Southern Indian diary

We’ve been thinking of visiting India for a while, and finally made the decision. With India being so very large and varied, we decided to travel with small groups, and leave the planning to someone else for a change! We started in the south, in Cochin, in the state of Kerala.

The tour we chose was through Exodus Travels  ~  South India Explored.  Their itinerary says “Explore the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka: a region of great charm, southern India offers travellers beautiful cities, colonial hill stations, colourful temples, a relaxed lifestyle, attractive scenery and some of the best food in India. The major cities of the south were once princely capitals of the maharajas, and their magnificent remains contrast dramatically with the cool, mist-shrouded hill stations established by the British Raj. The natural scenery is also immensely rewarding; forest-clad hills slope down to a shoreline of shady lagoons, wooded islands, ancient spice ports and sandy beaches. This is an exceptionally varied and interesting trip and gives a comprehensive view of the whole of South India.” 

This post is considerably longer than usual, as I tried a diary format, attempting to upload photos and add something every few days. However, lack of time and wifi meant it wasn’t that immediate, so I’ll be going back to my usual format in future!

As we’ll be continuing on to Northern India, we just bought the land package from Exodus and booked our own flights, so we decided to arrive a couple of days early to try to get over jet lag. (huh!) After our southern India tour with Exodus, we explored some of the national parks of Madhya Pradesh with Pugdundee Safaris.

Kerala

Fort Kochin:

We spent an evening on our own walking along the sea front, admiring the traditional fishing nets, that were first introduced by the Chinese hundreds of years ago, and are still in regular use. Families played on the beach as the sun went down, and fish sellers plied their wares.

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Traditional fishing nets

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We were then joined by our tour leader, Rajesh (“call me PK”) and the rest of our group of companions for the next 20 days, and explored Fort Kochin by day.

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Dhobi (laundry)

We visited a traditional dhobi (laundry), where washing for private homes, hotels and restaurants is still scrubbed and beaten by hand, and hung out to dry.

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Vasco da Gama

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in Kochin in 1498 and began trading with the Raja of Cochin. Da Gama died in 1524, on his third visit to Kochin.  He was originally buried in the church of St Francis, and then his body was later removed to Portugal.

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Mattancherry Palace

The Mattancherry Palace was built by the Portuguese in the mid 1500’s and then was largely rebuilt by its second occupants, the Dutch. Built in traditional Keralan style the wooden architecture and wall paintings of scenes from the Ramayana are still well preserved.

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Jewish Community

We learned about the old Jewish community of Kochin, dating back to the first settlers who arrived in Cochin in 587 BCE. The community numbers have now dwindled down to 4 women and 1 man – not enough to form the minyan, or quorum of 10 men required for public prayer. The old synagogue, built in the 1500’s is beautiful, with many hanging glass lamps from Belgium and Venice, and hand painted 18th century blue ceramic Cantonese floor tiles. (no photos allowed inside, sadly). The streets around the synagogue are called Jew Town, with many signs and shop names still indicating their old heritage.

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Traditional Fishing Nets

We saw the traditional fishing nets by day, introduced in the 14th century by the Chinese. We even had a go at using the stones and pulleys to pull up a net. Video used with thanks and copyright to Kamla Sookee.

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Kathakali dance performance

We really enjoyed watching a short traditional dance performance.  It was particularly interesting to watch the actors putting on their makeup on stage, and also demonstrating the dramatic facial acting!

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Tamil Nadu

Snooty Ooty!

After we left Kochin, we took the train to Tamil Nadu, part of the way up into the hills to Ooty, known as “Snooty Ooty” in the days of the British Raj!

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We then completed our journey to Ooty with our tour bus. Ooty is at an altitude of 2,286 m, and is perfect for growing tea. With its cooler climate, it was a summer refuge for the British. We enjoyed learning about tea growing and processing, which can be as simple as just being steamed briefly, for green tea. It was so interesting to sample different teas: white, which is made from the very tip of the leaf bud, through green, black, chai and ginger.

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Doddabetta Peak:

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Tibetan market in Ooty:

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Ooty hotel doorman

Karnataka

on the road to Mysore:

As we drove north through Mudumalai and Bandipur National Parks, to Mysore, we were delighted to see monkeys, deer and even a couple of elephants!

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Before reaching Mysore, we stopped at Chaumundi Hill where there is a temple dedicated to Durga.

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We enjoyed meeting and laughing with a group of women from a local village, who help the poor and needy in their village, and came to the temple for a day out.

Ladies from local village, visiting Temple of Durga
Ladies from local village, visiting Temple of Durga

On the road up to the temple there is a giant stone Nandi bull carved in 1659.

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Our fun group at the Temple of Durga:

our group, at the temple of Durga

Mysore:

In Mysore, we learned about Tipu Sultan, who famously fought four battles against the British. The story is that the British were not intending to kill him, but he was killed in the final battle in 1799. He was buried with honours at the mausoleum that Tipu had previously had built for his parents – father Haider/Hayder Ali, mother Fakr-Un-Nisa.

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Tipu Sultan’s palace just outside Mysore at Srirangapatnam, is absolutely beautiful, but sadly for me, no photography is allowed.

Then there was great widening of eyes and mouths at the sight of the Maharajah’s Palace in Mysore! Gold, marble, carved columns, precious jewels, extraordinary paintings on the ceilings and walls – what a place! Strangely, cameras are not allowed, but cell phones are, so my photos are by cell phone only. This palace is truly a monument to conspicuous consumption!

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(click photos to view fullsize)

As in many places in India, there’s a story… a couple of maharajahs ago, the ruler disapproved of his playboy son, and didn’t want him to inherit the palace. So he wrote a letter giving it to the government, then committed suicide. The government promptly decided that the letter constituted a will, and took the palace. Now the palace is 60% owned by the government – open to the public, and 40% owned by the current 24 year old maharajah, who lives there (when not in London, where he was born and brought up!).  And there is a still a legal fight over ownership of the palace!

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Rivers play an important part in Indian life. They’re a laundry, swimming pool and bath. Somewhere for families to cool down and play and relax. They’re also a place for ritual and remembrance of dead ancestors.

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ancestor remembrance ceremony at the river, Mysore

on the road to Hassan:

On the road to Hassan, we stopped at a small sugar cane processing facility. The cane is crushed several times, and the extracted juice is boiled down three times until it’s thick and sticky, and a beautiful caramel colour. It’s then poured into moulds, and allowed to set into a fudge-like consistency (and taste!). This is jaggery. Used as sugar in a great deal of Indian cooking, and especially in the various fruit and nut flavoured sweets that are the favourite of many Indians.

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Sravanabelagola:

We continued on to Sravanabelagola, a Jain sacred city, to climb the 700 steps up to the temple to see the 10th century, 17m high statue of Gommateshwara.

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Hassan:

At Hassan, we took the time to visit the temples of Halebid and Belur, which were the centre of the Hoysala dynasty from 11th to 14th centuries.

The soapstone carvings on these temples are especially intricate and fine. The friezes on the outside show scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. I always believed soapstone was a soft stone, but apparently it is soft when it is first quarried, so can be carved, then it begins to harden. This explains why the carvings on the temples have lasted so well and so long!

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unfinished carving at Hindu temple of Halebid

Halebid has some unfinished carvings. It’s particularly interesting to see partly begun work. Some of the carvings have been damaged over the years in successive invasions, and yet so much beautiful work remains. The carving is so detailed, each animal, each figure is individually different!

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Bangalore to Chennai, our first (overnight) Indian train experience!

Back on the bus, our trusty driver Bibin drove us to Bangalore, where we stopped for lunch and took a stroll around the botanical gardens.

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Our itinerary told us that we would be catching the overnight train from Bangalore to Chennai… well, Indian railways cannot be predicted! When we dutifully showed up at 9 pm, early for our supposed 10.40 pm departure, we were greeted with this notice:

our train is delayed by 7 hours!

Train departure delayed until 5 am! We debated various options: try to hire a bus to take us to Chennai – none available. Look for seats on a public bus – night time travel deemed too risky. Wait at the station overnight, not too comfortable.

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Fortunately our resourceful guide Rajesh made contact with the local hotel where we had eaten a delicious lunch and dinner, and promptly booked enough rooms for us all! After all these deliberations, and finding enough transport to take us to the hotel, we laid down our weary heads at midnight, looking forward to a 3 am alarm call!

And we made it. Back to the station, train is indeed scheduled to depart at 5 am. Train came in, we got on, found our bunks and settled in. I think most of us managed a few hours sleep, until we arrived into the hustle and bustle of Chennai.

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Tamil Nadu

Mahabalipuram:

We grabbed a quick early brunch in Chennai, masala dosa is truly the breakfast of champions!

Masala Dosa – breakfast of champions!

and then headed down to Mahabalipuram, the site of magnificent granite friezes, bas relief sculptures and temples. These date from the 4-6th century, and many of the carvings are monolithic, carved from a single piece of granite – which is extraordinary. Just look at the photos, many are carved from one single piece of granite! Some of the friezes are unfinished, and some damaged from warfare and invasions.

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our group in front of granite monolith, Mahabalipuram

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When the 2004 tsunami came through, fortunately only 5 local people died, but there was extensive damage to fishing boats and local buildings. Our local guide Shiva was with a group of German tourists, they ran back to their bus and drove off, safely. Naturally he was hugely concerned for his family, and they were separated for three days, but later were all safely reunited.

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Pondicherry/Puducherry

We drive on towards Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), heading inland and stopping first at the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary. The sanctuary is an important breeding ground for water birds. We enjoyed walking along the peaceful river bank, watching cormorants, egrets, herons, storks, pelicans and many more species amongst the green trees.

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Pondicherry has old remains of the port of Arekmedu, which was used as a trading centre for India to export silk, spices, even birds, lions and elephants, to the Roman Empire, in exchange for gold. From the 17th century, Portuguese, Danes and French came and settled here. The area became a French colony, but there was fighting between the English and French, with control of the region changing hands. The 19th century saw the rebuilding of the city by the French to its present day grid pattern, with a large European influence. In the early 1950’s the region became part of the Indian Union. Today the Union Territory of Pondicherry includes the other three French enclaves of Karaikal (in Tamil Nadu), Mahe (in Kerala), and Yanam (in Andhra Pradesh).

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Tamil Nadu

on the road to Thanjavur:

village girl on the road to Thanjavur

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Just outside Thanjavur, I was so excited when we stopped to visit a bronze-maker. Here a family practices the age-old art of lost-wax bronze-making.  First beeswax is melted with tree resin and oil and allowed to firm up to a consistency that allows for sculpting. We watched the artist make a hand in just a few quick minutes, such skill! When the sculpture is complete, it’s covered with clay and left to harden for several days. The clay is made with silt from the local Kaveri river, which is particularly well suited for this process. Once the clay is fully hardened, a small hole is made in the bottom of the clay, and it’s heated over the fire. This melts the wax, which is poured out, leaving a statue shaped cavity. Molten bronze is then poured into the clay mold. We watched as the artist threw cold water over the clay to harden the bronze, and invited one of our group to crack open the clay with a small hammer.  And magically, a new bronze statue was born! Throughout this process, the artist’s father sat on the ground, patiently cleaning off the clay, and fine-chiseling in the details, on previously cast sculptures. He also added different oils and polishes to give a variety of finishes. I was so very happy to see this ancient art, still alive and thriving.

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tiny hand, made in moments, the art of lost-wax bronze-making, Thanjavur

In this home they also create paintings, using gold leaf and traditional plant dyes.

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Tamil Nadu

Thanjavur:

In Thanjavur we visit the beautiful granite built Brihadisvara Temple, a World Heritage Site, one of the great monuments of southern India. The temple is the achievement of the Chola King, Rajaraja I, who was a great patron of the arts. The temple has outstanding inscriptions and sculptures of Shiva, Vishnu and Durga.

at the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur

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We also visited the beautiful 15th century palace which houses a huge library as well as the Rajaraja Museum with a collection of magnificent Chola bronzes.

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Tamil Nadu

Madurai:

Madurai is a busy thriving city, which has a large flower market, especially well-known for it special variety of jasmine flowers. We really enjoyed the sights and smells of the flower market!

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We visit the magnificent Thirumalai Nayaka Palace, which was built in 1636 in Indo-Mughal style by the Nayak dynasty.

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Crazy rickshaw ride through the streets of Madurai. From the flower market to the temple. Passing the onion market, housewives, children, workers, residents. Lots of fun, and our driver went off with a huge smile after the tip we gave him 🙂

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crushing sugar cane for juice, Madurai

The most famous sight in Madurai is the Meenakshi Temple, an outstanding example of Vijaynagar temple architecture. Built between the 16th and 18th centuries, it is at the heart of the city and the life of the town revolves around it. It is a hive of activity and the scene of an almost continuous religious festival. The temple’s nine towering gopurams stand out with their colourful stucco images of gods, goddesses and animals. There are about 4,000 granite sculptures on the lower levels and numerous pillared temple halls surrounding the Golden Lotus Tank. The main temple is dedicated to Meenakshi, the ‘fish-eyed goddess’ and the consort of Shiva. One of the spectacular parts of the complex is the 16th century Thousand Pillared Hall with exquisitely carved columns and its sculptured ceiling, which depicts a wheel showing the 60 Tamil years. Again this is a place where cell phones are allowed, but not cameras, so my photos are not the best, but the temple just glows with life and colour, and I hope you can see some of that.

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ancester remembrance ritual, Meenakshi temple, Madurai

Kerala

Thekkady:

On the way to Thekkady, we stopped to watch brick making by hand. The brickmaker was working on a Sunday because tomorrow he’s taking his daughter to nursing college. Glad to hear there are opportunities.

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We also stopped to see grapes growing. Wine is not too popular in India, people who drink, mostly drink beer, whisky, or if you can afford it, Scotch!

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Spice Garden:

We visited a peaceful and fascinating garden on the edge of Periyar National Park, where a huge variety of spices is grown.

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Cuppa chai, somewhere in southern India:

Periyar National Park:

The next morning we hiked in Periyar National Park. It was very lush and green, and we discovered why – it rains, and it rained on us. I think the leeches enjoyed it, some of us picked up some hitchhikers! Alison and Danila give a  little demonstration of how leeches move:

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Thekkady:

In the evening in Thekkady, we went to see a demonstration of the thrilling martial art of Kalaripayattu.

demonstration of traditional martial arts Kalaripayattu, in Thekaddy

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(click on photos to view fullsize)

Check out the video of this amazing martial art! Make sure to watch out for two members of our group participating at the 33 second mark.

Our appetite stimulated by the martial arts, we then went to try our hands at some local cooking. We walked to a local home, where there is a small cooking demo operation set up.  Bar-b-Que Thekkady gets excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, which are well deserved.  We prepped veggies, mixed spices into pans, stirred and mixed, and then finally ate the delicious results!

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Delicious finished dinner, cooking class at Bar-B-Que Thekkady
The family, cooking class at Bar-B-Que Thekkady

Kerala Backwaters:

Alleppey:

From Thekkady we drove west to Alleppey, also known as  Alappuzha. Here we were joining houseboats for an overnight cruise on the Kerala backwaters. We had two houseboats for our group, one with 3 bedrooms and one with 4.

The backwaters are a chain of lakes, lagoons and waterways, spreading mostly south from the city of Cochin. There’s a connection to the sea at Cochin, so much of the water is brackish.  There is a barrage built about halfway down the backwaters at Thanneermukkom, which keeps the deeper, more inland waters fresh, so they can be used for irrigation of the fields.

We started seeing kingfishers and bee-eaters darting around the river, as well as larger birds of prey. Locals were washing clothes on the steps from their houses to the river. We saw low, narrow barges being loaded with rice sacks for transportation. As the sun got lower, the fishermen started to come out and set their nets for the nights. We moored up and the crew started to prep for a delicious dinner. Our journey round southern India is coming to its end, and this was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and overnight, with the peaceful river lulling us into relaxation.

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(click on photos to view fullsize)

Kerala Backwaters

The next day, our driver Bibin and his assistant Abhi met us off the houseboat, as we drive off south to our final stop, Kovalam, on this great tour of southern India. Bibin has really done a superb job of navigating the sometimes narrow and winding roads on this tour, parking in the tightest places that looked impossible, and with the able assistance of Abhi, looking out, signalling to other drivers, jumping out of the bus to guide Bibin, we’ve felt safe all the time.

Last pic of our entire group, as our driver Bibin, and his assistant Aby, left us in Kovalam

Kovalam is a small town on the beach, with plenty of facilities for visitors, shops and restaurants along the boardwalk beach front. We had a few hours to enjoy the sights and have a great seafood dinner on the each, and then the wind and rain started, so some of us took advantage of the Ayurvedic spa facilities at our hotel!

Sadly our fantastic tour of southern India finished on a low note with a wind-lashing from Cyclone Ockhi, very bad news for the people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, causing destruction and some deaths.

We booked this tour  through Exodus Travels  ~  South India Explored. We paid the full market price for this comprehensive and well-organized tour. Happy to recommend them!

India is not over! We spent a few days in Delhi, including being unexpectedly invited to attend a local wedding, then moved on to Madhya Pradesh, where we explored several of the national parks, with Pugdundee Safaris, and finally finished off with a cultural exploration of Rajasthan, custom designed for us by Royal Expeditions.

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