z francuskiego Pondicherry

We wtorek, ostatni dzien festiwalu Pongal, wybralismy sie do Kanchipuram na jednodniowa wycieczke. Zlapalismy lokalny aotobus, ktory telepal sie po lokalnych drogach zatrzymujac co chwile i po ponad dwuch godzinach dotarlismy na miejsce. Kanchipuram to niezbyt duze miasto (jak na standardy indyjskie) i slynie z licznych swiatyn i jedwabiu. Kilka ze swiatyn jest bardzo popularnych, zarowno ze wzgledow religijnych jak i historycznych. Poniewaz znajduja sie one w sporym rozproszeniu wynajelismy moto-riksze i udalismy sie na zwiedzanie. Najbardziej podobaly mi sie dwie najstarsze i w sumie najspokojniejsze – Kailasanatha i Vaikunta Perumal. Ich poczatki siegaja VII – IX wieku i zachowaly sie w zupelnie dobrym stanie z pieknymi rzezbionymi dekoracjami na elewacji. Jedna ze swiatyn – Sri Ekambaranathar, z olbrzymia „gopura” czyli jakby brama, niestety by³a wyjatkowo zamknieta, a dwie pozostale Kamakshi Amman i Devarajaswami, pelne wiernych i niestety do samego srodka, do sanktum, nie wpuszcza sie innowiercow, wiec musielismy sie zadowolic ogladaniem jedynie zewnetrznego dziedzinca. Druga z tych swiatyn posiada piekny pawilon, ktorego dach podtrzymuje mnostwo wspaniale rzezbionych kolumn, nie wiadomo na czym oko oprzec. Po szybkim posilku zlapalismy powrotny autobus do Mahabalipuram. Kilka kilometrow przed miasteczkiem nagle znalezlismy sie w olbrzymim korku! Okazalo siê ze w ten ostatni dzien Pongal, najwazniejszy, cala okolica, blizsza i dalsza zjezdza do Mahabalipuram. Po prostu nieprzebrane tlumy! Blisko godzine zajelo nam pokonanie ostatnich kilku kilometrow a i tak autobus wyrzucil nas na rogatkach miasta, bo zadnych pojazdow do miasta nie wpuszcano. Wkrotce okazalo siê dlaczego, po prostu morze ludzi wedrowalo do i z centrum, az trudno to opisac! Jakos dotarlismy na nasza „turystyczna” uliczke, gdzie bylo nieco spokojniej. Kolo 18.00 postanowilismy wybrac sie w ten nasz ostatni wieczor na kolejny pokaz tanca w ramach Festiwalu, ale gdziez! Nie by³o praktycznie szansy przedrzec sie przez tlum! Poddalismy sie w koncu i wrocilismy do naszej spokojnej okolicy zeby zjesc kolacje i odpoczac.
W srode rano spakowani wyruszylismy dalej na poludnie, jakieœ 100 km do polozonego nad morzem Pondicherry. To niegdys francuskie kolonialne miasteczko do dzisiejszego dnia zachowalo francuskie nazwy ulic w dzielnicy kolonialnej i mo¿na tu zobaczyc sporo starych budynkow – kosciolow, posiadlosci, dawnych urzedow. W miasta centrum wybrzeze jest kamieniste a wzdluz prowadzi promenada. Moze nieco za  bardzo wymagajacy jestesmy po tym, jak w zeszlym roku ogladalismy piekna francuska architekture kolonialna w Indochinach i tutejsza dzielnica kolonialna nie zrobila na nas az tak wielkiego wrazenia, jednak trzeba powiedziec ze jest tu sporo ladnych budynkow i ulic i bardzo przyjemnie sie spaceruje . Do tego jest tu sporo restauracji serwujacych kuchnie francuska, której nie probowalismy, bo do Indii przyjezdzamy po to by jesc dania lokalne, sa francuskie szkoly i oczywiscie duzo turystow, w tym mysle ze najwiekszy procent Francuzow. Zatrzymalismy sie w bardzo ladnym guest house -ie prowadzonym przez bardzo tutaj znany Sri Aurobindo Asram. Asram to wielka instytucja w miescie, zalozony sporo przed II wojna swiatowa przez francuske, nazywana tutaj „the Mother” i duchowego „Ojca” Sri Aurobindo. W guest house-ie obowiazuja pewne reguly, troche jak w klasztorze, ale za to pokoj jest czysciutki, przestronny, z widokiem na maly park a za nim na morze, jest klimatyzacja (nie zebysmy korzystali) i goraca woda w kranie. Coz wiecej mozna chciec! Po poludniu zrobilismy rekonesans po centrum, czesci kolonialnej i tamislkiej i gdy juz zaczely nas nogi bolec od chodzenia wrocilismy w koncu odpoczac. Postanowilismy zatrzymac sie tu pare dni, bo w sumie nigdzie nam siê nie spieszy. W czwartek pochodzilismy troche po miescie ale wiêkszoœæ czasu spedzilismy na naszym uroczym patio czytajac w cieniu ksiazki. Dziœ udalismy siê zwiedzic glowny Asram, czyli miejsce, gdzie mieszkal Sri Aurobindo. Jak dla mnie to miejsce otoczone wysokim murem z pieknym ogrodem dookola domu, z przestronnymi, ladnie umeblowanymi pokojami bardziej przypominalo wille bogatego czlowieka, ni¿ cele ascetycznego meza, medytujacego calymi dniami i uprawiajacego joge. Wydawalo mi sie, ze osoby tak uduchowione nie otaczaja sie wygodami, ale moze sie myle ;-)
Jutro nadal bêdziemy sobie spacerowac i odpoczywac a w niedziele rano ruszamy dalej!

Ponizej zdjecia swiatyn z Kanchipuram / below some photos of the temples from Kanchipuram

Tuesday was the last day of the Pongal Festival and we decided to make a day trip to Kanchipuram to visit some of the famous temples. We got a bus early in the morning and after a two-hours' journey we arrived to our destination. The town is not big by Indian standards, but there are numerous hindu temples that attract lots of pilgrims. The town is also famous also its silk production. As the five main temples are spread quite a bit apart we took a moto riksha for a couple of hours. We visited two of the oldest temples – Kailasanatha and Vaikunta Perumal, which origins date back to the 7th - 9th C. Those I liked the most. They were peaceful and quiet and beautifully decorated with carvings. The Sri Ekambaranathar temple with its magnificent huge „gopura”, a kind of a gate was closed that day. But we went to see  two other big and busy temples,  Kamakshi Amman and Devarajaswami. Neither of them allows any non-hindus inside the main temle so we could only visit the outer courtyards that were very crowded with pilgrims. The last one had a beautiful pavillion whose roof is supported by many richly decorated columns, very impressive indeed. As we were not interested in silk shoppoing we had a quick lunch by the bus station and got  a bus back to Mahabalipuram. Everything went well till about 4-5 km before reaching the town. Suddenly we found ourselves in a massive traffic jam. It seemed that thousands of people were trying to move in and out of Mahabalipuram. When we eventually reached the town we saw a neverending flow of people moving in and out of the small center. With huge relief we found that the small tourist enclave (Backpackistan) was the only quiet part of the town. Apparently the last day of Pongal is the most important and everybody goes on day trips to some interesting places, hence the incredible crowd in this small town.We hoped to go and watch another classic dance performance but there was no way we could have squeezed through the crowd, so we just went for dinner and then to rest.
Wednesday morning we packed our bags and got a bus to Pondicherry, another 100 km south, two hours' drive. Pondicherry till the fifties was under French influence and it can be still seen today. Street sighns in the French Quarter have French names, some policemen wear kepis, a lot of the locals speak French and there are lots of French tourists around. The town is situated right next to  the sea, but there is no real beach, just a pleasant Promenade and a breakwater of huge stones. The French Quarter itself hasn't impressed us greatly, maybe because we saw some really nice colonial architecture in Indochina last year. Nevertheless it is a very pleasant area to walk round, there are many nice big colonial houses, some churches, schools and offices. Further in from the sea is the much more vibrant Tamil part of town, full of traffic, people, shops and life in general. We found very good accomodation in a guest house run by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The Ashram is a big institution in Pondicherry. It was started in the mid twenties by a French woman called here „the Mother” and a spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo. The whole thing grew big and attracts today many people from India and abroad who come to search for inner peace, meditation and a new way of life. We are not much into this kind of thing but staying in this guest house is very pleasant and convenient. The place is right by the sea, in the old French Quarter and it is quiet and clean. We have a nice room with a small patio overlooking a garden and the sea. It has A/Cwhich we don't use as it is not that hot and mosquito nets that are essential as there are loads of mosquitos!
We decided to stay here for 3 days to relax, read books wander roud in the cool of the evening as we are in no rush.
Yesterday we walked around the town a bit and today we went to see the Pondicherry Museum and the main Ashram. The Museum, like many museums in India is dusty and it seems nobody is really interested. The Ashram was a different experience. This is a place where Sri Aurobindo lived and to tell you the truth I was very disappointed. I was expecting a small and simple place that spiritual men would normally live in. Insead we found a huge colonial villa, with big airy well furnished rooms, surrounded by a lovely garden and a high wall. Not exactly my idea of a secluded lifestyle but maybe I am wrong ;-)
Tomorrow another relaxing day and then on Sunday morning we will be moving again.

Ponizej pare widoczkow z Pondicherry, znad morza i dzielnicy francuskiej / below a couple of pictures from Pondicherry - the seafront and from the French Quarter

A tak wyglada nasz hostel i Asram oraz w dolnym rogu zdjecia zalozycieli / This is what our guesthouse looks like and the Ashram and in the bottom corner images of the founders

Dwa tygodnie temu przeszedl nad miastem cyklon i polamal mnostwo drzew / a couple of weeks ago Pondicherry was hit with a big cyklon and it broke many trees

W jednym ze sklepow znalazlam przyprawy Jamiego! / We spotted these in a local supermarket

Opisywalam w naszej podrozy zeszlorocznej pyszne "roti canai" ktore mozna wszedzie dostac w Malezji i Singapurze. Tam zawedrowaly stad i tutaj nazywa sie je "paratha" i sa zawijane w slimaczek / A year ago I wrote about "roti canai" when we were in Malaysia. They got there from South India and they are called here "paratha". The difference is that they fold them a bit different way in Tamilnadu.