Feb 22, 2013 Thinking Day (the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden Powell) in Madurai
I should entitle this day as "A Very Auspicious Day!"
We
were to spend our day visiting the Sri Meenakshi Temple. One of the
reasons for tourists to come to Southern India is the temples. It is
hard to describe them. I always think of them as towers of ice-cream
colours when looked at from a distance and up close, you must see them
for yourself. The carvings are just impossible to explain. These temples
represent much that is special in India. I never think of India
without seeing in my minds eye, The Colours of India!
As we
arrived at the Sri Meenaskshi, a man sat to have his
head shaved - a sacrifice made before worship. We removed our shoes, stored them with the temple staff, and passed through the main gate. It
is hard to explain this temple, it is large, huge even, and seems to go
on for ever.
It
was a very auspicious day! Today brides would
marry, couples would renew their vows and and parents awaiting the
arrival of a new addition to their family would come for blessings. The temple was alive with excitement, and we joined in. This certainly was a special day for us.
Our
tour guide finished our half day tour with a stop at the Mariamman
Water Temple which didn't have any water because of the previous rainy season, the monsoon,
had not brought enough rain. We wished them better rains in the coming year.
Later in the afternoon I relaxed in the hotel pool, surrounded by beautiful gardens, but this was not what some of our group had in mind. Madurai is
known for its busy markets, so they jumped into a motorized rickshaw and
headed back to town.
They
reported at dinner that they had found a rickshaw driver who showed
them the market and helped them extend the excitement of the morning on
into the rest of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment