Madurai, from Flowers to Bananas

The flower market.

Hand made garlands.

Jasmine threads.

And the waste goes here.

The Ghandi Museum.

The Sri Meenakshi Temple complex.

Our rickshaw convoy (on a quiet street).

The banana market.

Sunday, March 4^th.

This was a great day! After breakfast we loaded up in the bus and drove downtown to the flower market. It was a fascinating, seething, messy, hub of activity. Vendors were selling flowers, petals and garlands that they made there. We wandered around for about an hour watching and taking pictures.

Back to the bus and drive to the Ghandi Museum. This was a very interesting place. It told the history of India from the time of the European colonization and the role Ghandi played in it in a series of 22 panels. It told the sad history of the country as it was subjected to the imperialistic European countries who subjected the people for the wealth of their empires. Two quotes stuck in my head: “Those who say religion has no place in politics, obviously don’t understand what religion is,” and “religion is all about morality.” We spent an hour there reading and learning about his life and times. This is one of five Ghandi museums in India. His belief in non-violent, passive resistance later influenced Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

Then we drove to King Thirumalai Naick Palace that dates back to 1636. Only a quarter of the palace remains but event that is huge. The part we saw was a large courtyard surrounded by massive walls. As most things in India it looks tired and under maintained. It needs a bit of a spruce up and a way to keep the pigeons out. I watched a man with a board scraping droppings off the floor.

Finally, we drove back to the area of the Sri Meenakshi Temple because we missed the opportunity to take photos yesterday from the outside of the temple. John and I walked around and took pictures of the north and west gates. On the way we were approached by a man who told us we could go up through his building to the roof to get a better view. Suspicious of his motives we said no thanks. But on the way back I asked him how much and he said, ‘free I promise’. So, we entered the shop and climbed the stairs through three more floors of tourist shop. Obviously he was hoping we would buy something. The view was better, but they need to trim the trees. Then it was time to take the bus back to the hotel.

When we got back we went to the same restaurant as yesterday and had a good lunch. Then to the room to charge batteries and type, followed by a swim in the pool.

At 5:00 we headed out on a bicycle rickshaw ride. Each of us had our own rickshaw, so we were a line of 10 winding our way through the chaotic traffic and the city. The ride last about an hour and a half and was amazing. It was surreal, artificial and authentic all in one. It was surreal because we felt a bit like royalty or important people as we were pedalled around the neighbourhoods with all the locals checking us out. It was artificial because we were obviously tourists being taken around the city and we stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was authentic because we got to see parts of the city we would never have seen and the people, well… they were the warmest and friendliest people. They smiled, laughed and waved at us as we past. Some of them even took photos of us and no one complained if we took photos of them. It was the best experience of the trip so far. We stopped at a banana market, who knew there was such thing, which was a narrow dark passageway lined with nothing but banana stands and then around the corner was a fruit and veggie market. It was a true Indian experience and as always an assault on your senses. 

The rickshaw drivers took us to a hotel in the downtown area where we met Thoufeeq and we had dinner at the seventh floor rooftop restaurant. I again had a delicious chicken tandoori and veggie curry. Then we had an exciting tuk tuk ride back through the city and its traffic to our hotel. We arrived about 9:30 and headed off to our rooms.