My
husband's Rotary club is twinned with a club in Pondicherry, and an exchange visit was the chance to visit the city as well as some other parts of southern India. I'm well aware that "southern India" is a vast area and neither my blog post nor visit can do anything other than scratch the surface of the region, but the title is my short way of referring to the cities and regions we visited (Pondicherry, Chennai and
Kerala), and comes in opposition to our visit to
northern India in 2012.
Pondicherry is well known to many French people as it was a French colonial settlement until 1954. Now officially known as Puducherry, it is often affectionately referred to as 'Pondy'.
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| tuk-tuks in the street, Pondicherry |
Every Indian town or city seems to have its own Gandhi memorial, and Pondicherry is no exception.
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| Gandhi Memorial, seafront, Pondicherry |
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| Ecole Française d'Extreme Orient, French quarter, Pondicherry |
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| flower seller, Pondicherry |
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| ceiling frieze at Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple |
On our second day we visite nearby
Auroville (literally 'City of Dawn'), a small international community of about 2200 people, founded as an experimental township in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, who was known reverentially as "the Mother". The focal point of Auroville is
Matrimandir (a Sanskrit term for 'Temple of The Mother'), covered in 1400 gold discs.
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| the golf-ball shaped Matrimandir, Auroville |
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At Auroville. The lefthand stone reads "To the twelve petals surrounding
the golden sphere of Matrimandir, the Mother gave the name of twelve
qualities and assigned a specific colour to each of these qualities. She
also gave a name of spiritual significance to over 800 flowers.
Each quality is therefore also symbolised by a flower." |
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| artwork by a South Korean artist, made with used CDs |
We then flew across to the west coast to
Kochi, formerly known as Cochin, a port city which has been drawing traders and explorers to its shores for over 600 years.
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| pink (i.e. ladies', to protect women) police van, Kochi |
Kochi is famous for its
Chinese fishing nets, which are a type of cantilevered stationary lift net that can be used to fish from the shore. They are a legacy of traders from the 14the century court of Kublai Khan. Each net needs 4 or 5 men to operate it.
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| Chinese fishing nets, Kochi |
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This iron weighs 8 kgs and is heated using burning coprah
(coconut husks). |
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| these women are sorting root ginger by size |
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| spices, Kochi |
Famous Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama died in Cochin from malaria in 1524, and was buried in St Francis church for 14 years before his son took his remains back to Lisbon.
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| grave stone where Vasco da Gama used to be buried |
The nearby Dutch cemetery was consecrated in 1724 and contains the graves of Dutch traders and soldiers.
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| old Dutch cemetery, Kochi |
Santa Cruz Basilica was originally built in 1506, but the current building dates from 1902.
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| Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Kochi |
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| inside Santa Cruz Basilica |
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| St Peter & Paul's Syrian Orthodox church, Kochi |
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| a stall selling vermillion (used for bindis), Kochi |
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| Brahmin temple, Kochi (entrance forbidden to non-Hindus) |
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| detail, Brahmin temple, Kochi |
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| snake temple, Kochi |
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| a shrine to the goddess Kali, with salt |
After one night in Kochi we then drove down through central Kerala to the Alleppey backwaters for two nights.
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| Alleppey |
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| Alleppey backwaters |
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| Alleppey backwaters |
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| Alleppey backwaters |
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| Alleppey backwaters |
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| Alleppey backwaters |
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Alleppey backwaters
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We then flew back to
Chennai for a final night before the rest of our group flew back to
Reunion and we travelled onwards to the
Andaman Islands. Our accommodation in Chennai was nearer the airport than the city centre, so we took a train to get to downtown.
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| Chennai train |
Chennai used to be called Madras, and is one of the India's four biggest cities. Known as the 'capital of the south', it has a population of nearly 8 million and is the capital of the state of
Tamil Nadu.
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| in Chennai |
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| in Chennai |
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| Vivekananda House, Chennai |
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| Gandhi monument, in Chennai |
It's believed that '
Doubting Thomas' brought Christianity to India and was killed in Chennai in AD 72.
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| St Thomas Cathedral Basilica, Chennai |
Incidentally south Indian food is fairly different from northern Indian food. It's often vegetarian and tends to be much spicier than northern cuisine.
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| thali in Pondicherry |
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| thali in Kerala |
Recommended reading:
Around India in 80 trains by Monica Rajesh. Taking a page from Jules Verne's classic tale, British journalist of Indian origin Monisha Rajesh embarked on an adventure around India in eighty trains. Indian trains carry over twenty million passengers daily, plowing through cities, crawling past villages, climbing up mountains, and skimming along coasts. Monisha hoped that her journeys across India will lift the veil on a country that had become a stranger to her.
See also:
Andaman Islands
Andaman Islands diving
Mumbai
Rajasthan - India's incredible state?
Delhi & Agra
Khajuraho & Varanasi
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