Initial Impressions
Seen through the bleary eyes of people who had been traveling for over 24 hours, even at 4:00 a.m., Chennai was noisy, crowded and hot. The recent air quality problems made the city look foggy and mysterious. The Hotel Trident is a cool and calm oasis, with a lovely bowl of locus flowers sitting in the front lobby.
Today we met Mark’s wonderful friend, Prem, who generously took the day off, rented a van and a driver, and took us to some of the sights. Chennai is the place where one tradition says that St.Thomas the Apostle was martyred is AD 72, so there are several St. Thomas sites. We visited Malankara Church, that houses his tomb, and that has a reliquary with a piece if his bone. Mount St. Thomas, the site of his death, looming high above the city, has another shrine, a convent, and a lovely little statue depicting the devotion to the Virgin Mary as “the Untier of Knots.”
We also visited the Hindu Karpagambal Temple, and were reminded that we know little of this religion practiced by 15% of the people of the world. Gathered around the temple there were stalls with wonderful flower chains to put on your head for a Temple visit. We were also met by beggars, young men wanting to give us a Temple tour - for a fee, of course, and a line of people who were queuing up for the free meal offered by the Temple every day.
Along the way we spotted Temple cats snoozing, dozens of stray dogs, sacred cows, several goats, a pea hen and lovely birds and butterflies.
We gathered this evening to talk about impressions gathered during the day. Watch tomorrow’s blog for those.
Today we met Mark’s wonderful friend, Prem, who generously took the day off, rented a van and a driver, and took us to some of the sights. Chennai is the place where one tradition says that St.Thomas the Apostle was martyred is AD 72, so there are several St. Thomas sites. We visited Malankara Church, that houses his tomb, and that has a reliquary with a piece if his bone. Mount St. Thomas, the site of his death, looming high above the city, has another shrine, a convent, and a lovely little statue depicting the devotion to the Virgin Mary as “the Untier of Knots.”
We also visited the Hindu Karpagambal Temple, and were reminded that we know little of this religion practiced by 15% of the people of the world. Gathered around the temple there were stalls with wonderful flower chains to put on your head for a Temple visit. We were also met by beggars, young men wanting to give us a Temple tour - for a fee, of course, and a line of people who were queuing up for the free meal offered by the Temple every day.
Along the way we spotted Temple cats snoozing, dozens of stray dogs, sacred cows, several goats, a pea hen and lovely birds and butterflies.
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