Excursion #6
21/10-24/10/2012
Kerala and Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
After our 15 hour train ride overnight to Kerala, we arrived to our hotel. It was pretty fancy! I really wanted to get out though, so I wandered over to watch the fishermen bring in the catch of the day.
View from the beach of the Arabian Sea.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This has been the site of controversy, enough to be covered through CNN and National Geographic, because of a large amount of wealth and gold stored in five rooms deep within. The conflict comes between the government and the gods... Generally, in the old times a king or royalty would have control of the temple or sponsor it, and then the wealth was accumulated. Thus, the belief was that as more wealth came, the more the gods favored the ruler and kept them in power.
The conflict, as such, is who does the riches belong to now, the government or the descendants of the rulers of long ago? The local area rulers are not in power now that there is the overarching government of India; so, what happen now?
Specifically about the temple, there are several gods enshrined. However I was not able to enter, only devoted Hindus were permitted. And as you can see, dress code was strictly enforced. Men went shirtless and women must wear saris. The white and gold trim pictured, are signature for the state that we were in, Kerala.
We were able to catch a parade, celebrating Vijayadashami, the triumph of good over evil.
These are the gods, being lifted on rods followed by devotees and descendants of the old royalty (rulers):
Another walk along our beach. Lovely morning!
One collection of houses more or less connecting to each other, in a palace.
Indian toilet:
Beautiful!
Kanyakumari-
The tip of India! Bay of Bengal on left, Indian Ocean middle, Arabian Sea on the right.
21/10-24/10/2012
Kerala and Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
After our 15 hour train ride overnight to Kerala, we arrived to our hotel. It was pretty fancy! I really wanted to get out though, so I wandered over to watch the fishermen bring in the catch of the day.
Note the baby squid in the middle left of the picture
And my soon to be arch-nemesis, a jellyfish, being tossed by a fisherman unwanted from the net. Many others were previously discarded, as seen laying on the beach.
It got me. And it hurt.
A lot.
A result of us being so excited to take a dip in the Arabian Sea...
View from the beach of the Arabian Sea.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This has been the site of controversy, enough to be covered through CNN and National Geographic, because of a large amount of wealth and gold stored in five rooms deep within. The conflict comes between the government and the gods... Generally, in the old times a king or royalty would have control of the temple or sponsor it, and then the wealth was accumulated. Thus, the belief was that as more wealth came, the more the gods favored the ruler and kept them in power.
Specifically about the temple, there are several gods enshrined. However I was not able to enter, only devoted Hindus were permitted. And as you can see, dress code was strictly enforced. Men went shirtless and women must wear saris. The white and gold trim pictured, are signature for the state that we were in, Kerala.
Hanging out in the rain: 
We were able to catch a parade, celebrating Vijayadashami, the triumph of good over evil.
These are the gods, being lifted on rods followed by devotees and descendants of the old royalty (rulers):
In the spice trade, Kerala is home of many spice growers. I'm sure this area was one of the stops on the trade route. And definitely the store smelled: mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, pepper (capsicum), cumin, coffee, anise, and more!
Interestingly, unlike our spices that are ground, most of the spices are kept whole- Indians will use the whole spice when cooking. So, watch out when eating biryiani (spiced rice) or sambar (really thin gravy, soup thing for eating over rice), or really anything else. If you're not careful, you'll get a mouthful of cardamom and have a hard time tasting the rest of your meal! Yep, speaking out of experience.
Another walk along our beach. Lovely morning!
One collection of houses more or less connecting to each other, in a palace.
Indian toilet:
View from the palace, looking to the hills
View from the top of the palace, to what else? The courtyard! Beautiful!Kanyakumari-
Yes, it's true. Indians can fit anything into anywhere. Here is a large lorry (hauling truck) with a load going to the beach, right through the market. Before this, everyone was standing, crowded in the road. But, when the truck came, the crowd as always amazed me, and scrunched so close together to let it pass.
Thiruvalluvar Statue
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