Thursday, February 28, 2008

Rural Tamil Nadu

Hi and welcome.

This is the final posting of Tamil Nadu. As we travelled from town to town we were able to enjoy the magical beauty of the Tamil Nadu countryside. The further south we went the more beautiful it was. The soil became very red and the coming together of land and water bestows a sense of mystery where you can imagine fairy tales are no longer just the stuff of books and film.

And of course we witnessed people living and working in traditional rural style. Some of the photos capture that.

Tamil Nadu enchanted us. The people, so warm and friendly. The temples, majestic, in many cases awe-inspiring. The towns, a complete experience of all the senses. The countryside, magical and mysterious. The Mahabalipuram beach, the joy on the faces of children and adults as they played in the water.

I hope from the past four postings that you felt some of that enchantment, and, if you have not already been, will go and see it for yourself.

Love

Alan
















How green is green!


















Where did this come from? Elephant rock outside Madurai

















The Pottery Village

















The Rock Fort Temple, Trichy taken from the countryside
















Hard work, but always a social occasion

















Taking the washing back to the village

















Pilgrim























Placentas of cows, goats and sheep hanging from a Banyan tree. The Banyan tree lives a very long time, possibly up to 300 years so hanging the placenta of your new born animal on the tree ensures it lives to a good age

















Why isn't the straw falling off?

















Architecture and nature

















The holy mountain of Arunachala where Ramana Maharshi lived.
We visited his Ashram in Tiruvannamalai while in Tamil Nadu

















Solitary fisherman

















Traditional ploughing

















The farmyard
















Classic image
















Harvesting groundnut (peanut)
















Another social occasion!

















The herd manager seems a bit shy!

















No carbon footprint with this kind of vehicle

















Silk out to dry























The best horns in town, cool dude!

















Bird infested tree