FIRST TOUR DAY IN INDIA

I put on the thallek or pootu on my forehead. Everyone has this, to protect you from evil spirits. Malathy also gave me my daily flowers to put on my hair. This time they are called “December “, since they only flower during the cold months.

I sit on the swing bed waiting for my breakfast. It is in the middle of the living room.

Breakfast comes served on a banana leaf. Malathy pours some sambal next to the white bread. She puts a spoonful of yogurt and two pieces of vegetarian cakes. To be sure, she sets a bowl of rice cooked with dahl. I’m all set! This is the life!

We will see three places today. The Shore Temples, the Seashell Museum and Arjuna’s Penance with Butterball next to it.

There is a group of children on a school outing.

These two temples are the last temples that have survived the tsunamis.

These sheep guard the temples.

I go inside to pray.

There are more structures, all from solid stone.

I have seen similar temples in Jogjakarta, Angkor Vat. These temples are all guarded by the UNESCO Heritage Commission for their cultural value.

 

ARJUNA’S PENANCE

This next temple was called Arjuna’s Penance.

Inside the structure were scenes of the gods in ordinary situations. The god holding up the sky, as the choir of angels sang his glory.

This statue had three animals in it: an elephant, a goat and a baby cow.

This must have been a lesser god milking the cow.

THE TWO MOUNTAIN STONE CARVING

In the Philippines, the people would think nothing of blasting a whole mountain and quarrying the stones. In Mamallapuram, they sculpted two mountains with thousands of figures. You find the sun god, the moon goddess, the god of snake, and monkey figures.

This is the statue of “Butterball”. It was supposed to be the ball of butter the god would get from his mother’s kitchen to eat. The rock has been on a 45 degree incline and has not fallen for several centuries now.

The tour ended. It was time for lunch.

I had rice, more sambal, some prattaya bread, my favorite lassi, and other dishes.

A lot for my First Tour Day in India.