louiseinlimbo

After Mysore I went back to the coast of Kerala, this time to the town of Kochi.  Well, I actually stayed in the more modern and untouristy Ernakulam, which was considerably cheaper, but from there it was a 30-minute walk and 6p ferry ride to get across to the island of Kochi.  The Portuguese navigator Vasco de Gama arrived in Kochi in 1502.  He died and was initially buried there (in 1524), but with the remains later transferred to Lisbon.  The church where he was originally buried is still there, and is one of several churches to be visited in this place. Kochi is famous for the Chinese fishing nets, which one is ‘supposed to’ photograph at sunset – see introductory picture.  The mechanism for getting the nets in and out of the water involves lots of small rocks attached to one part of the net mechanism, and it is quite a physical performance for the fishermen to raise and lower the nets, which they do on a regular basis.  The sunset picture shows the net...

My general plan was to move southwards down the west coast of India ... but Mysore beckoned.  I'd heard about the impressive palace, only built at the beginning of the last century (after an older one burnt down) and not even fully Indian as it was designed by a British architect, but very large and, as I discovered, with some spectacular rooms. This to the left is part of an area that the public would have had access to as they came for public audiences with the Maharajah,  There are a number of such corridors and spaces, all equally spectacular.  The grounds are large and impressive too, although sadly I did not find out in time that there is a free well-rated light-and-sound show on Sunday evenings ... I arrived there on a Monday.  I was also a little annoying to find that the entry fee for foreigners had, until three months ago, been the same (£1.20) as for Indians, but as with everywhere that charges for entrance, it now has a higher price for foreigners (£10)....

India is cheap, so spending some time here helps to 'balance the books', as well as giving me the opportunity to rest and build up the energy levels for the next bit of travelling.  But of course there is plenty to see in this amazing country. On my way to see the theyyam rituals, I stopped off for a day in Old Goa.  The capital of Portuguese India, it was populated by evangelising Christians, and (having been virtually abandoned when hit by epidemics of malaria and cholera in the 17th century) it now feels like some kind of museum of churches, abbeys, monasteries and convents - listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Some are in pretty good condition (like St Catherine's Cathedral, above), and are quite stunning - I particularly liked some corners of this cathedral where the walls and ceiling are elaborately decorated. However, the town was a victim of the Portuguese Inquisition, intended to enforce Catholic orthodoxy, which hunted down those accused of secretly practic...

So why couldn’t I have spent longer in Hampi, which I liked so much?  Because I had an appointment with a local guide in the Keralan city of Kannur, to start an intensive three-day trip around various local temples to watch performances of the Theyyam rituals.  The reason I had come to India … as a result of seeing photographs of these rituals posted by a friend last year.  I didn’t really know anything about Theyyam, only that the ‘costumes’ were spectacular, and that I just HAD to see these for myself. & now, after three days with very little sleep (the fire-jumping elements mainly take place during the night), I still don’t know that much about it, but am so very glad I came to see it. What I did learn is that the responsibility for carrying out the rituals is inherited – and borne by the male members of some of the lowest castes in the area, sometimes from the historically 'untouchable' castes.  The tradition dates far back in time, believed to come from the ...

An overnight bus ride away from Mumbai (in a comfortable sleeper bus!) is the small town of Hampi, known in its heyday in the 14 th -16 th centuries as Vijayanagara, when (by 1500AD) it was supposedly the world’s second-largest city.   Despite its size and wealth, the Vijayanagara Empire was defeated by a coalition of Muslim sultanates, with the capital conquered, pillaged and destroyed by Muslim armies in 1565, after which Hampi remained in ruins.   It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, described by them as an "austere, grandiose site" of more than 1,600 surviving remains of the last great Hindu kingdom in South India that includes "forts, riverside features, royal and sacred complexes, temples, shrines, pillared halls, mandapas, memorial structures, water structures and others". It also has the attraction of being located in a gorgeous setting of low hills around a meandering river, with enormous granite boulders all around the place.  And there are mon...