photos

so here are the pics from the last week or so, ill just equip each with the stories that come to mind...


by the time we finally got around to bringing things in for the laundry, everything i owned could stand on its own. solution, wear my bedsheet. luckily i am gifted with the legs for these kinds of things. the first day i had no shirt as pictured as that was at the laundry as well, i felt a bit like the village spectacle, the indians never got the staring is rude bit during their upbringing. cant say i blame them, poor folk dont see many tatooed and pierced westerners walking around half naked in a bedsheet:)


a few days before we left for pondicherry was ganeshas birthday, they erected these and many more elaborate shrines (ganpati) to the deity with the intention of throwing them in whichever watersource was closest the thursday following, this was on a sunday, we found ourselves on the beach in mamallapurum for the drowning of the ganpati which was quite the site.


we went to the big temple in tiru proper on ganeshas birthday, the monkeys were everywhere hanging off of everything.


the other animal that we found in the temple. i gave this guy a rupee and he brushed me on the head with his trunk:)


yes it was HOT that day, this kid was expressing the overall feelings surrounding the weather.





a few views of the temple itself.


scratch balls, sell fruit. the day consists of this for many of the vendors.this particular fellow was outside the temple in tirus fruit market. i didnt buy any of his fruits.



here we find ourself in pondicherry a few days later. a fellow across the way fixing for the lunch crowd. the daily grind of rice sambar (this being the sambar). there is not much in the way of variety in the true south indian diet. pondi sported some of the better infrastructure that ive seen in india, leaving it much easier to clean...thats not to say that it WAS clean, but the potential is there.


these boys were on a prayer of a canoe, three warped "6x6" pieces of who knows what lashed together. this was the common boat, with the occasional proper boat here and there. we didnt see their catch, but ate enough of it, the fish in pondi was fantastic. the first day we headed to satsanga restaurant, run by a frenchman it sported some of the best fish soup and shrimp mushroom cheese crepes ive had.



old lady had the right idea. we found ourselves on the ice cream tip many times during our sojourn in pondi.



something exciting was happening here, im not sure what, but exciting nonetheless there were people all around bantering about in the water sari or no. the boys swimming dress is slightly less appropriate for the "family" internet experience that i am attempting to cultivate. needless to say it left little to nothing for the imagination.


here we come to claire, aaron and me...what a fantastic old lady, bought into the sri aurobindo bit hook line and sinker and still managed to maintain her own personal identity...probably why the rest of the devotees didnt associate with her. we shared a case of beer stories and an overall grand time with this seasoned brit.



moving right along, here is a view of the temple to the south of the beach where we were staying in mamallapurum. it was used as a marina in ancient times for the maharajas ships transporting gold back to india after trading runs. the water has since recessed leaving its docks high and dry. but the temple architecture is still quite beautiful.





as mentioned earlier, the drowning of the ganpati, these ganpati were as big as a grown man and made of paper mache and some other materials. they were quickly torn to shreds by excited indians in a flurry of limb and color. we happened to arrive in town just in time to catch the event.



these giant spiny fish were washing up left and right during the ganpati drowning, they would be eagerly snatched up by the closest person, perhaps for the evening meal. it was a little unsettling to see them washing up along with stingrays and then go and swim in the water knowing that they were there somewhere lurking about.


me and manache, a 63 year old israeli man and permanent resident of mamallapurum. he invited me and aaron for tea after seeing us on the beach our first day there. a reclusive soul living in meager accomodations he sprung the best tea ive had since india. proper black tea, no sugar, no milk. i spent a good bit of my time hanging out with him. i photographed his current project (he is mostly an installation artist, working on ten+ year projects at buddhist monastaries in thailand...cool stuff) consisting of seashells and cacti, some tribute to the lifecycle in trade for a small sculpture and a daily chat and tea. he was also quite knowledgable about the surrounding caves and cave temples so we spent a good bit of time walking around there. sadly i ended up with no pictures of the caves, somehow every time i found myself over there i was without camera. i did catch a sunrise from the rock however, after an all nighter with two brits and a gaggle of aussies me and aaron headed to the cave area, which is really a bunch of massive granite boulders much like the dells, to watch the sunrise. we were a bit early and aaron couldnt handle the mosquitos and various other wildlife so he left back for the room leaving me to watch. in the end it was me, the mosquitos, about thirty goats, and twenty some odd monkeys that lined up to regail the sun.


manache working on his current project. his house has minimal electricity, no cooking devices (he uses some infusion device to heat the water for tea), and is concrete throughuot with only a small matress to lay on. he has little carvings everywhere that he is done. the sad thing about indian architecture is the concrete doesnt lend itself well to wall hangings. they are around, but few and far between.



back in tiru. i took off for a bike ride, ended up down a random back road and could have mistaken myself for being back home. cacti dotted the landscape and lizards sunned themselves on outcropping granite boulders.


it would seem that the tiruvanamalaians need to work a bit on the six feet down rule.



the first in a line of pradaxna (sp?) photos. we started around the mountain at around 4:00, but veered off soon from the group to go up to a cave on the side of arunachala. guided luckily by a german girl that aaron had met previously we found the cave (which was quite the living abode, very comfy) and watched the sunset a bit further up next to a quarter of papa g's ashes.




the entrance and a bit of the cave. if i got the story right, there was a greek guy whos wife went a bit crazy and moved up to the cave, so the greek being a good husband said nothing and moved in with her, setting it up as a proper home, with different rooms niches and all.




back down the mountain and joined the masses heading around


nothing like a bit of sidewalk art to earn your keep




along the way around the mountain there were all manner of fantastic snacks, indian style battered and fried chile rellenos, nuts, fruits, and of course the idly sambar and other traditional dinner fare.


every now and again during the 14 km my feet would start to hurt, then you would see something like this...this boy couldnt be more than 11 or 12 and was painted head to foot and lying on top of a bed of thorns. between him and the lepers who would give anything to HAVE feet just so they could feel them hurt, i didnt feel i had any room for complaint.