5/feb sri meenakshi

I reached madurai at 8 o’clock in the morning, the expected time. I finally slept quite well, with my mosquito repellent (I was told that there is a little bit of malaria here), with my multi-use sheet… and I already found a hotel by 8:30! I nice room, in the main street, not very expensive, RS 125 (2 euro). The room is huge, with a nice balcony, a lot of space… After having breakfast, I went to the temple, sri meenakshi, and just the first sight is breathtaking. Only a very small part of it (even if I didn’t know that), a kind of door/tower, with thousands (and is not an exageration) of sculptures, gods, animals, animal/gods… with lots of colors. The style is supposed to be dravinian style. Once I was closer, and barefoot, I discovered that there were other towers, as high as the other (30 to 50 meters). The plant was squared, with a water tank in the middle, then buildings around, then an open space, and then the wall towards the street. The water tank is called ‘golden lotus tank’, and it seems that everything turns around it. Pillars every 2 or 3 meters, quite thick, with sculptures on it. And a lot of doors, separing the different inner temples, places for walking, places for food… There are so many little chapels, with sculptures or images of hindu gods. And the ceilings are colorfully painted, with geometric drawings. Once in a while, you can see dusty sun beams, entering inside the building, and if you add the darkness of the space, it acquires a cavernous air. It’s so crowded (till 10000 a day), mostly hindus (95%), with all the possible colors. There is also an elephant walking around. If you give him (or better, if he takes) RS 10, he blesses you with his ‘elephant nose’, with a very mechanical movement, and then he gives the money to the ‘elephant man’. And in this huge temple, I’ve only seen 1 single wall under reconstruction!! This temple is incredible. You need more than a they to enjoy it, and it’s free. Non Indus are not allowed to enter to very few rooms, maybe a 10 % of it. After walking around for a while, I decided to go out, and discover the city. Is a big city, 1,1 milion, but it feels like being in a town. All the building are quite low, and the streets full of life, like almost everywhere in India. Shops sells mostly sarees, and statues. I saw a palac a few more temples. After a while, I went back to the temple. It was already dark. 19:17 o’clock. I would say that worshipers now are 99% of people. Still very crowded. I sat down, in a corner, and started watching all the different ceremonies that people fallow. But now it’s night time, so it’s still darker. You see more contrasts. There’s music, candles, that cavernous atmosphere… quite intense, and spiritual. I’m leaning on a stone wall, that must be very old. In front of me, there is a ‘chapel’, shared among different gods. Saturn, mars, Jupiter…
(a group of children came to visit me, and they asked me what is my name, where do I come from… They created a semi circle around me. In the second ring, parents were also looking, smiling!!) Inside the chapel there’s a Brahmin (monk), incens, and a big sculpture. Everything very colorfull. In front of the chapel, a table with a lot of candles. People must turn around the temple 7 times, following the clock direction. But people can also turn around pillars with images… They say something, very low, impossible to understand. And the fire… Ah!!!! The ambience is so full of smoke, so people appear and disappear. This temple is full of hope, of koy, of music, of smilly faces, but also about motionless faces, thinking about who knows what. No taboo at all. People share everything here, and they live their spirituality in different ways, very personally.

And I’m invisible now!!!

10/2/05