Farewell to Sri Lanka, adieu

Day 9 (24/02) Colombo to Tiruchirappalli, to Madurai.

This from our Colombo hotel last night.  Today we flew to India.  3 hour check in was necessary for repeated queues.
Arrived on time @ Trichy and immediately driven to Madurai.
Not doing much here, just a famous temple, this evening.  Will post extras if justified.
Driving here as bad as S.L., but in a very different way.  Both sides of a dual carriageway go in both directions, and 40kph heavy trucks crawl along in the fast lane.  Pray for us!
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Day 9, phase 2, Madurai.

What a crazy Ville. I've neved seen such concentrated traffic nor have I sussed out the rules of the road, should there actually be any.  However it seems to work, and actually flows like a series of rivers converging.

Off to see a temple said I?   Wow Oh Wow, what a place is Meenakshi Hindu Temple. I don't know if it's the biggest but it is certainly up there. 4 Main towers N,S,E,W, and 8 lesser towers, 2 a side, and 2 golden towers – solid gold our guide said. He gave us a lengthy explanation of the temple's history, construction and layout, and a slightly confusing run down on Hinduism. Ask me when we get home if you wish.

The temple has 33,000 statues and , amongst many other halls, one with 1000 pillars, each carved from a single piece of granite. Unfortunately a recent fire prevented access to that.

Extra photos to illustrate.

Finally we went to see a music and light show in the Tirumala Nayak Palace, telling the history of Madurai, in verry pukka Indian English. A bit strange, and spoilt by mozzies!

Off to Coimbatore, heading, in due course, for the “ toy train” to Ooty.

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