Thursday evening finds us lodged in a wonderful old Art Deco mansion that dates from the 1930’s. We are the only guests today so are being treated like raja raja’s – king of kings.
Visalam is set in the peaceful village of Kanadukkathan in Chettinad and has been converted into a beautiful heritage hotel. Out of 15 rooms we have been lucky enough to get the biggest and have been watching a cookery demonstration, enjoyed coffee by the pool, had a swim and were taken on a walk to view other big houses in the village.
Back in the day local merchants played an important role in the British trade routes to surrounding coun tries and did rather well out of the arrangement. It allowed them to build lavish mansions and notable temples in their 96 villages of which 72 remain.
Most of the owners live abroad and only come back for weddings and family gatherings. The houses are looked after by caretakers.
We will be the only ones dining here tonight and have to move on to Madurai tomorrow.
I wanted to go back over some of the things we have seen just recently. I have told you already that so many people use bikes and scooters to get around. The roads are choked with them. Many carry the whole family. Father drives with mother and a couple of children sharing the rear seat.
We asked wasn’t it dangerous if the woman’s sari got entangled with the scooter wheel. Well, it’s the law, that every motorised two wheeler has to be fitted with a sari guard to stop that happening.
Today we witnessed the ceremonies taking place near the river Cauvery at a temple where people bring the cremated remains of a loved one to be blessed and then thrown in the river.
We were both blessed by a ‘temple’ elephant after having to buy dhotis because we were wearing shorts.
I tell you the stone floors of the courtyards in a temple complex actually burn your shoe-less feet!
We also visited a little temple where the villagers fund the annual giving of a horse figure to the gods.
The complex was surrounded by them and – by the look of many – they have been there a long time!
Got to rest up now. It’s been a busy and very hot day with the temperature reaching 78 C.
