Sunday was a quiet day with a short morning walk, followed by dosa (rice pancakes with a spicy potato filling) sambar and Puri. This is a typical south Indian breakfast.
We met Vasthant and his wife Malini at the Kodi Golf Club for a beer, chat and lunch. We were feasted with snacks along with the beer, and I was full even before lunch was served. Sriya tried her hand at golf by hitting a few balls with some coaching from Vasthant, who has a very low handicap (12?)
We met some of their friends and then visited their home on the school grounds for some tea and to meet their two kids who had been off at a picnic. One thing that was very obvious is that Kodi is a very safe place for kids and there is little crime of any sort. A refreshing change.
We returned home and watched a Hindi movie (with some English subtitles and helpful commentary from Sriya). Nobody burst into song but there was a moral to the story and it was quite good and certainly fun.
We left Kodi this morning (Monday) around 8am and came down the mountain in good shape and headed towards Trichi (not the full name but what it is known as locally) and on to Tanjore to visit a huge temple.
The main temple was built in 1014 and took about 6 years to complete. It is incredible and the carving on the outside is intricate and very detailed. There was no room for error as the stone, which came from 3 or 4 different areas was placed before being carved. The top of the main tower is topped by what looks like a single stone, but is in fact several stones. The total weight of the top is over 80 tons.
The main tower is about 60m tall (~200ft) and the overall geometry in coordination with the other buildings is accurate to within about 5cm (2 inches). It is an extraordinary piece of architecture even before you start to consider the religious aspects. The logistics and engineering involved and the level of accuracy is phenomenal and something we would have as a goal with today’s technology.
We were able to visit several of the smaller shrines in the complex and received blessings at each. I am sure I will need each and every one of them in the coming weeks.
Temple touring is hard work!!
We drove on about another hour to stay at an eco hotel that is out in the rural area. I will discuss this in a separate post.
I had a note today from a long time friend Graham who is following the blog. He said “Andy ... second thing I do every morning is look at your blog ... am devastated if you have no connection & have to wait another day !!!! ... keep it up & have fun”
Nice to know the work is not going unnoticed!!
That temple is amazing!
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