The More We Discover, Redux

After our enlightening mid January stay in Chettinad territory, we returned over the winding south Indian country roads to Madurai, the oldest city in India, and site of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, dedicated to a form of Parvati, Shiva’s consort. Called by some “The Taj Mahal of South India,” the temple is also known as the Minakshi Sundareshwarar Temple, with the latter a reference to Shiva assuming form as “the handsome one” and marrying Meenakshi at this site.

While Madurai is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu, it’s still dominated by the 14 gopurams (gateway towers) of the temple which dates back to the first century. The current structure was built and expanded from the 14th through the 17th centuries after earlier being destroyed by mughal invaders.

Legend has it that the Pandyan king of the area prayed to Shiva for a son for him and his wife, but instead Meenakshi (a form of Parvati, Shiva’s consort) was born to them out of fire–not a son but a daughter, and with three breasts at that. They were told, though, not to worry, as the third breast would disappear once she met her future husband. Meenakshi (which means “fish eyed” in the sense of a lovely contour) ruled over Madurai and conquered many other kingdoms, then decided to capture Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva. When Shiva appeared before her, the third breast immediately disappeared and they returned to Madurai for a grand wedding which is still celebrated annually as the Tirukalyanam festival—with up to a million devotees attending. Alas, they didn’t allow cameras at the initial wedding and even now they only allow mobile phone photography inside.

While my iPhone photos–especially on a grey misty day with occasional power outages inside the temple–can’t begin to do the temple justice, no quantity of words will ever make up for the lack of images. Suffice it to say that one could–should–spend hours and days exploring this extensive and magnificent architectural, historical, cultural, and religious wonder of the world: 14 goparums, with one rising 170 feet, and all covered in bright-hued sculptures depicting deities and mythological figures and enclosing 14 acres; a thousand columned mandapam–an open social gathering area within the temple–that is one of more than a dozen such (smaller) mandapams in the temple; and multiple shrines dedicated to Meenakshi and to Shiva. The temple also houses—housed—dozens of brightly lit commercial stalls selling everything from jasmine and oil for puja, to gold and fabrics and artwork—and trinkets. (Sadly, just a couple weeks after our visit, a fire broke out late one night–attributed to faulty wiring in these stalls–and destroyed most of the businesses and even damaged some of the ancient stone columns, causing a ceiling to collapse.)

Of course, one of our greatest delights on our stumbling path of discovery is the faces and smiles we encounter and share wherever we go. The header photo is at Meenakshi Temple where we noticed this group of friends touring the site just as we were. They were standing and chatting, then one of them saw me snap a few shots and smiled—then they noticed Sarah and insisted she join them!

Our stay in Madurai served up contrasts with our previous two days at the Chidambaram Vilas in the tiny Chettinad village of Kadiapatti. We were in a major city, of course, and toured a huge, brightly sculpted and painted and gilded marvel of Dravidian temple design, and our lodgings were decidedly more contemporary yet totally comfortable and relaxing. The Taj Gateway Pasumalai has one of the more unique locations we’ve seen here in India, as it occupies its own isolated hill in the midst of the relatively flat plains of southern Tamil Nadu. We enjoyed 360 degree views—okay, not from one spot—and we found the hotel, its staff, and other guests to be delightfully at ease with a slower pace as we learned once again the joy of the phrase “gin and tonic.” The cafe with its veranda overlooking the view north toward the heart of the city and Meenaskhi’s gopurams, turned out to be the perfect spot for a leisurely breakfast, a late lunch, and even an al fresco dinner or two. Of course, the place was overrun with Peacocks and brown owls and other wildlife, plus Sarah loved her Ayurvedic massage.

We also explored another couple of temples cut into the rock formations that dot the area. Just to the south of our hotel, the Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple and the Rock Cut Cave Temple are on opposite sides of a stately little hill with a Dargh, or Muslim shrine, on the top. The crowd in the village was bustling with colorful devotees and we were fortunate to find an elderly guide to lead us through the process of where to check our footwear and how to pay the entry fee (Rs20) and the twists and turns of the many stairways of this tiny but intriguing site.

On the opposite side of the hill, we found another of the even older rock cut temples, ie, those carved out of the rock as opposed to being built from stone, this one even smaller and not much in active use . . . and quietly guarded by our often-gentler cousins.

So, the places we have gone . . . so far! We thoroughly enjoyed our four days of discovery in southern Tamil Nadu, filled with exquisite palaces, with temples both overwhelmingly ornate and stunningly simple; with silent caves and high walled rock forts; with palate-stretching aromas and textures and tastes; and with our minds reeling with all the sights and sensations and all the traditions and tales and myths and so many new questions . . . and of course all the connections and all the smiles.

But wait, there’s still the tale of the Nataraja and the dancing contest between Shiva and Parvati–in her form as Kali–and my quest for the perfect statue for our house . . .

Author: David Hassler

David M. Hassler was fortunate enough to have become a relatively rare male Trailing Spouse when his talented wife Sarah accepted a job teaching music in the elementary division of the American International School in Chennai, India, in 2017. His role included, for more than three years there, serving as her everything wallah, but also allowed him time for exploring, discovering, and sharing new places, new faces, and new tastes around Chennai, throughout south India, and beyond. When the pandemic arrived, Sarah retired and they moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where they continue to live and love life. David M. Hassler is a long-time member of the Indiana Writers Center Faculty and holds an MFA from Spalding University. His work has been published in Maize and the Santa Fe Writers' Project. He served as a Student Editor for The Louisville Review and as Technical Editor for Writing Fiction for Dummies. He is currently the Fiction Editor for Flying Island, an online literary journal. He is co-author of Muse: An Ekphrastic Trio, and Warp, a Speculative Trio, and future projects include A Distant Polyphony, a collection of linked stories about music and love, memories and loss; and To Strike a Single Hour, a Civil War novel that seeks the truth in one of P T Barnum's creations. He is a founding partner in Boulevard Press. View all posts by David Hassler