Temple Photo 1

Temple Photo 2

My next destination in Tamil Nadu was another temple haven city, Trichy. The road condition between Madurai and Trichy was very good, and for the first time in India, I saw a proper highway! However, the speed was always below 80 km/hr. I found a room close to the bus station with lots of difficulties, as most hotels were full. Apparently, the day was auspicious, and there were many weddings happening in the city.

The next day, I visited the Srirangam Temple, the largest temple in India. It is so huge that it feels like a fortified town. However, in terms of beauty, it doesn’t quite match the venerable Sri Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. Once again, I disguised myself as a Hindu and entered the inner part of the temple, which is forbidden to non-Hindus. But there was a huge queue, and I could never manage or want to wait to get into the heart of the temple.

For me, the temple’s architecture was impressive, but what fascinated me more was the temple’s elephant. People approached it, placing money on the tip of its trunk. The elephant would grab the money, raise its trunk to touch the bowed head of the person as if blessing them, and then hand the money to its mahout. Elephants, one of my favorite animals, are clever, mighty, and generally calm. I look forward to more elephant encounters in Sri Lanka.

At the temple, I noticed many people with completely shaved heads. I learned they had done this at another temple, Samayapuram. Photographing the ritual shaving was on my to-do list for South India, so I decided to visit the temple in the afternoon. After two bus rides, I reached the bustling Samayapuram Temple, which I later found out is the second richest temple in Tamil Nadu. The atmosphere was lively, with vivid yellow and red clothing, dancing, and crying. I realized I was the only tourist there, attracting a lot of attention.

I discovered that people donate their hair to the temple’s deity in exchange for favors. The donated hair is then sold in markets worldwide. The shaving area was a large room with barbers seated around it. Families queued with their tickets and razor blades in hand. Even children, reluctant and tearful, underwent shaving, as did women with their long, well-maintained hair. This was particularly striking, given how much care South Indian women typically give to their hair.

When I tried to photograph inside, the barbers told me it wasn’t allowed, although there were no signs indicating so. I waited outside and photographed people after their shave instead, which worked out well. People were eager to be photographed, and I even used my portable printer to give prints, which created a lot of excitement. The crowd’s enthusiasm eventually persuaded the barbers to let me photograph inside, where I captured as much as I could. This reaffirmed that the most memorable and photographically-rich experiences often occur in less touristy places.

After the photography frenzy at Samayapuram Temple, I returned to Trichy and boarded a train to Chennai in the evening. My next stop was Mamallapuram, a village near Chennai.

Side Notes:

  • Mosquitoes here don’t bother finding uncovered areas; they bite right through clothes!
  • On the bright side, it’s sunny and 24°C every day—absolutely lovely!