Karaikudi

A bronze statue at the shop and the Brihadeeswara temple in the background.

Craftsmen working with bronze.

Thoufeeq towers over this 32 year old man.

Drying something on the road.

Sugar cane workers.

Chettenad Mansion outside and in.

Three of the other mansions in the town.

Her name was Meena.

Friday, March 2^nd.

Our first stop this morning was only about ten minutes away from our hotel. We stopped at an artisan’s bronze shop. The two men there showed us the process of making bronze statues: 1. Melt bee’s wax and tree sap together and pour into cold water, where it becomes malleable like silly puddy 2. Mould the material into the shape you want 3. Make a mud mold around the piece with a hole at the top 4. Pour the liquid metal into the mold which melts the waxy material away and fills the void and wait 24 hours 5. Remove and file away the rough bits. After the tour there was of course a gift shop and some people, including John, bought pieces to take home.

From there we drove for about three and a half hours to our accommodation for the night: the 120 year old Chettinadu Mansion. This is a magnificent old Maharaja’s palace in the village of Karaikudi. The family made their fortune as traders. They were well educated, professional people. They moved from the sea area where they had been flooded out to this more inland area, which turned out over time to be too dry and unsuitable for agriculture. They built a number of beautiful homes and mansions. They became too expensive to maintain and they moved on, leaving the town basically deserted, but apparently they returned for festivals and special birthdays and family functions. There are a number of poor villagers and farmers in the surrounding area, but otherwise it feels like a ghost town.

We settled in the large livingroom/banquet hall where we had lunch. Then we had a couple of hours to relax or go to a pool that belonged to the family. A few of us went there. It was a couple of blocks away. John, Tracy, Heather, Jo, Jamie and I played a fun game of water polo there, as the pool had nets and a basketball, UK versus Canadian and the US.

Then we returned to the Mansion to take a walking tour of the village. Thoufeeq explained the family history as we walked around looking at the old mansions. It was a wonderful opportunity to take photos of people and life in this village. We stopped at a small shop and had an almond milk and saffron drink that was delicious. Then we continued back to the Mansion.

Dinner tonight was included and was a wonderful assortment of foods, including a whole fish each, provided by the Mansion. Truly delicious. After dinner Trish and Celia were asking John and I about our previous trips and the four of us sat in the main area with my computer and I showed them the book I made for John about our Africa trip. After that everyone headed back to their rooms, but I didn’t feel like going to sleep, so I sat on our terrace and then the main room of the Mansion, just soaking up the atmosphere. This is really an incredibly amazing place. So much history here, you can just feel it.