15 January 2008 Hi today: 91.4 deg. F
Dear Friends and Family
The 13 th I boarded an overnite sleeper to Madurai, an 11 hrs jouney. The second class berth 
very not very comfortable and the train conductor somehow found it necessary to blow the train’s horn almost constantly during the trip. I guess they like loud noises! I found out later from other people that the first class accommodation were not much better.
We arrived in Madurai around 7:00 am and I walked to my first choice accommodation, The Hotel Supreme, where they had rooms available. This is a very good accommodation, as the hotel provides full services at bargain prices. For $12 a nite I got, a double-bed room, hot water, TV, and an adjustable-speed ceiling fan (which I like better than the more expensive air-conditioned rooms). This large hotel has an elevator, run by and attendant, two restaurants, one on 
top of the hotel from which you can see the towers of the nearby temple. We also get a free newspaper delivered to our room each morning. You can also get your room cleaned, and a new towel each day.
As a matter of interest, todays’ paper has the following articles: one on raising oil prices, one on a complain by some area’s locals about the intent to built a facility for visually impaired people (it is bad luck to see a blind person early in the morning!), one article speaks about the demolition of a cremation ground used by the locals to make room for multi-storey apartments, another article speaks about the need to increase protection of the Indian Ocean sea lanes against possible terrorism treats. The sport pages are interesting to read if you are a cricket fan.
After a nice long hot shower and a breakfast I went out to visit the nearby Sri Meenakshi –Sundareshwarar Temple. It is from this temple that Shiva and Parvati reigned over the Pandya kingdom. This temple, one of the six most important temples in India, is approximately one city block long and one city block wide. It has 12 highly decorated gopurams (towers) varying in heights up to 155 ft.These towers are covered with painted carvings of celestial and animal figures. The style is Dravidian architecture, dating back to 1560. Within the temple are long hall ways leading to gold-topped sanctums of the deities, the most important being the Meenakshi shrine (another form of Parvati, consort of Shiva, goddess of fertility). The second most important shrine is the one of Sundareshwarar (another form of Shiva). Within the temple is a room (museum) housing 1000 columns with carvings of deities. Also within the temple are courtyards a enclosed pool surrounded by galleries. In the pool is a large golden lotus. The temple receives more than 10,000 visitors a day. The temple is run by approximately 50 priests, and there are offerings and ceremonies taking place all day long.
In the following days I visited the Gandhi Memorial, Maharaja’s Palace, and the Flower Market. The Gandhi Memorial was very interesting, it covers, with pictures and text the period of time from the beginning of the British involvement in India to the time they left. Needless to say it does not present a very flattering picture of the British behavior! What is left of the Maharaja’s Place is about a quarter of what it used to be. What is left is the very impressive courtyard, a few galleries and a museum. Well worth a visit anyway. The Flower Market is interesting by the fact that they sell flowers, and flowers’s petals by weight (to be used for offerings).
I went to the Post Office to sent some postcards. Here again I was given stamps that do not have a sticky back. Again I was given a piece of cardboard with what was supposed to be the glue to I be used for the stamps. This was a different lokking glue than the one I used previously. This glue looked like something that may come out of the nose of a person afflicted with a severe cold. (maybe from one of the workers at the post office?).
Tomorrow I am moving to Tanjore.
Love and Peace - henri
very not very comfortable and the train conductor somehow found it necessary to blow the train’s horn almost constantly during the trip. I guess they like loud noises! I found out later from other people that the first class accommodation were not much better. 
top of the hotel from which you can see the towers of the nearby temple. We also get a free newspaper delivered to our room each morning. You can also get your room cleaned, and a new towel each day.
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