On numerous occasions during our week in Tamil Nadu we saw displays of Rangoli or Kolams (geometric designs drawn with rice powder on sidewalks or on the ground) like the one shown in this picture near the door of homes, businesses and temples to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi, the wife of Lord Vishnu.
At the bottom of this page is a short video of a lady beginning to lay out a design on the sidewalk in front of a tea house in the part of Chennai known as Mylapore on our 2nd day of touring in Chennai.
We began that morning with a couple shopping stops. First was a visit to Kamala Crafts Shop a government sponsored co-operative with hand crafts from across the region. We appreciated that many included labels with the craftsman’s name and that the bulk of the proceeds would go to the artisan.
Our next stop was the MRM Foundation where we waded through a large collection of traditional Chettinad handicrafts, prints, Khadi (cotton) weavings, basket weaving and some modern examples of iconic images of Athangudi tiles. We did buy a few small basket weavings there but we knew we were soon headed for the heart of the Chettinad handcrafts world so we didn’t want to fill our suit cases before we got there.
After a break for lunch we drove to the area of the city known as Mylapore. Our destination that afternoon was the Kapaleshwara Temple but we were visiting there in the midst of the Hindu Festival of Light known in Tamil Nadu as Karthihai Deepam and our guide knew parking near the temple was going to be hard to come by.
So he took this as an opportunity to have us hop out of the car a few blocks from the temple and then lead us on a walk through the crowded streets past vendors selling water, misc. household goods, cheap clothing, personal electronics as well as by some small food stalls.
As we neared the temple we noticed that most of the vendors were selling flowers, incense and candles that visitors could leave as an offering at the temple. Our last stop before entering the temple was the ticket office which doubled as a shoe depository.
Kapaleeswarar is one of the oldest and most popular Shiva temples in Chennai. It was built by the Pallavas in the 7th century pre-dating the similar Dravidian style.
The area inside the outer wall features numerous alter stalls with priests chanting prayers and accepting offerings from temple goers. There were exquisite wood & stone carvings, decorated pillars and just inside the entry gate; this Gopuram (tower), which was a riot of color with hundreds of finely figured images as shown in this photo. (click the photo for a larger version.)
The temple grounds were crowded at the time we visited and there was a long line for those waiting to get inside the inner shrine, an honor reserved for practicing Hindus.
After our visit to Kapaleshwara Temple we walked back a few blocks to a popular restaurant/tea house and relaxed with a cup of tea.
As we left and were waiting outside for our car to pick us up a lady from the restaurant first washed the sidewalk then began laying out a Kolam design (a form of street decoration that is drawn by using rice flour) as shown in this short video. Note the layout dots she had applied to guide her design and the confidence and ease at which she creates the design; an obvious display of years of practice. (You may need to click on this image a couple times to start the video.)
From there it was a relatively short ride back to our hotel where we relaxed for a bit while before heading back to Copper Chimney for round 2 at the restaurant.