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More great pics! |
Thanks jacketwatch! More to come! |
Will follow :tu: |
jacketwatch, thanks! Perhaps one of the most remarkable sights we saw in Tamil Nadu were the clay horses of the Ayyanar shrines. Ayyanar is considered an early god who is worshipped in South India and is the guardian of small towns. Votive offerings are traditionally terra-cotta horses for Ayyanar to ride around at night! Other clay figures are offered as well, but it’s the clay horses that are most striking. |
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More wonderful photos, progol. Brava.
And what fun to be able to visit the tour company offices and meet the people who had planned your trip! |
I also saw those horses in Chettinad. I was told they were given to Shiva to celebrate the birth of a boy.
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Still following.
Thank God for digital photography. Saves a ton on film. :lol: |
Aww, thanks Paule for the chance to remember our visit. Your photos are truly evocative. |
Your fabulous photos have really whet my appetite for our travels. Thanks for sharing
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I'm so glad that you're all enjoying this photo report! More to come... though slowly!
annhig - it was wonderful to meet some of the folks at Indian Panorama! We were warmly welcomed and it was great to "know" who it was I was working with. thursdaysd - There are Ayyanar shrines in and near villages throughout Tamil Nadu; perhaps the explanation you received is one of the many myths that explain them, but I thought this blog post was especially helpful. https://theurgetowander.com/2015/11/...-of-tamilnadu/ jacketwatch - we are definitely saving film costs these days! But those cameras now come at a much heftier price! sartoric - so glad this is bringing back memories of your own wonderful visit (and photos!) natandmiriam - you will be amazed when you are actually in India! It is a place like no other I've visited. |
Originally Posted by progol
(Post 16950560)
Feb 6/7/8 Habanara - Cinnamon Lodge (3 nights)
Feb 14/15/16 - Galle - Mango House (3 nights) |
I just came across this report! I am not a frequent visitor to the Asia forum. Wow!!! What a fabulous trip! Love your photos and respect your energy. Did you have any stomach issues? The reason I ask is that I had several problems when we last visited China in 2017, so I’m a bit nervous about visiting this part of the world. |
Loved pics and report...
Thinking about India for next fall bob |
Oh, dear, I never did finish this, did I? There's still all of Sri Lanka that we visited...maybe someday, I'll finish it! But we just returned from a 5-week trip to Italy, so my brain is elsewhere right now. Something to work on during the long winter days, I think!
Karen, we never had any stomach problems in either of our trips to India, and part of the reason is that we were very diligent about drinking and even brushing teeth with bottled water. On our second trip, we were less worried about food in more local places, but again, it's being careful about where we eat. Bob, thank you! Glad you're enjoying the photos! India is fascinating and wonderful, as I'm sure you know! |
We visited the Chettinad region in Tamil Nadu, a fascinating region that was settled by wealthy merchants over a century ago, who built palatial mansions with materials acquired from their trading in places such as Burma or Malaysia. But in the mid-20th C, the families left and moved to the cities, leaving their mansions in the care of caretakers or abandoning them. Many of them are now in disrepair, with some taken over as hotels or museums. It’s a fantastic area to visit and has a different feeling than the temple towns of Tamil Nadu.
We stayed in the lovely Saratha Vilas, in a small town of Karaikudi. The hotel had been bought by 2 French architects, and they’ve done a beautiful job of restoring the house. We enjoyed our stay very much, although I’ll add that it’s not for everyone. The ambience is, for some, a bit cool and distant, but we found it very comfortable. We enjoyed staying in the town, too. One of the frustrations we had on this trip was staying in many resorts, which are certainly pleasant enough, but often far from a town, so we were not able to just walk outside and have a stroll around. Here we did, and enjoyed it very much. Karaikudi is small enough to be able to walk from one end to another in an hour to explore the town. More photos to follow. |
I’m having difficulty posting vertical photos from my iPad for the first time! They keep coming up horizontal! I don’t see where I can turn the photos, either!
I’ve posted this problem in the Help forum, but if anyone has any recent experience, please let me know. As you see above, I’ve never had problems with posting vertical pix before! |
Never mind. I discovered the flaw. Post full-size photos from an iPad. Resizing them smaller through the photo app causes some weird change to the vertical photos and they post horizontal!
Photos to come! |
Saratha Vilas
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I'm 87 and my traveling days are over, but want to let you know how much I've enjoyed these pictures of remarkable India. My last international trip was to India, probably 7 or 8 years ago, with my daughter and son-in-law. We were on a tour and just did some of Northern India. Your pictures are fantastic and brings back so many wonderful memories. I hardly ever 'check in' to this web site, but I've spent probably more than an hour looking at your wonderful pictures and reading all the comments. Thanks so much for posting. Geri
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Geri,
Thank you for your lovely comments! I'm pleased that you've enjoyed my photos and are "traveling" along with me. And I'm touched that it's brought back your own lovely memories. You've inspired me to keep on going with this photo "report", even though it's been 8 months since we've been back (and we just returned from a trip to Italy!). We loved India and were also in Rajasthan, Agra and Varanasi a few years earlier, and, if anything, that was an even more amazing trip. If you're interested I do have a report on the board for the earlier trip, and I believe the links to the photos are still good, though it's been a while since I checked. Thanks again for your thoughtful post. More photos to come! Paule |
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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b6c1f7aa4.jpeg
A funeral procession https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...05e110c92.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4131a9c35.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...03137fd3f.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...27915b071.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...96507db0b.jpeg A small Ayyanar shrine at the edge of the village https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aed74ed71.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cc11c398c.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...43fffa361.jpeg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0058322e7.jpeg |
We climbed a hill with our driver, Vijay, to see a small but beautiful ancient temple. There were only a few others doing the same trek up the hill. Behind some barbed wire there was a cave with carvings outside - I’m not sure who or what they are but we were struck by them.
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We climbed a hill with our driver, Vijay, to see a small but beautiful ancient temple. There were only a few others doing the same trek up the hill. Behind some barbed wire there was a cave with carvings outside - I’m not sure who or what they are but we were struck by them.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...64ad3c934.jpeg Our driver, Vijay https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...50b1354d4.jpeg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6e4ffecbc.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ac4d1102e2.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c26c9de1c.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c37ddaef43.jpg |
Finally, we got to Madurai, one of the most important cultural centers of Tamil Nadu. We visited the Meenakshi Amman Temple, one of the large living temples, and there were no photos allowed anywhere! In fact, cameras and cell phones had to be stored away before entering.
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We also visited the Thirumalai Nanak palace, constructed for the king in 1636, with a blend of Dravidian and Islamic style architecture.
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Interesting that you weren't able to take photos inside the temple in Madurai. There was no such restriction when I was there in 2010, but that was the pre-selfie era...
I haven't edited the photos from that trip, but if interested my Tamil Nadu photos are here: https://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/...11/Tamil-Nadu/ Madurai is photos 1 to 154. |
Madurai was the strictest of all the temples we visited in the South and the only one where we had to store our phones as well as cameras. Yes, the selfie era has changed everything! It was a bit of a relief, truthfully, as we had visited so many temples before Madurai, it gave me a chance to not have to be in “photo mode” all the time.
its fun seeing the place through your eyes - and it certainly doesn’t look any different in 9 years! |
It's been a while since I looked at them. Definitely need editing!!!
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Editing is exhausting! I’ve just returned from Italy with over 2000 photos! I just can’t even think about editing!
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As the trip recedes further into the past, I though I'd try to get back to this trip (am also working on my more recent Italy trip!) and continue the journey...
In Madurai, Indian Panorama arranged for 2 tours - an evening food tour and a morning tour, exploring the city as it wakes. They were both really fun and I loved seeing the city waking up. Evening tour https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ebc38473cd.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9336afa638.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2bf5b68456.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e5ae16babd.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a649039e9e.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7bd3744f4d.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b5c4e00715.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ea14009f0a.jpg |
More great pics, Progol. I almost feel I'm there with you!
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Many thanks, annhig! I will try to post more here - it’s definitely getting harder to keep up! As well as the ongoing photo report on the other board!
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The morning tour in Madurai. Fascinating to see the city waking up along the smaller streets. We had to get up before sunrise (!) and managed to see one man finishing up milking a cow and gathering the cans, and saw several women who were drawing kolam in front of their houses. These are drawings that were traditionally done in rice powder and thought to bring prosperity to the family. The rice powder is eaten by bugs and worn away by the end of the day, so women are up early each morning to create new ones. The designs vary from very simple to complex, and are commonly geometrical, though not always.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bb9b3ea3bb.jpg Kolam https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...17cc79463.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...317663c6a2.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...964fcbc33c.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f38d102dac.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8b4b3b013a.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fcde21dff9.jpg To market https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aa444b9b3a.jpg On the way to market! https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...20edd41bde.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eaddb81ff.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bf8c23d65f.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0cfb87625.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b162e18cd3.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c5ad6f7a0.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f932284bc8.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e9dcc51e5d.jpg |
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful images.
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Thanks, swapna8! I'll try to get some more up soon. It seems like no one else is looking at this anymore so I'm glad to see someone is enjoying the photos!
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I'm still here and I'm still enjoying the photos. The colours are so vivid!
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So glad you’re still enjoying the photos, annhig! I’ll get some more up soon! Promise!
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