Vellore - Kanchi trip - Day 2 -3

Day 2 started with a hearty breakfast in the room and checking out of the hotel. Our first stop was Vellore fort and the Jalakandeshwarar temple. After going around the temple, which was maintained very well, we drove around the fort and then left to Katpadi to vist a childhood friend of J.It was a reunion of sorts wherein J is meeting her school friend after about 12-13 years and so they had a lot to catch up on and I just did a dutiful baby sitter part going through their old albums and trying to find a way to pass time. So after much diffcult parting, we hit the road back to Kanchipuram. We missed out on vising the Virinchipuram temple as it was past noon and waiting means missing some of Kanchi's temples.
We reached Kanchi by 1PM on the 16th and checked into GRT Regency and after lunch, took a break till 4Pm. We started at 4PM with a visit to the Kailashanathar temple and it was amazing with overcast skies(again) and the temple standing majestically. It was fantastic to visit the sculptures and walk around leisurely.We moved on to Ekambareshwarer temple and another huge temple, not as well maintained as Kailashanathar, but none the less was looking great after all these years of history behind it.
Next we visited Kamatchi amman temple and the crowd was enormous and so decided to visit the Varatharaja Perumal temple.
After a 5Km drive across Kanchi, we reached the magnificent temple of Perumal and being saturday, the temple was crowded but were able to visit the staired cases of Perumal and pray to him. Couldn't help the comparison with the vainglorious temple in Sripuram.
After a heary dinner in Saravana Bhavan, we retired for the day.
Day 3
After checking out in the morning, we went to the kacchapaeswarar Temple and spent some time before going to the Kamakshi amman temple again. Again, the crowds were heavy and we decided against standing in the hot sun with the kids in the queue and decided to go to the Ulagalanthar temple. By the time we reached the temple, it was noon and the temple was closed.
After lunch in Saravana Bhavan, J went around a few saree shops and we started back to Chennai. After a breif stopover at the Rajiv memorial in Sriperumbuthur we reached Chennai by 4PM.

Vellore - Kanchi trip - Day 1

After thinking for weeks for a place to visit during the Independence day weekend we decided to go to Vellore and Kanchi by a road trip and have some fun.
That was an easy decision and trying to find things to do in these two places was much more difficult. Here is a little travelogue on what we did.
Day 1
Started early in the morning towards Vellore. This is a deceptive little statement. 'Early' was 3AM for Jeysri who woke up to cook/pack the breakfast and lunch for the day 1. And for the rest of us it was about 6AM and we were on road by 7.30AM. As always, we started with lots of fun and being early had its advantages as we did not have much traffic on road and were able to hit NH4 without issues and by 9 we have crossed Kanchipuram and stopped on road for a quite breakfast alongside the fields.

After breakfast, NH4 turns into NH46 towards Vellore and it was a breeze driving with overcast skies and a surprisingly cool day. We reached Vellore by 10.30AM and checked into a hotel called Baby residency. Immediately after we started towards Amirthi forest.
After about 20-22 Kms (1 hour at least as the roads are not in good shape) in the road from Vellore(I mean, what is left of a road) you will reach Amirthi. The drive is very scenic with open spaces, corn fields, paddy fields and single lane driving with kids running behind cars (as seen in Tamil movies!).In between we crossed a river (shall I say ford it?). Actually we have to drive right on the river bed and drive across. There was no water and so no issues.

Anyways, at Amirthi entrance, there is a local food shop and a mini zoo (if you can call 4 porcupines, 10-15 pigeons, 4 peacocks, 1 crocodile a zoo at all!). But the fun lies in the trek to the Amirthi falls which is about 1.5Kms inside from the entry point. The trek is not difficult and the path is laid with red sand and slabs of stones and there is a view point to boost. The falls itself didn't had any water but through the trek it was drizzling and the forest views were fantastic.
After the trek we started back towards Vellore and had lunch in one of the vast open fields near road.

After taking some well deserved rest in the hotel room through the afternoon, we dressed up to visit the newest attraction in Vellore, the golden temple in Sripuram. The road gets congested as you near the place and parking is haphazard outside and inside as well. The crowds are unbelievable and true to being a temple for the god of wealth, a 250Rs ticket eliminates the hassle of standing in a long queue(day we visited waiting period was about 2 hrs) and puts you bang in the star shaped pathway to the temple itself. The temple itself is sort of a let down and we walked around and tried to look for people who have come actually to pray and found none. The place reminded me immediately of Akshardham temple in New Delhi which in turn reminded me of the amusement parks. The crowd start looking upwards as they near the golden part of the temple and with shops in every corner, the bhakthi aspect of the visit is nowhere to be seen.
We drove back to the hotel with mixed feelings towards the visit itself and took the much needed rest for the day

MRTS to Mylapore

One of the recent happenings in Velachery is the opening of the MRTS station, thereby connecting Velachery with Northern Madras via a railway network along the beach corridor. In fact, from last week's Vikatan, I came to know that the first proposal was made in 1956 and it took approximately 50+ years for it to reach Velachery and the original proposal talks about the line till Mahabalipuram.

But that apart, the impact of this extended line can be seen immediately as this has completely changed the way Velechery was commuting (not to mention the un(der)developed Madipakkan and other surrounding areas. One has to visit the station to see the kind of change a good public transport system can bring into the city.

I took my first ride 2-3 weeks back when we decided that we will park the car in the station and go to see Kapaleeshwarar in his abode in Mylapore.
Now, we repeated the same yesterday. There is huge parking lot in front of the station and the crowd is minimal on a Saturday. Of course, Sibi is taking this line till beach for sometime now. So we have to wait for the pink or the yellow trains to come or otherwise, Sibi will not board. I never fully understood the reason for this but suits me to spend sometime in the station with the kids watching the trains go by. Vanathy has taken a liking for the 'choo-choos' hearing much from her brother on the subject. So both of them go crazy whenever they see a train.
The approach road to the Velachery road is a mess but if you pass that by, the parking lot is concrete-paved and is quite good. The train passes by Taramani, Perungudi, Indira Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Kotturpuram, Mandaveli to reach Mylapore.

I've never been to Kapaleeshwarar temple till about 3 weeks back and has taken a instant liking to it. The vast kulam with the abundance of fish, the busy streets with the roadside shops, the vast corridor and the lord Himself who reminds me of Madurai every time I visit the temple make the trip very special.
Yesterday we took a walk around the temple and went to Giri trading agency which specializes in puja materials and bought a few books as well. Had dinner in Saravana bhavan and returned home. Imagining the same trip by car trying to negotiate the Mylapore traffic gives me the shudders.

Today visited City center for a bit of shopping but was taken aback by the crowd in Lifestyle. But when you come out and look in the 'Ambedkar bridge' behind the mall, I saw a old couple in the bed on the pavement with dirty kids running around. A typical sight in the city but it also made me wonder whether we are so tuned to these sights that it doesn't register the poverty which drives this kind of inequality and the politics which keeps it the same way. Whether these will make any impact on the minds of my kids is another thing that I keep thinking about. May be I need to talk to them.