MADURAI Nectar Points

It says here Madurai was created from nectar shaken off the ends of Indian God Shiva's hair and falling to earth.

I think the original story may have used a more earthy translation of 'hair' and 'nectar' but that could be my jaundiced Western eye.

It certainly contains very little of a nectary tang, but nevertheless we do find some sweet spots to savour.

Our plan is to use Madurai as a base to 1: bounce down to Kanyakumari, 2: slingshot around Sri Lanka, then 3: springboard off to Trivandrum en route to Varkala, beaches, relaxation and Christmas!

1:
We hunkered down at the BG Residency, a stone's throw from the mighty Meenakshi Amman Temple and just down the road from the more modest Thirumalai Nayak Palace**

The temple is ridiculous, awesome doesn't enter the equation. With no photos to back me up, I can only describe a huge, huge, seemingly subterranean, multi-chambered hall filled with statues, sculptures, carvings, in painted colours, stones, gold leaf, of brahma bulls, Buddhas, Shivas and divas of all sizes and shapes emerging from the walls, rising from the stones,  flowers and mandalas littering and coating the damp floors.

A huge pool is centre-piece for more templey blessing points. A heavy, decorated stone ceiling covers all, bringing the feeling of entrapment, but in a safe place

We sit for a breather and watch hundreds and hundreds of excited pilgrims queuing, laughing and joking to get into the (no non-hindus) Golden Temple.

Some come over for a chat, others prostate themselves randomly around the place in front of some of the dozens of small shrines.

Everyone is happy and here to do what they came here for. It's almost like a festival. Even the guards stop for a chat.

So, no photos, but a million memories. Sorry, you'll just have to book your own ticket

The Palace was nice and tranquil. Another excellent location for those Bollywood wedding photos.

This is a small city, easy to get around, do a bit of shopping and people-watching from the corner coffee stalls, and with lots of nice places to savour some Southern Indian dosas, idlys and ottapams at the local canteens.

The local dessert drink Jigarthanda a thin, fruit rice pudding with ice cream - was a favourite speciality!

2: Back from the deep south, we revisited the Meenakshi Temple to be sure it was as vast and beautiful and mental as we thought.

It was, though more calm around 9pm than the teatime rush hour. This time we got to see the men tottering into the main chamber with a hefty golden brahma bull, held aloft on a bamboo litter. A slightly smaller silver version followed, then some assorted little Buddhas which were placed in their allotted cubby holes until tomorrow night.

Outside, we were tipped off by a nice old lady of a super rooftop view over to the (still no non-hindus!) Golden Temple.

A top tip, albeit through an antique shop, where I could have spent a lot of money on some of the gorgeous carvings, statues, rugs, etc, but I resisted, citing a small rucksack and no money, slightly guilty about abusing their hospitality for the free rooftop view.

3:
The visa neatly resolved and back from the beach for a quick overnighter to reload the rucksacks, we are off to Varkala on our Christmas holidays.

* Meenakshi Amman Temple, also known as Minakshi-Sundareshwara Temple, is one of the oldest and most important temples in India. Located in the city of Madurai, the temple has a great mythological and historical significance. It is believed that Lord Shiva assumed the form of Sundareswarar (the handsome one) and married Parvati (Meenakshi) at the site where the temple is currently located. Renowned for its astonishing architecture, Meenakshi Temple was nominated as one of the wonders of the world, but couldn’t make it into the list of ‘Seven Wonders of the World’. However, the temple is definitely one of the ‘Wonders of India’. It is also one of the main attractions of South India with thousands of devotees thronging it every day. During the ‘Tirukalyanam Festival,’ which takes place over a period of 10 days, the temple attracts more than a million devotees. Despite many people visiting it every day, the temple is well-maintained and was named the ‘Best Swachh Iconic Place’ (cleanest iconic place) in India.

** Thirumalai Nayak Palace is a 17th-century palace erected in 1636 AD by King Tirumala Nayaka, a king of Madurai's Nayaka dynasty who ruled Madurai from 1623–59, in the city of Madurai, India. This Palace is a classic fusion of Dravidian and Rajput styles. The building, which can be seen today, was the main Palace, in which the king lived. The original Palace Complex was four times bigger than the present structure. In its heyday, the palace was considered to be one of the wonders of the South.