Road Trips by a Family of Four – Grandparents, Mom, Teenage Daughter
It was 4:30am on a Saturday morning on 21st May, 2022, and Appa, my teenage daughter and I, along with our sarathi, set out on our next road trip to Tamil Nadu. Amma of course, travelled with us in spirit and her smiling photograph was always with us in lieu of her physical presence. It was to be our first long road trip in summer to one of the hotter regions of the country, but Appa was keen to visit Shenkottai, where he had done his matriculation, so we planned a trip around it. It was to be Mumbai to Bangalore, followed by 2 days in Madurai to see the Meenakshi temple. Next halt was Shenkottai, followed by Courtallam and thence to Kanyakumari. The route continued to Tanjore followed by Gangaikonda Chlolapuram, Pondicherry, Kanchipuram, Bangalore and back home to Mumbai. We covered around 3,900 kms in twelve days.
Road Trip No. 9 – Detailed Schedule
Mumbai to Bangalore was fraught with delays and we reached the city after sunset. I had replaced the windshield of our car (some dolt had thrown a stone and it had caused the glass to crack) before the trip and did not realise the FASTag sticker was not on the new windshield. The tolls in Maharashtra accepted cash with manual intervention, after seeing proof of my Fastag account with HDFC. But those in Karnataka were fully automated, and without FASTag the fine imposed was twice the toll amount in cash. Fortunately, every toll booth had SPOCs from banks from whom we could procure FASTags. I procured a new one from ICICI as the HDFC representative was not available. One had to provide valid identity proof and the vehicle’s Registration Certificate (RC). The whole registration and sticker application process took 45 minutes. That, and the stop at all the previous tool plazas to pay in cash, meant we lost a precious 2 hours in all. We set off at last, exhausted but glad to be on the move again. A good lesson in patience! We reached our hotel Otium by Oterra in Electronic City, Bangalore at 10:30pm. It was a tough day for us, especially Appa, but he took it in his stride.
We slept well and the next morning, after a heavy breakfast, we left on the 550km dive to Madurai, an 8-hour journey via NH44 passing Hosur, Krishnagiri, Salem and Dindigul. Beautiful roads, as expected. On entering Madurai city, we were taken aback to see the streets lined with butcher shops. We were expecting a more religious experience, I suppose. At around 4pm we found our way to TM Hotel located close to the West Tower of the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. Fortified with hot, sweet, filter coffee, we stepped out to do some exploring.
We knew the great Carnatic singer and Bharat Ratna awardee, MS Subbulakshmi, had been born and brought up in Madurai and we had the address to her home. Walking around, asking for directions to West Hanumanthryan Koil Street, we found it at last, located close to the West Tower. The street was littered and narrow and crowded with shops. We spotted the replica of a veena above one of the shops, the only indication to where the legendary singer was born. The veena was what her mother, Shanmugavadivu, from the devdasi community, played with great expertise. Appa was thrilled and knocked at the narrow door on the ground floor. A lady, claiming to be her distant relative, generously invited us in. Climbing up narrow steps, we entered a small hall behind which was a tiny room that was occupied by MS’ brother. There were photographs of her on the wall. The lower portion of the house had been converted to shops. Appa sat and spoke to the relatives for a while and then we took our leave. It was a wonderful, though sad experience. Nobody we spoke to knew or cared about her in her home town.
Bathed and dressed in traditional clothes after a cup of coffee, we took a rickshaw to the East Gate, the main entrance to the Meenakshi temple. As we walked towards the gate, we stopped and bought arm-lengths of wonderfully fragrant malligai or malli poo garlands (jasmine), a famous produce of Madurai, for our hair and for the goddess. Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple was built by Pandayan Emperor Sadayavarman Kulasekaran I in the 12th century CE. In the early 14th century, the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim Commander Malik Khafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South India. The contemporary temple was rebuilt by the Vijayanagara Empire rulers who then reopened it for worship. The temple towers opened from the four directions and it was a massive complex. We sat on the steps around the Golden Lotus tank and just soaked in the beauty of it all. We wandered around the temple, across the hall of the thousand pillars, stood in short queues (special tickets) and got good darshan if the beauteous Meenakshi and her handsome husband Lord Sundareswara. Filled with gratitude and awe, we made our way back to the hotel.
The hotel had arranged for us to breakfast across the road at the Annameenakshi restaurant, when we arrived at 10:30am. What a sumptuous, delicious, ‘mini’ breakfast! Idli, medu vada, dosa, ven pongal, puri bhaji, accompanied by various chutneys and sambar and kesari, followed by filter coffee. To die for!! Lunch was another luxurious 4-course affair followed by a sweet desert, at very nominal rates.
My daughter was so enamoured with the water tank, she went back to the temple in the evening with her grandfather, both sitting on the steps and chatting the hours away. I had, that afternoon, shopped for a brass memento of Shiva in the classic Nataraja pose on the left leg, said to have originated in Velliambalam, Madurai, where his devotee the ruling Pandian King Rajasekara, on learning the dance form and seeing Shiva dance continuously on his right leg at the request of sages Pathanjali and Viyagrathapathar, prayed for him for shift to his left, to reduce discomfort.
After the mini breakfast the next morning, day 4 of our trip, we drove 166kms via NH744 to Shenkottai, a small town in the Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu. Appa had done his matriculation there while staying with his grandparents. Entering the welcome arch to the town, we stopped to ask for directions to Perumal Sannidhi Street, where Appa had lived for two years. To our utter surprise, we found not only the street, but also the house. It was intact, as were all the houses on that very clean street leading to the Perumal temple. Every house had a kolam (rangoli) drawn in front of it. We wandered along the street. Curious elders came out and held long talks with Appa, citing family history and trying to place his grandfather. We then went in search of his English-medium school. It was a beautiful building, low and long, with a tiled roof. There was a huge playground behind bordered by hoary banyan and palm trees. We couldn’t enter the school as there were examinations being held. Appa was very happy with this visit. The memories would remain with him for a long time.
We immediately left for Courtallam, a panchayat town, 15 minutes’ drive from Shenkottai and famous for its waterfalls. Fortunately, it had rained heavily the previous week and the falls were in full flow. We checked into our TTDC Guest House very close to the Main Falls. Appa was keen we experience bathing under the falls as he himself had visited the falls every weekend with friends when he was staying at Shenkottai. We had lunch and at around 4pm, grabbed an extra set of dry clothes and drove to the spot. Courtallam had many falls – Tiger Falls, Five Falls and others but we went to the Main Falls, Peraruvi, the biggest one of all. It was about 60m high. The flow of water was interrupted by the Pongumakadal, a 19m deep crater, and come down with greatly reduced impact, making it safe for bathing. The place was crowded with bathers. We sat Appa down with a camera in a safe spot and my daughter and I headed to the ladies’ bathing section. We hesitated, looking at the packed crowd of women, but decided to focus on our objective and plunged right in. Holding hands, we squeezed our way to where the falls were the heaviest and stood rocking under the torrential force of the water. Had there not been a supporting wall in front of us, we would surely have been washed away. One of the most exhilarating experiences of our lives! We hung on for 45 minutes or so and then went to the changing room to get into dry clothes. My teenager wanted to stay there forever. Thank you, Appa!
After breakfast at the TTDC Courtallam 1 guest house (we were at TTDC Courtallam 2, closer to the falls but no restaurant), we left for Kanyakumari. Instead of taking the direct route, we went via Tirunelveli, at the request of our driver, who had to meet someone from his village. The detour should not have taken more than 30 minutes but it took much longer than expected. Since we were in Tirunelveli, we drove to Santhi Sweets, a famous sweet and savoury shop near Tirunelveli Junction railway station that was open 24×7, serving superb, fresh bhakshanams at nominal rates. It was spotlessly clean. I loaded the weighing machine with 2 kgs of mixed sweets, mullu murukkus, kai murukkus, mixture, omapodi, and the famous Tirunelveli halva. This would last us at least a month back home in Mumbai. Santhi Sweets, unfortunately did not have any other branch and did not deliver at your doorstep, nor did they have a contact number that worked. Just that one tiny shop near the railway station diligently catering to hundreds of commuters day-in and day-out.
We reached Vivekananada Kendra at around 2pm and were booked in the same cottage ‘Akash’ as five years ago when Amma was with us. It was nostalgic. We left our luggage and headed to Hotel Chitra in the kendra for a nice lunch on a banana leaf. At 5 pm, we left for the beach and were taken aback by the changes wrought there since our last visit, 5 years ago. There was no beach to speak of, no sand at all. Progress everywhere with fancy mandapams and rows and rows of concrete steps. The lovely road-side stalls, vendors on spread blankets, selling lovely shells, jewellery, clothes had all but disappeared. The beautiful openness that invited forceful winds to rock you on your feet was jammed with monstrous concrete structures. Loudspeakers blared music and songs, litter everywhere, new hotels all around. Was this truly the place nearby which Swami Vivekanand chose to meditate in? We were glad Amma was not around to see this. The next morning, leaving Appa to rest after breakfast, my daughter and I left to see Devi Kanyakumari at her temple. In all the changes without, her sweet and calm face reassured us that nothing had changed within. Taking her blessings we left for a quick boat-ride to the Vivekananda Memorial. Beautiful, with stunning views of the three oceans: the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We walked around in the blistering heat and retuned by the next boat to spend the rest of the day at the kendra. Grandfather and granddaughter went for long walks with showy peacocks for company.
The next morning we left after breakfast, on the 7-hour journey to Tanjore or Thanjavur, 434 kms via NH44 and NH38 passing Tirunelveli, Madurai and Tiruchirapalli districts. We stopped for lunch in one of the famous bhavans on the way for a satisfying banana-leaf spread. We drove to the Tanjore Palace first, from where the Maratha ruler Serfoji Bhosale reigned over Thanjavur. The beautiful vegetable dye paintings in the once lovely Darbar Hall were either gone or dulled with age. But one could imagine the grandeur of the place. Close by was an enclosure with a number of stone sculptures of various deities. There was a museum and library on the premises that we did not visit.
Our next stop was the great Brihadeeswara temple, built by Rajaraja Chola between 1003 and 1010 CE and dedicated to his favourite deity Lord Shiva. A government-certified guide accompanied us and explained all the elements of the temple, its history, architecture and religious significance. Shiva, the main deity resided there with his consort Shakti and sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. Magnificent temple! There was a huge Nandi facing the temple and we walked down a long corridor to the sanctum that housed one of the biggest Shiva Lingas we had seen. I remember vividly when the temple completed 1000 years of existence in 2010, the commemorative coins issued by the Reserve Bank of India of which I had bought one for Amma. Padma Subrahmanyam, noted Bharatnatyam dancer, had lead one thousand other dancers from India and parts of the world in a dance recital on the temple premises to commemorate the anniversary.
We finally made our way to Sangam Hotel, our stay for the night. We were pampered with a luxurious room, excellent food and great service. It was well-deserved after a long and extremely hot day. We sank thankfully into our beds after a warm bath and dinner.
It was the 8th day of our road trip and we set out for Pondicherry via Gangaikonda Cholapuram, 70kms North of Tanjore. The extreme heat of the previous day had affected my daughter. But after a superb breakfast at the hotel, she seemed much more cheerful and we departed on the next leg of our journey.
We continued swiftly via via NH136 and NH81 to Gangaikonda Chlolapuram, a village located near Jayankondam (we saw the signboard as we drove) in Ariyalur district. It was made the capital of the Chola dynasty in 1025 CE by Chola Emperor Rajendra I, and served as much for around 250 years. We crossed the village, nothing more now than a signboard and the magnificent temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple was larger and more attractive (if possible) than the Brihadeeswara temple in Tanjore. The entrance and symmetry were magnificent. Appa and my daughter could not take the heat any more so I joined the other visitors and walked around the huge premises, awe struck by the vastness of it all. The architecture and design were similar to the one at Tanjore and the Shiva lingam was made from a single rock. I had entered the long corridor and reached the sanctum during the aarti and thanked the Lord profusely for our good fortune.
Once outside, I was told that my daughter had been sick and thrown up twice under a tree. We rushed to Pondicherry with her head on my lap and once there, visited the local government hospital. The excellent doctor examined her efficiently and prescribed medication available at their pharmacy, all free of cost. We had booked ourselves at Hotel Villa Shanti, close the promenade. My daughter had dinner in the room and slept early. The medication worked wonders and she woke up the next morning, ready for a day of shopping at Nehru Street. It was our second visit to Pondy and we wanted nothing more than to relax and have a lazy day. We left Appa to rest in the room and after breakfast, set out to shop for dresses and shirts and anything else that cheered up my family.
We left Pondicherry the next morning after stopping at the Manakula Vinayagar Temple, the same one we had visited with Amma 7 years ago. The priest gave us both lotuses and we were thrilled. My daughter, a teenager now, went to the temple staff to enquire about Lakshmi, the temple elephant who had blessed her when she was a little girl of 7 or 8. They said she came only in the evenings as she was aging. My daughter was sorely disappointed.
We were heading for Bangalore after a halt at Kanchipuram. After 2 ½ hours on the road, we reached the Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram, a beautiful temple of white stones built by the Pallavas. The temple shut at 12pm and we barely reached the end of a long queue at around 11:30am. I suppose she was being kind to us, because we managed to see her all the same before the temple shut for the morning. So beautiful! We had bought archanai tickets and Kumkum and we handed them over the priest before taking our leave. Our next halt was a large government licensed emporium that sold gorgeous Kancheevaram silk and cotton sarees. We shopped for the whole family, including her first saree for my daughter. Traditional lunch at Anadha Bhavan and the long drive back to our hotel in Electronic City in Bangalore.
The next morning, we drove out and spent a wonderful day with my uncle and aunt in Bangalore. Appa was very happy to see his brother and we all had a wonderful time, talking, talking, talking till late. We departed for our home in Mumbai, on the 12th day, the final leg of our journey. It had been a great trip. Appa had coped wonderfully with the searing heat. We were very proud of him. The next day he went to the temple and broke a coconut in gratitude to Ganesha.
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