Stupas and elephants in the bus

A little "fixer-upper" in Galle, by next year this will most likely be a boutique,


Stray elephant looking for a handout in the bus


Old Dutch Building

I decided the best place to be in the midafternoon heat was in a pleasant internet cafe with a fan, even my room with its generous balcony overlooking the ancient city wall of Galle (prounounced Gaul) and the ocean beyond is too hot at this time of day. However I'm having quite a challenge putting up photos, some won't recognize the memory card, or the electricity gets cut off etc. It may be better in Colombo.

So anyway I'll describe things and hope to add photos later.
After my day seeing the old temples around Kandy several days ago, I hired a driver to take me to some wonderful caves that although they were ancient, the statues of the reclining Buddha and paintings were all 19th century so though not as old as I had thought (not like the Ajanta or Elora caves in India which were covered by forest for hundreds of years) they were still very beautiful and dramatic with the paintings and statues particularly the enormous reclining Buddha.

From there we went to an enormous geographical site, a huge rock that had ruins of a palace and some old wall paintings on the way up, it was quite a climb but I made it which surprized me as I was feeling weak still afer my cold departed. I was then dropped in one of the two ancient cities I wanted to visit, Polonorupa the smaller of the two, and rented a bike the next mornig to see ruins of an old kingdom, there were ruins of palaces stupas and huge Buddha statues. The combination of not having ridden a bike, an exceptionally hard seat and the heat was slightly distracting in terms of hoping to get into the "zone" of this ancient place. However, unlike many monuments in India where the maddingly persistent hawkers can drive you mad (or just away from the site) the distraction by hawkers or "guides" is minimal, the monuments are very well maintained and policed.

I had a pretty skanky hotel room (thanks Lonely Planet!) so headed off that afternoon after seeing the ruins on a local bus two hours away to Anuradhapuram which was a beautiful leafy city as well as having breathtakng ruins, stupas, Buddha's. You could just imagne what it looked like hundreds of years ago when 5000 monks roamed around the shady leafy paths. These ruins were much more spread out so I hired a driver to take me to the major spots for the morning and then wandered around myself in the afternoon, treating myself to lunch at one of the beautiful Raj era hotels, on a breezy verandah. It seemed that I was the only one there, indeed tourism is slow here aside from beach tourism. Locals here do not think that the war is really over but that the militants will somehow regroup.

I was up at 5 am and on an 8 hour train ride to the far south coast to Galle. Its a bit like Stonington in that its a penninsula that juts out into the ocean from the mainland but has fortified walls, some put there by the Portuguese some by the Dutchand some by the British. The whole walled city is a Unesco world heritage site while the new town outside of the walls and across from a huge cricket field, is a typical chaotic Indian town, though Sri Lanka lacks the enromours population of India and the incessant traffic, its still pretty densely crowded.

The walled town is quite large and is still a "living city" and I've enjoyed wandering the narrow streets discovering treasures of old Dutch colonial buildings, churches of various demoninations some with old graveyards, including one that has been made into a Mosque, and there are wonderful shops. There are many new hotels opening up which provide nice places to eat and enjoy a drink at night. The local people are very friendly and always say hello, particularly when walking the rampars early in the morning. The touts are another thing, but there are not too many fortunately, because I already had an arguement with one who would not seem to just let me enjoy walking around myself. You get a bit worn down by the "madame" "Hellooooo" "what do you want, where are you going, what are you looking for, just come and look in my shop......." as I just like to wander on the sreet and in my own head, but then, its a part of tourism in India and Sri Lanka (not so at all in Thailand, Cambodia or Viet Nam) so might as well accept it rather than get annoyed though it certainly tests my patience from time to time.

I'm staying at Mrs. Kahlid's beautiful guest house, where I have a generous wooden porch to myself off of my spacious 2nd floor room, my neighbors a nice Austrialian couple left this morning and if I'm lucky I'll continue to have the balcony to myself for the next 3 days while I'm here. There are endless interesting guests houses to choose from. I painted there for several hours this morning. Its an old restored house, so you can dine in the family living room, the two brothers who seem to be the main caretakers are very pleasant and are usually on the couch on the computer. I had dinner there last night, its by reservation and the other couple were travel writers from Brazil who are traveling for a year all over Asia. This morning I had breakfast and interesting conversation with the Austrialian couple who are very experienced travelers. (Its so great not to have to apologize for George Bush anymore!!) I also met a very cheery American couple at dinner in Anuradhapuram, they shared my table, and as the beer was not cold, they had a bit of a bottle of Shirmnoff left over and when we finished that, I had my newly bought bottle, mixed with fresh lime soda. So I have not been totally alone but I have to say Im usually glad that these encounters are brief because I really get into a very hermetic state when I travel (when I'm not with my buddy JC that is)

There are several nice beach towns close by and though I will probly take a bus or overpriced rickshaw to walk there when it cools off later in the day, I like my hotel and think I'll enjoy staying put for a few days and I do love the architecture. From here I go back to Colombo which we passed through on train and made me glad I have only 2 days there but to be fair you never usually see the best parts of town from the train and I just bought a novel from a Sri Lankan author about Cinnamon Gardens the neighborhood that I'll be staying at, so will read up and the explore.

Today my horiscope in the local paper said that my travels would interfere with my educational mission, how accurate since when school starts next week I'll still be in India!

Last days in Chennai, new days in Sri Lanka

Kandy lake with view of the Temple of the Tooth

Temple of the Tooth, Kandy

This is downtown Kandy, showing both new and very old buildings

Lankatilake temple, 13th century, this is a back to back temple, Buddhis on once side, Hindu on the other

It was a Buddhist holyday and many women were dressed in white, these women asked me to take their photo, so I obliged!

Tree shrine in the neighborhood I lived in in Chennai, I love how the trees are painted, this shrine is active day and night

Hi, I am in Sri Lanka now, but wanted to put up some photos from my last days in Chennai, as well as my first here. But, I discovered that its taking a whopping 7 minuites for each image to load, now I have a lot of time on my hands, but this tests even my patience. On my last two days I enjoyed again walking around my neighborhood and that of my favorite temple area early in the morning, but this time taking photos of small neighborhood or street shrines. I'll post more if I find faster service later.

I love the little roadside shrines in India amost more than the larger formal ones. There is always a certain amount of doubt if I should photograph or not, the photographer's dilemna, wanting the shot, but not wanting to exploit anyone, or be insensitive. In the large temples there are notices of where you can and can't photograph, so its easier, and I often just wait to see what other, particularly Indian, tourists are doing. there is no particular rule, mostly you can't photograph the core image in a shrine, but somtimes if you ask the priest, its ok, my friend Michael has hardly ever been turned down and you always give a small donation at the shrine anyway. In other cases I ask, or I take my camera out and hold it, allowing anyone to see that I have it and if anyone sees, they have time to tell me not to take a photo. In some small or mid-size temples, there is a caretaker family and from my experience, for a donation, they are more than happy to let you take as many photos as you want.

It was a beatiful flight to Sri Lanka, down the east coast of India, until you start to see the western coast of Sri Lanka, Colombo where the airport is near is in the middle of the east coast. I'll be there my last 2 1/2 days, its a large city, but the Fulbright director there who I've been in contact with, got me a room in a nice b&b in an old house in what sounds like the nicest parts of town, near the embasies and museums and university, because he said there were definately areas in Colombo that I should not even consider going to. (of course these were the very areas I was headed as that's where the discount hotels were, smartly this man organized it for me) plus he said the old woman who runs the place would gladly have a drink with me and watch Obama's innaguration, that's a must for me.

I headed straight up and inland to Kandy, in the hills, its the sacred city of Sri Lanka, where the temple of the Buddha's tooth is. Its formally called the Sri Dalada Maligawa) You can see that view by the building with the gold roof. The story is that the tooth was rescured from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre in 543 BC and smuggled to Sri Lanka in the 4th century AD hidden in the hair of a princess. It has huge importance in Sri Lanka as whoever has the tooth aparently has the right to rule the Island. The Portuguese said they stole and burned it, but the Sri Lankans said that that was a fake, and that even the one in the temple today is a fake and the real one is buried somewhere for safe keeping. There are only certain times of day to see the box the tooth is in, aparently you really get pushed along. Ironically I was in a bank being annoyed at how long it was to cash my travelers checks when this was happening so I missed it, but I saw the outside doors and the orange clad monks locking things up. I think I'll live my life ok without having seen it, the building and grounds were beaitiful. Today was a special day for Buddhists, so the place was mobbed and there were women wearing white all over. At one of the smaller temples a group of them asked me to take their photo which you see.

Some of the photos look pretty gloomy, but it was just hazy, with an antomospheric sky, and the haze was welcome for when the sun came out today, it was really hot. Occasionally there was a spot of rain, which stopped completely of course, since I bought an umbrella, my worthy sacrifice, it always works! The center piece of Kandy is a very large lake and the city clusters mostly to one side of it. I did put a photo of that, my hotel is exactly on the opposite side of the temple on the lake. For a modest $13.00 I have a large clean room with hot water, and large double doors that open onto a narrow balcony with a view of the lake. There is a very larger verandah at back where breakfast is served. Like many houses in the tropics, the original bungalows, which there unfortunately do not seem to be much left of, have very large open porches, and high peaked ceillings. I also have one photo of a street in the rather chaotic grimy part of "down-town", I believe the one I put up was of a new building on one side and a very old one on the other. There are some pretty old buildings, mostly hotels like "Queens" and "Old Empire" there is a lovely pub on a generous verandah in one with wicker chairs, I enjoyed a beer and steak there the other night. (I needed a wee break from Indian food.)

Today I took a trip to visit three 13th century temples out in the countryside, the ride was beautiful and each temple was pretty spectacular. The large white one you see is the Lanktilake Temple, which interestingly was two temples back to back, one Hindu and one Buddhist, I've shown only one side at present. Its pretty natural to see a mingling of Hindu and Buddhist imagery, not so Hindu and Muslim!

Tomorrow I hired a car to get to my next destination and on the way stop at two important sites, some cave temples with old paintings and an intersting geological site that was a palace, then to Polonnaruwa, one of the two ancient cities I'll visit, the other is about two hours from that one, Anuradhapura, then from there back to the coast at the old Dutch city of Galle, which will be the first place I'll probably have faster internet. Its intersting being here as the 30 year civil war with the Tamil Tigers agains the Sinhalese Sri Lankan army comes to an end!

Everyday I also get some painting done, its been lovely but I miss you all!

Blessings and stray dogs in Kanchipuram

This kolam must have been made by children as it seems like cartoon bunnies!

Kolams and traditional Tamil Bungalow, the Kolam is put on the threshold of the home at dawn and soemtimes at dusk with rice flower, walking over it brings the blessings of the Goddess of good fortune, Lakshmi into the house. These are usually seen most frequently in South India

Women making their kolam, people are very gracious about being photographed!

stray dogs at dawn only me, the dogs (gods also) and the chai wallas

This is the bathing tank of a small temple I came across on the way to the larger temple, I loved the reflections in the pool, south Indian temples are known by the red organge stripes

The gopuram of the temple I was searching for suddenly loomed in the distance, but it was covered by thatch, it must be being painted

I came across this ceremony bring the icon (murti) of Vishnu back into the temple

Traditional tamil house, they are much larger inside than they look from the outside usually with multiple coutryards and high ceilings for the heat

House and kolam





Click on any image to make it bigger, I tried to put some on larger today, but it takes nearly 5 minuites each, but then, I pretty much have all the time in the world here, I've even started walking slowly. The images are a little out of order, I thought some had loaded that didn't so it starts with houses, goes to temples and bakc to houses. (and stray dogs, who are more timid than they look, if I bark at them they run off with their tail between their legs)

I just had two lovely days in the 2nd holiest city in India after Varanasi, Kanchipuram. There are 5 major famous temples there, some very ancient,and others you stumble into all the time, just as beautiful, it reminded me of being in Seville Spain where you fell out of one church into another this time following the tall temple towers unique to South India,(gopurams) rather than steeples. The setting is nowhere near as grand as Varanasi on the Ganges, I'm not sure why it became such a sacred center, its a busy dusty small flat town, but pretty walkable compared to Chennai which is the most unwalkable city I've ever been in, though I keep trying as its better than haggling with rogue rickshaw drivers. Tomorrow I'll see if I can photograph or scan and post a great political cartoon in todays Times of India, they are complaining about the current political party leaders, the caption was "when Pak (Pakistan) attaks, they run to Mama (the US) but soon it will be Obama"

I was sure impressed by the temples but even more by my love of vernacular architecture, the lovely little Tamil bungalows, many orginal, some "improved" in unfortunate ways, but most still intact. They look like they would be very low roofed, but inside the ceilings are high, and they are very long, and full of interior courtyards. Some are broken into two side by side parts after a large main room open to the sky, for joint families, and the kitchen is large enough for several women to cook for their families at the same time. I found two houses that were open as museums so had a chance to see the floor plan, unfortunately I didn't get photos inside, but in one view, there was a house taken down next to one (they are like rowhouses) so you can see the length nad how the roof line goes up and down for the courtyard roofs. Doors are never closed so I tried to photograph some so you can see all the way through.

I was up at dawn to day to walk to a temple, it was only me and the stray dogs, some chai wallas, but got lost in a maze of little streets and saw women putting down their kolams in front of their very charming bungalows, (did you know Bungalow is an Indian word by the way, somes from Bengali house, the distinct type of roofline a bungalow has) anyway, soon word got around and people came out to pose with their works of art on the threshold. I got quite lost, but luckily kept the rising sun to the east and finally found someone who spoke English who could direct me to the temple which was a few miles away (I am a walker in India, the only way to see things) and amazingly I prounced the name well enough to be understood, then along the way more directions and finally I saw all the tour busses, pilgrims wearing black lungies, and the dramatic temple tower silouhette (gopuram) that I have a photo of, though it was covered with thatching as it is being painted. I have one shot of the temple well, with orange strips, reflected in the water, its where people bathe and bless themselves. I was very fortunate to witness the returing of the temple deity (this was Vishnu's neighborhood, the other temples closer to the town center are all for Shiva) the deity is carried by groups of Brahmin priests of all ages, and they are chanting and banging drums, then they stop every now and then to prostrate themselves. In South India for some reason, non-Hindus are not allowed into the inner sanctum, but there is plenty else to see.

The next time you hear from me I'll be in Sri Lanka, can't wait!

Exhibition Reception at Dakshinachitra

I had the opening of the show of Hanuman and myself and the student work at 11:00 today, very well attended and I was particularly delighted by the attendance of Adam Grotsky and his wife, the new head of the Fulbright in Delhi. There was the usual lighting of the lamp to innagurate the show, then tea followed by a talk I gave on American artists who are inpsired by India. Dakshinchiatra is a class act, they really worked hard for the show nad there wree two articles one in the times of India, under Hot picks of the Week. I'll see if I can put some photos up. Tomorrow I leave for the temple town of Kanchipuram, a 2 hour bus ride, but Deborah Thiagarajen's secretary (Deboran is the American woman who is the head of Dakshinachitra) arranged for me to be met by a man named Ashoka who runs a heritige hotel, so nice to have that all arranged for me. They really take care of their visitors. After trying to phone Sri Lanka for many days, I finally seemed to have broken through the varous country, city, codes, 0 or no 0, and reserved what sounds like a swell room with balcony overlooking a lake in Kandy, where the temple of the Buddha's tooth is, up in the mountains. I'm excited to explore new territory! I've only been gone three weeks, but it feels so much longer and I'm feeling a bit exhausted, India will definately do that for you, but there is so much to see and one does not just want to sit around, so I keep going.

Unfortunately I cant post any photos of the opening because I took them on the wrong setting and have to have the special photoshop program to open them, too bad!

K

Chennai Walks, and pics

This is my favorite temple in Chennai in the Mylapore area, the neighborhood surrounding it is full of smaller shrines, I come here often early early in the morning and then have a dosa, chai and my morning paper at one of the delectable resturants near the temple

beautiful colorful kolam

So many dawns, so many Kolams, what wonderful street art!


Beach at Chennai, New Years morning

This was the old ice house where ice shipped from Concord and Salem was brought, usually the shipment at least half melted by then. Now its the Swami Vivekananda house, Vivekananda represented India at the World Parliment of Religions in Chicago on September 11, 1894 (I think that's right, not quite sure about the year)

This is a modest example of the many Art Decco houses all over India, it certainly was a favorite style, I like the elaborate buildings and theatres, but also the modest homes in neighborhoods

The Lady Willingdon school building has seen better days but reflects the Colonial infuence in Indian architecture, some are beautifully restored. The generous collumbed porches and high celings are perfect for the tropical weather year round

A bit worn, but a charming older wooden victorian cottage style building

Fishermens's boats, this area was very badly hit by the Tsunami, there are some sturdy new builngs built along with the thatch buildings

Here you can see both Christian and Hindu churches on the shore in the fishing village, St. Thomas brough Cathoicism to Madras (Chennai) long before the British missionaries

A small chapel in the fishing village

Fishing village road

I've had a few exhausting days but very wonderful. I have been getting up and out by 7:30 and talking long long walks. I just got home from this mornings walk, started at 7:30 and its noon. Not only is the air cool, but the foot and vehicular traffic is manaable and people are friendly, many greetings of Happy New Year this morning. I love to photogaph the elaborate abstract designs that women put on the thresholds, called Kolams, they are to bring the blessings of the goddess of good fortune, Lakshmi, into the house. They are made with rice powder.
Some photos are also of the Mylapore Temple with its prominent brightly colored gopuram, that's my favoriate temple in Chennai, after which I visited the very serene Ramakrishna temple where people of all faiths gather, there were matts on the floor and many people inside meditating or praying, very peaceful and the grounds were beautiful, although not the kind of riotous imagery in the more typical Hindu temples that I find so interesting.

New Years Day commenced with a long walk to the beach, luckily it was hazy because there was no shade to be found. First I was walking through a small fishing village, you could see some new simple concrete structures probably built after the Tsunami which did so much damage. That part of the beach with a combination of thatched huts and grim looking government flats "projects" eventually gives way to a much broader expanse with a promenade and many grand European style buildings across from the main highway that runs along it. One pink buildin is the old Ice House where ice was bought from Salem to Madras, its now the Vivekananda museum. In terms of places of worship, grand and modest, You can see the presence of not only Hinduism, but Christianity, St. Thomas was here so there was ample Catholic presence lon before the missionaries, and many small chappels and larger grander churches. I photogaphed some here in the small beachside fishing village. A visit to another temple further north was pretty intnse, this IS the place to be on New Years Day and it was crowded with people lined up for Darshan, to see the image of the deity. After a very near miss in becoming part of a "Bus Sandwich" my own stupid fault for trying to cross a road unsafely,it made me feel like I really should pay my respects to at least one of the shrines in the temple, so I chouse one with the shortest line. I'm not sure what deity it was, but I was blessed and gave thanks that I could still walk around more, and it was a good lesson to be more careful.

The neighborhood streets around the temple were fun to explore, while I'd say that most architecture in the city is rather drab whitwashed concrete, and new buildings with a dizzying mix of styles, there are some old buildings and also what India excelled at, Decco buildings, many small and simple, a bit worn but with elegant lines. What I find very interesting, and also what makes it easier to be out and about, compared to when I was here in 2002 or before, is the total anonomimity I have walking around. I used to generate a great deal of attention, not harmful at all, but unnerving and made it hard to enjoy just strolling along and looking. Maybe its my gray hair "auntie" or maybe that seeing a westerner walking around is no big deal, though tourists here are still far and few between. There are the Rickshaw wallas who slow down to ask me if I want a ride but to my delight I discovered the above ground train has a station near where I'm staying and what a wonderful breezy ride over the rooftops of Chennai, a great way to see the city.

I've had plenty and plenty of "culture" this being music season. One day I went to two vocal concerts, they are scheduled all day at the main music academy, and yesterday afternoon to a 2 1/2 hour Carnatic music, flute, violin concert. Tonight is the end of the series and there is a multi drum, tabla finale at 6 pm then I will take myself out to the Raintree for dinner, its a luxury hotel I discovered within walking distnace from my place (well a reasonable walking distnace, considering the long long walks I"ve had all over the city.) New Years Eve Deborah took me to a wonderful dance drama of The Man in the Iron Mask, though it was in Tamil, I undestood the story and the visuals, beautiful people, costumes, dance, made up for what I may not have understood.

Tomorrow we hang the show and then the opening the following day, after that I have two days at Kanchipuram, one of the holist cities in India with many famed temples.

Noisy intense Chennai!

I was really ready to leave Goa, as charming and pretty and easy to be in, its also very small with a lack of cultural things to do. I somehow don't quite feel like I'm in India when I'm in Goa. Chennai is, for better or worse, most definately India! I'm back in the very dark apartment I stayed in for 6 months in 2002 on my Fulbright, brings back both good and bad memories. I'm a rolling stone in India, though I always think it would be nice to "settle" somewhere, after awhile I get bored and need to move on, (usually in about 2 weeks!) so that time, was a very very long time to be in one area, and a lot of rambling around on my own in a city which is not very hospitiable to walking or maps, it was never a planned city like Mumbai or Delhi so its very very hard to make sene of , particulary the bus system which I'd love to use if I could have ever figured it out which I never did in that 6 month time. I do love all of the temples and shrines around everwhere and of course the southern Indian food, dosas mostly.

People in the south are quite friendly, I went out to an outdoor fast food very very local place last night, with metal topped tables, open air (and thus open threatre for people watching is so much fun) they put down a large banana leaf to put your food on. There is no sense of privacy in India, its not something that people value or want or need, they think we are pretty strange for valuing privacy, so a very nice man sat down at the table with me, he proceeded to tell me about his time in LA and how it frightened him to be around other Asians, Mexicans, etc and that he couldn't get around by public transport which really bothred him, then he lived in Holland but that was too cold, and now is back in South India, permanetly. I can't remember what his job was,some kind of research. He was wearing one of the white lungi's that men in the south wear that is so charming, often doubled up so it looks more like a miniskirt sometimes. It was an interesting conversation and I was tickled that somebody would just sit down with me like that.

This is music and dance season here, with a lot of cultural things to do. I'm staying in the guest apartment owned by Deborah Thiagarajen, (down the road from the beautiful house she and her husband now diseased, Raj, own) and the night I came we went to a wonderful dance and druming concert. She has two daughters, a son in law and three very active grandchildren with her, so I'm not sure how much of her I'll see. Today I went to the music academy and sat in on two afternoon free performances of Carnatic music, then went to a bookstore I knew about, now am on my way to a clothing store I frequent (Fab India) I need a salwar kameez because I'm going to some very traditional temple towns after New Years and have to wear traditional clothing to get into them.

Email is not very frequent here. When I last lived here there were three e mail places on my block alone, all are gone and I just stumbled on this somwhat scummy one on my way to Fab India, so if you don't here from me for awhile that's why. People must have more frequent connections in thier houses now.

Plans are well on their way for the show which opens here on the 3rd, Deborah's cultural center Dakshinachitra was packed with people yeasterday, its high season, so the gallery will get a lot of traffic. I spent the whole day there going through books in the center's library and meeting with the curator of the space to plan hanging. Then I saw that it was announced in the Times of India today, they are really on top of things. Well, the connection here seems a bit fragile, so to not lose this, I'd better go now.

Christmas with the Kambli's in Goa

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm enjoying a nice Christmas evening with my friend Hanuman Kambli, his wife Veena and his two boys Atri and Achintya, I'm enclosing a photos. I'm doing this to show Hanuman how to make a blog, so that's all for now!

Kathryn