Awakening on the Rails: A Mystic Morning
As we continue our journey exploring the best places to visit in India, the adventures unfold with the vividness and unexpected turns characteristic of an Anthony Bourdain-style escapade. We pick up the story on a train, weaving through the Indian countryside, en route to another one of India’s captivating destinations.
I woke up on my train around 6am the next morning, just before the sunrise. I climbed down from my bunk and looked out of the open train door to see what countryside we were passing through. All I could see was a mystic looking mountain rising up from the dark jungle around it. The site sent a few shivers down my spine as I looked out in awe of it. The cool air was refreshing to wake up to but I still had a couple hours so I crawled back in bed for a while longer.
Madurai: A Contrast to Chennai's Urban Expanse
And then there was Madurai. This is a smaller city a 10 hour train ride south of Chennai. The second I stepped off the train I felt the differences between the two cities. Smaller and less chaotic, yet bustling in its own right, it lacked the overwhelming urban sprawl of Chennai. Stepping off the train, my only clue about Madurai was its famed temple, standing as a beacon in the city’s heart.
I left the station at around 8am when we arrived and caught an auto straight to the temple. The streets were still relatively quiet since there is no auto traffic directly around the temple.
Temple Wonders: A Cultural Deep Dive
The temple in Madurai, a central landmark, is a must-see for anyone compiling a list of places to visit in India. Its towering, intricately carved gates are just the beginning. Inside, the temple unfolds in a maze of vibrant colors and spiritual energy, offering a profound insight into India’s rich cultural tapestry.
When I got there, I thought at first it was just a single tower full of carved images of the Hindu gods but as I walked around looking for an entrance I discovered that the tower was one of many towers and the temple itself was huge!
I walked around the outside for about 10 minutes just trying to figure out how to get in. I found what appeared to be a locker room like area and went in to ask if this was the way in.
The guy manning the counter told me it was the entrance, but I would need to check my shoes and socks at the counter. No footwear in the temple. Also since I was wearing shorts I needed to put on a cloth that wrapped around my lower half. After all of this, I was permitted to enter.
From the outside all I could see were a few large towers decorated with many figures. The inside though was quite massive. I walked in and kept walking for about 2 hours, just exploring various passageways and chambers. There were many long halls lined in pillars with fierce faces carved at the top. Everything was incredibly colorful though, so it lessened the intensity of the faces a bit.
One chamber was a large square pond surrounded by a columned walkway. Beside the pond sat a small food stand with about 4 items to choose from. I hadn’t had breakfast yet so I figured I would try something. I didn’t recognize any of it but 3 of the 4 looked like some type of fried dough and the 4th was something wrapped in a banana leaf.
I took a chance on the banana leaf in hopes that it was something more filling than the others. The salesman told me to open the leaf and eat the sweet mush that was inside it. I still have no idea what this sweet mush was but it tasted alright. It had the consistency and color of oats but tasted nothing like them, it just tasted like sweet mush.
I sat down by the pond and had another new experience. I looked around after realizing I had no fork and saw that everyone else was just using their hands and scooping blobs of the stuff right into their mouths.
I had heard of this custom before and realized it was time to try it myself. I took a deep breath and scooped up a handful of the mush and messily jammed it in my mouth. It really was not so bad, but learning the technique later helped a lot.
Encounters with the Sacred: Elephant Blessings and Rituals
After I ate, I wondered around a few more long halls until I heard some chanting, which of course I proceeded to walk towards. Not everyday you are standing in an ancient temple hearing Hindu chants echoing through the halls, how could I not follow.
I found it was coming from a group of meditating monks sitting in a chamber about half the size of a football field. The meditating was cool but what really drew my attention was what was standing at the other end of the hall.
There standing in between a couple of columns with a small group standing around it, I saw my first elephant. I noticed the group around it were feeding it some kind of fruit that looked like a large cashew.
Others would give the elephant cash which it picked up with its trunk and gently gave to the handler before proceeding to blessing the giver with a tap from it’s trunk.
I fished out 10 rupees, (10 cents) and handed it to the elephant before Receiving its gentle blessing in a moment of serendipity, adding to the spiritual depth that makes Madurai a standout among places to visit in India.
Not much could top an elephant blessing, but I did see a parade not long after this! The temple’s parade, with its rhythmic chants and ornately decorated animals, further immerses me in the local traditions.
Through Madurai's Streets: Crafts, Chai, and Conversations
After a few hours of exploring I left the temple to explore the rest of the city. Madurai’s streets are alive with the buzz of artisans and vendors. All along the way salesmen would push products under my face asking if I wanted to buy. Normally a gentle no was sufficient to disperse them.
One man, named Ganesh, approached me to help pull me out of a crowd of salesman and we ended up talking for a while. He offered me some chai tea and showed me a place where I could get an overview of the temple from the top of a building. Of course he was trying to sell something too but he was nice about it.
I spent an hour looking around his shop afterwards, which I imagine was his real intention. The shop had all kinds of cool handmade crafts.
After enjoying the view, Ganesh showed me his shop where he works as a tailor making handmade shirts. I ordered one to be picked up later that day.
He then helped me to find a rickshaw which he negotiated to take me to a few of the hotspots around the city while I wait on my shirt. This rickshaw a bit different. It was a manual, meaning it was a bicycle with a cart on the back and a guy peddling.
It was a tad slower than the auto but I still got a nice breeze as we went. We crossed over a huge bridge sitting just above a broad swamp land and weaved through the traffic for a few minutes before reaching the first destination.
Meeting New Friends: Experiencing Local Life and Learning Lessons
The first stop, and what ended up being my only stop was at the Gandhi museum. The museum had highlights of the history of India and the robes Gandhi was wearing when he was assassinated.
This ended up being my only stop because I met a new friend in the first room of the museum.
Fazil was there with his sister and young cousin. He saw I had a giant backpack and looked tired so he offered me lunch at his home as his guest of honor!
I normally wouldn’t go home with a stranger but he seemed nice. We talked for a while and I found out he was about the same age as me and studying in Chennai at the time.
I thought about it carefully and since I was getting hungry I decided to go for it.
I think it is always important to trust your gut and mine told me this guy was just really excited for an opportunity to show off the Indian culture to a western traveler. As usual my gut was right, and this ended up being an amazing experience!
He instructed the rickshaw how to get to his house and we were on our way.
After another chaotic 15 minutes of passing through traffic, I arrived at Fazil’s house. A beautiful three floor building with apartments up top and a sewing shop in operation downstairs where his many uncles and cousins were busy making backpacks to sell to local shops.
His family was more than welcoming and everyone seemed excited to have me there. Some of his friends even came over throughout the day to meet the foreigner and I was happy to meet them all.
Places to visit in India I didn't expect: lunch with locals
For lunch, a mat was rolled out on the floor and the men all sat down around it as the women of the house brought in the food they had just prepared. This is the tradition in their household so I just went with it. The meal consisted of white rice, and three or four sauces to put on it. They offered a fork but I thought it would be better to try and adapt to the local customs so opted to use my hand just like everyone else.
I asked about the custom and Fazil says that he cannot trust that a spoon is clean or know who else has used it, but a hand is as clean as you make it and is only used by you. They showed me a more proper technique which involved scooping with three fingers and pushing the food in your mouth with your thumb. This was much better than trying to dump it in, which ended up pretty messy.
We all finished eating and then spent some time chatting about the plans for the rest of the day. Fazil offered to take me to a few of the best places to visit around the city on his motorbike, which sounded a lot better than an auto, so I was happy to accept.
We were wizzing around all through the city, weaving in and out of traffic like it was nothing.
After a while, we went to a small restaurant in town because I had to try this food called idly. Fazil says the place we went makes the best in town and for both of us combined it only came to about 73 cents!
Idly is a traditional south Indian food that is made from steaming rice and then making a round patty that is almost like bread. It was served on a large banana leaf as a plate and with four different chutneys (sauces) to dip it in. I don’t have anything to compare it to to say it is the best in town but it was definitely really good. Each sauce had a different flavor ranging from spicy to sweet coconut.
A Lesson on Tourist Prices in India
After this, we went back to the temple to talk to Ganeesh about the shirt. According to Fazil I was being ripped off really badly on the shirt I had ordered and he insisted on talking to Ganesh about it.
I was going to pay 1000 rupees, (10$) for the hand-tailored shirt but apparently it was not worth more than 200!
Fazil was able to discuss it with them but it didn’t really end too well. The manager gave me back the 500 I had paid down on it and we left without a shirt at all. That is ok though, just a lesson learned on the accurate price of some things.
Tourist prices are hard to avoid when you don’t know how much you really should be paying. Especially when there are no prices marked and everything is up to the negotiations. If it sounds like a reasonable price in the western world then you are probably getting ripped off by a lot.
Anyway after the shirt incident, we traveled to the palace of Madurai, which is definitely a place to visit in India. Thanks to Fazil’s connections in the city we were admitted for free and arrived just in time for a light show being performed inside.
The inside wasn’t exactly inside though. We walked through a large gateway and into a courtyard surrounded by huge columns that must be at least 10 feet in diameter. The courtyard was a football field in size and had a golden throne for the king sitting right up front. There are no kings of Madurai now but the light show was about the history of the kings which was pretty interesting stuff.
Dinner with a local friend and catching a train for more places to visit in India.
To round off the night I went back to Fazil’s for dinner before heading to the train station for my next transit.
We had a different type of rice for dinner called idiomata which is steamed and then turned into really thin noodles.
We had two versions, the first was spicy and the second sweet like a dessert and again we ate everything with our hands, sitting comfortably on the floor. Very traditional and normal here, maybe using a fork and spoon or a couple of chop sticks is strange…
We still had some time to kill so I taught him and his friend how to play blackjack with a deck of cards I keep on me for such occasions, and they taught me how to play a different version of war I had not seen. Afterwards, Fazil’s mother made a delicious hot milk mixture, which contained black pepper and some other types of spices as a going away drink and I was off for the next train.
I thanked Fazil for the generosity and kindness his entire family had shown me and hopped on the train. I had another pre-booked ride which came with a nice AC bunk to get some much needed sleep on the way to Bangalore…And as I rode through the night, enjoy the open air cars and the warm jungle air pouring in, it was a perfect night….and then the food poisoning hit.
TBC….check out Chapter 3 here to continue following the journey!
