Protected: Mahabalipuram – family
Pondicherry
This formerly French city is a bit run-down. A small historic district with statues of Ghandi, Nehru, and DuPleix, plus several colorful churches, suffers from the fact that the beach washed away.
The experimental utopian community of Auroville is nearby, so we paid it a visit. Auroville promotes “a life divine but with no religion”, but the road to Auroville is lined with temples, including a temple to a vengeful obstetrician named Perichitti.
Kodaikanal
This former hill station is now home to several schools. We went paddling on the lake, visited the promenade, hiked to the Dolphin Nose, and went to see the Pillars.
Meenakshi temple, Madurai
Cameras are no longer allowed inside, so below you see one of several towers, as photographed from outside the gate.
This temple was visited by my grandfather in 1930 — I’ve included copies of his photos in a second gallery, below mine.
Here are the photos my grandfather took in 1930. One taken from the roof, looking over the stepwell, the other in the elephant yard. (There is still one elephant kept in that location.)
