saturday january 16....is there anybody there?.....off we go to kanchipuram......

its really sunday.....up at 5am ..  yes 5am.......wash....dress and pay the bill........batting through  the city....driver said lets have breakfast.....off  into a roadside cafe....dosa...veda...idli samba etc...shear delight........as we approached kanchi we could see in the distance towering against the sky a temple building........this is why we are here....excitement in the air...anticipation......the streets were buzzin at 8am...shoes off and into the temple....people bathing in the tank.....elephants.....wherever you looked it was visual feast brilliant lored saris...people and the sounds and smells....tucked in a corner wasa mango tree it was otally surrounded by enand women....mostly women walking around the tree,clockwise.whilst other women decorated small shrines with flowers,incense,oils and tiny wooden beds were hung in the branches of the tree........this is a fertility  ritual the sight of all the saris and the chanting.....the general hub bub was amazing........kanchi really is temple town.....we wre so excited visiting the temples we have all therir names mixed up.....within the temples are small shrines to ganesh...shiva and others these were of real interest to me....i think that is to do with their scale, they are often in odd places....like part of a column...hidden in a corner....you do have to look or them...you also find them in shops....houses by the side of the road........the shrines are everywhere....they are part of daily life....our driver had been excellent extremely helpful with knowledge of the temples.....friendly and polite in a short time we had built a good relationship...when it was time to part it was a sad moment....we had become a close family....he dropped us off at hotel baboo soorya.....settled into our new temporary home then off out in search of an intrenet cafe....for our daily dose....whilst hil was e mailing i was off around the backstreets talking to people and taking photos...i had some wine gums with me and they gained me entry to all sorts of houses  and people...treat people how you want to treated yourself........do you remember the airport fun....at the hotel we paid for our meal with an.........old note......the manager was very concerned...we explained and we all saw the funny side of things.....then we went to an evening ceremony in a nearby temple with elephants in a procession and music...and holy men pulling a cart......it was a ceremony celebrating the new moon.....what an amazing end to a day that started so early.....