Trip to India - 11 TANJORE and TRICHY

TANJORE & TRICHY

22 January 2008 Temp: Hot!

Dear Friends and Family

I got of the bus in Tanjore, at the bus terminal, around 11:00 am after a relatively fast trip from Madurai. Armed with my usual LP map I proceeded to walk in the anticipated direction to the town. After a while I sensed that something wasn’t quite right. A was supposed to cross a river and I did not see any river. I finally stopped at a refreshment stand for direction. When I asked for the town center, they did the awful gesture that I feared the most, they pointed in the opposite direction from which I was walking. As in turned out, I did not realized that there was an “old” bus station, and a “new” bus station. I found out that my bus had arrived at the “new” bus station. After stopping a motorized rickshaw and paying an exorbitant fare (by Indian’s statndards) I finally made it to the center of the town where I immediately started walking in the wrong direction looking for a certain hotel (there are days like that!). I ended up accidently in front of another one of the hotels recommended in the ‘bible” (Lonely Planet). This turned out to be a very nice accommodation at a bargain price. It used to be one of the Maharajah’ s residence that according to LP had been badly neglected. I found out that the rooms were being completely updated, and. I suspect that the price will go up quite a bit after all of the rooms.have been remodeled.

The Brihadishwara Temple dominate the landscape with its 175 ft pyramidal tower. This temple is a joy to visit by spending a few relaxed hours in the huge, well maintained open courtyard. The temple, not being a pilgrimage site, attracts a lot less visitors than, say, the temple in Madurai. I went to the temple early in the morning and again late afternoon to catch different light conditions. This temple was built around the 10^th century as a monument to Rajaraja, one of the Chola kings. Another site is the Royal Palace Compound, which includes the Royal Palace, an art gallery full of Chola bronzes (10^th to 15^th centuries), and another smaller palace.

Being a couple days ahead of my schedule I decided to make a detour thru Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) which features a temple and a fort built on top of a monolithic rock. The top is reached by climbing the 500 plus steps carved out of the rock face. A great place for all around views of the city.

Tomorrow, the 23 february I will move to the Pondicherry, a town under the control of a succession of colonial powers, Portugeses, French, Danes, and British who exchanged the enclave several times after various battles and treaties. Pondicherry’s heydays date to 1742 when governed by Dupleix, who rebuilt the town following a French model.

Love and peace - henri