We awoke to see the industrial Chennai port outside our door, with ships large and small all around us in the hazy heat of the morning. When Steve and I were in India 18 years ago, we traveled all over the country, and our trip included Chennai, known as Madras at that time. The Indian government has renamed many cities in the past decade, changing them from anglicized names back to Indian names.
Inside the ship, the crew was busy laying out cardboard and plastic in the public areas to cut down on the grime we will track in from the port area, which is used more for coal, oil and other heavy industry, than for tourists.
Our next stop, St Mary's Church, completed in 1680, was the first English church in Madras and is India's oldest surviving British church.
Even though St Mary's is an Anglican Church, there is definitely a Catholic and Hindu influence-- lots of statues everywhere, adorned with Jasmine garlands and touched by the worshippers. In the photo above, a man prays on his knees in a side chapel.
Outside, the school at St Mary's was having recess, and we enjoyed smiling and waving at the basketball players.
We had a fantastic lunch at Micheal's uncle's restaurant. They all knew of the Semester at Sea program and were glad that the ship was back in town. The restaurant owner showed me a business card of a professor who had visited last time.
The side altars were incredible.
In front of the altar, you could look through a window to see the tomb of St Thomas the Apostle below the sanctuary. We went to another building where we were able to go downstairs and see his tomb. Although India is primarily known for the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh religions, Christianity has had a presence in India since 50AD, when St Thomas (Doubting Thomas) came to live, preach and finish his days in India. To this day, there is a very strong Christian presence in India, particularly in the south where we are now, and in Kerela, another southern state of India where we'll head next. We are in the state of Tamil Nadu right now. 
Inside the ship, the crew was busy laying out cardboard and plastic in the public areas to cut down on the grime we will track in from the port area, which is used more for coal, oil and other heavy industry, than for tourists.
Just outside the port gate, we engaged the services of Michael, an autorickshaw driver who was eager to take us around for the whole day. When we were in India before, we found it best to hire one person for the whole day, rather than renegotiating each leg of the journey. Hiring Michael was a great decision! He was fantastic and took us all over Chennai for around 8 hours. To give you an idea of the economy here, at the beginning of the day, we all agreed on a price of 200 Rupees or 4 USD for the day. By the end of the day, since Michael had been so wonderful, we gave him 1200 Rupees (25USD) and bought him lunch and dinner as well. The first photo above is taken on the museum steps at Fort St George, where the museum was half-closed, but we had a lovely time visiting with an Indian family who was on vacation and wanted photos of us. Fort St George was built in 1653 by the British East India Company and served as part of the British colonial armed forces and government. The fort occupies a huge area, with the old colonial government buildings currently serving as government buildings for the Chennai Secretariat & Legislative Assembly. India, as you may know, is the world's largest democracy!
Outside the fort, is a small Hindu temple: these small streetside temples are found throughout India.
Our next stop, St Mary's Church, completed in 1680, was the first English church in Madras and is India's oldest surviving British church.
Even though St Mary's is an Anglican Church, there is definitely a Catholic and Hindu influence-- lots of statues everywhere, adorned with Jasmine garlands and touched by the worshippers. In the photo above, a man prays on his knees in a side chapel.
Outside, the school at St Mary's was having recess, and we enjoyed smiling and waving at the basketball players.
We had a fantastic lunch at Micheal's uncle's restaurant. They all knew of the Semester at Sea program and were glad that the ship was back in town. The restaurant owner showed me a business card of a professor who had visited last time.
San Thome Cathedral--St Thomas Cathedral--was built in 1504, and then rebuilt in 1893 in a Neo-gothic style. This Catholic cathedral was truly beautiful.
The side altars were incredible.
In front of the altar, you could look through a window to see the tomb of St Thomas the Apostle below the sanctuary. We went to another building where we were able to go downstairs and see his tomb. Although India is primarily known for the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh religions, Christianity has had a presence in India since 50AD, when St Thomas (Doubting Thomas) came to live, preach and finish his days in India. To this day, there is a very strong Christian presence in India, particularly in the south where we are now, and in Kerela, another southern state of India where we'll head next. We are in the state of Tamil Nadu right now.
Behind St Thomas' church, right on the beach of the Bay of Bengal, is a large mast in honor of St Thomas. When the tsunami came through Chennai about 8 years ago, the entire area behind this mast was saved, while everything around it was destroyed.
Next up was shopping for sari's. Charis picked a different one than the sari pictured above, and I got one, too. Most shops have a small shrine inside. Asher was wilting in the heat and wanted Charis to hold him for awhile.
We visited the exterior of the Kapaleeshwarer Temple, an ancient Shiva temple of the Hindu religion. This temple contained the traditional "tank", an area of water adjacent to the temple. The multi-colored gopuram (huge tower) contained amazing carvings and colors. Ganesh, the elephant god of good luck, is one of our favorites.
It is traditional to feed fish at the temple tank, so Michael bought some food, and he and the kids threw it into the water. The fish swarmed.
We met some SAS students who had seen a snake and mongoose fight in the street, a violent fight to the end with the mongoose victorious. Captivated by their video of this horrid event, the kids wanted to see a fight of their own. Luckily, we saw a snake charmer who made his cobras dance, but not fight.
Jammed into the autorickshaw, with Barek on my lap and Asher on Charis', we saw lots of sights on the streets of Chennai. We certainly did not see all of Chennai, but found that our experience of India was very different from our time here 18 years ago. We saw much less poverty, much more infrastructure, and all in all, things seemed greatly improved from our last visit.
We visited an artisan's handicraft store in search of textiles! Steve and I had fond memories of bargaining for carpets in Turkey with our friends, Aron and Joyce. Although we didn't get a carpet, we did purchase the wall-hanging on the left side of the photo.
We returned to Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Chennai's busiest temple, which had reopened after its afternoon closing. It was great to see the carvings up close and to observe the people worshipping and hanging out in the temple courtyards (we were not allowed inside the shrines.) Cows are revered in India, and this young calf was making herself at home, nibbling on some temple offerings of fruit and flowers at a small side-shrine.
Right outside the shrine, women sell garlands. Steve barters for drums for Barek from our autorickshaw. The price was too high, so Michael, who is in the foreground of the picture, found us drums for Barek later in the day at a good price.
We wanted to get some Mehndi, the Indian henna tattoos. Michael took us to these artists who had set up shop on the street next to a woman selling flowers. Charis, Asher, and I got tattoos, while Steve purchased a beautifully-smelling jasmine garland. The school girls stopped by for the whole process and really enjoyed getting their picture taken. They love looking at the digital screen and seeing themselves.
Right outside the shrine, women sell garlands. Steve barters for drums for Barek from our autorickshaw. The price was too high, so Michael, who is in the foreground of the picture, found us drums for Barek later in the day at a good price.
We wanted to get some Mehndi, the Indian henna tattoos. Michael took us to these artists who had set up shop on the street next to a woman selling flowers. Charis, Asher, and I got tattoos, while Steve purchased a beautifully-smelling jasmine garland. The school girls stopped by for the whole process and really enjoyed getting their picture taken. They love looking at the digital screen and seeing themselves.
After a hot, humid day in India, we went to dinner at this restaurant. Charis and Asher's Mehndi were drying: the henna here is a 3-dimensional "crust" that we would later take off.
We walked the half mile walk from the port gate to our ship--and once onboard we understood why the crew had protected the carpet! Our shoes were dirty from the long day.
Here is a video of the snake charmer on a (noisy) Chennai street:
Wow, Diane! It looks like things are going really well! After some searching on spring break I found your blog and am now working through your older posts. Thanks for sharing all of this.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Lauren