay Resort. Granted, it was a little above our usual budget, but we felt Diwali was a good excuse to splurge. It was well worth the money for the amazing pools, the clean stretch of beach, and the gorgeous facilities. Given the price, I thought perhaps we would only see Western tourists, but right away we ran into some of James’ classmates from Vidya Mandir, who were on vacation with their families! There are times when I miss the cool fall weather of Cedarburg, but as I lay on my back, floating in a swimming pool overlooking the Bay of Bengal, I felt very fortunate to be in such a tropical location.

On Sunday morning, we went out to explore more of the rock temples around the area. We had already visited some of them in September (written about in a previous blog), but we had missed a few places. Our favorite spot was the Five Rathas, a series of 7^th century rock-cut temples and animals (a lion, a bull and an elephant) that are amazingly well preserved. We also visited Crocodile Park, a truly creepy place, somewhat like a small zoo, where we could see dozens of crocodiles piled up on one another. At first, they appeared so still that the kids remarked scornfully, “How lame – they’re fake,” until one of them suddenly awoke and opened his huge mouth full of teeth. Note to self – never underestimate a crocodile! All too soon, it was time to head back to Chennai, but we have already decided that we will be visit the Temple Bay Resort at least one more time before our stay in India is up!

Kerala, Part 2

To continue from our last blog, we greatly enjoyed our stay above the clouds at the hill station of Munnar. The chilly air was a welcome relief from Chennai’s heat, although we found ourselves longing for fleece jackets, which is a first for us in India! As we were packing up to leave Munnar on Wednesday evening (Sept. 30), we turned on the TV, hoping to find an English language show for the kids. Instead, we found ourselves riveted to a local news station, which was showing footage of a boat accident at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady. We learned that a tourist boat, carrying 80 passengers on a wildlife-viewing cruise around Periyar Lake, had capsized, killing 41 people. It is not unusual to read about road and rail accidents in the local papers, but I often pass over them without much thought. This incident hit home for all of us, since we were scheduled to pass through Thekkday on the next day of our Kerala vacation.

When we arrived in Thekkady on Thursday afternoon, the mood was very subdued, with all the stores closed, many of them displaying black mourning flags. Our driver told us that all activities in town were cancelled, due to the tragedy on Periyar Lake. So we left early Friday morning, after a brief stop at one of the nearby spice stores. In addition to its tea plantations, this hilly area of Kerala is known for its spice gardens, where cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla pods, and black pepper are grown. I bought a few spices, though I was most excited about purchasing some locally grown coffee, to replace the Nescafe in my Chennai apartment!

Our next stop was Kumarakom, where we were scheduled to take a houseboat trip along the backwaters. The three-person boat crew greeted us warmly with jasmine flower garlands and fresh coconuts (the coconut milk had a surprising taste – more salty than sweet). The next few hours were spent in complete luxury, as our boat made its way through the backwaters, passing huge groves of coconut palms, other houseboats, men fishing from small docks with nets, and flocks of white birds skimming over the water. After a delicious lunch of fish curry (a specialty in Kerala), we passed the time playing cards and “Indian rules” Scrabble (Tamil and English words allowed), and snacking on coffee, fresh pineapple, and fried bananas. When our boat docked in the evening, we were served freshly-caught prawns for dinner and one of the crew found a nearby cable among the palm trees to attach to the boat’s flat screen TV, so the kids could watch a movie. Although we were warned the mosquitoes could be vicious, we barely noticed them, especially since our bedrooms had AC. In fact, we’ve had worse luck with mosquitoes on camping trips in Wisconsin!

In the morning, when the boat resumed its travels, we saw vignettes of local life: women washing clothes, dishes, and children (!) in the river, ferry boats taking men to work, and children walking to school. As we drew nearer to the town of Alleppey, we saw more and more houseboats – it was a traffic jam on the river, though without all the constant horns!

We docked at mid-morning, and were taken to our final destination – the Maria Heritage homestay in Alleppey. Homestays are quite popular in this area of Kerala, and they consist of historic homes, decorated with traditional furnishings, and feature home-cooked Keralan meals. Our suite was truly luxurious, featuring a balcony with a hand-carved wooden swing, overlooking the palm tree groves and rice paddy fields. We lazed away most of the afternoon, though James got to try his hand fishing in a tank of water channeled from the river and he caught eight fish! As with the houseboat, we dined on Kerala specialties, including more fish. In the evening, we could hear a sort of “jungle white noise” of insects and birds outside our windows, and we even saw a few large bats! The only downside to our stay was our 4:00 a.m. wakeup call the next morning, as we had to be in Kochin at 6:30 a.m. for an early flight back to Chennai!

It was hard to come back to all the traffic, noise and heat of Chennai (still a reliable 90 plus degrees!), so we have already decided to plan our next getaway as soon as possible!