Ashtalakshmi Temple; Chennai, India

Mamallapuram’s central attraction is of course the (Pallava) seventh century Shore Temple. The temple and surrounding area, as I explained in a previous post, has been designated a World Heritage Site. Not quite rising to the level of world status is the Ashtalakshmi Temple in Chennai’s Besant Nagar district, overlooking Elliot’s Beach.

The temple, I’m told is not very old – perhaps thirty years or so. (You could have fooled me.) Though practically within walking distance from where we live, we had never known of this particular temple before. It is overshadowed by the considerably more hectic Our Lady of Velankanni (Christian) Church - which ministers to the sick and boasts of apparitions by Mary, Mother of God – behind which it lies almost totally hidden. Ashtalakshmi is only accessible either from the beach or by a series of narrow streets alleyways. It is nevertheless one of the stops on the Chennai hop-on; hop-off tourist bus routes and ranks as an Indian Heritage Site.

We found the temple by accident. We had told our driver to take us to a temple we had seen earlier that day in passing. He misunderstood and took us to Ashtalakshmi. I was immediately intrigued. The architecture and the color scheme were a decided departure from the usual South Indian temple fare. It seemed as different from classical Tamil temple architecture as gothic is from rococo. Noting the 10 Rs. entrance fee, we decided to first see the temple from the outside and save a more thorough exploration for later.

We went back the following week – a little earlier in the day, when the legendary Chennai summer sun would still be in the process of gearing up to do its worst. The temple’s layout is unique. There are eight Lakshmi goddesses installed on four levels. At each of the Lakshmi idols sits a Hindu priest prepared to perform a ritual that bestows blessings on the visitor. For each of the ceremonies a modest gratuity is asked for. It is therefore smart to carry small bills and coins with you as it becomes awkward to ask for change from holy men.

The temple affords the visitor stunning views of the Bay of Bengal. Officially, it is not permitted to take pictures there. If people happen to see you trying, they will ask you to put your camera away. Still, I managed to capture some images on the sly, either when no one was looking or with my wife pretending to pose.

A second caution worth mentioning is that you’re expected to leave your shoes outside the entrance before entering. As hot as Chennai gets during the day, it is conceivable that the ground exposed to the sun will burn your feet. Do not leave your footwear in the car as you will have to cross burning blacktop in order to get to your vehicle.

Lakshmi is the consort of (the) Vishnu (part of the Hindu male trinity). She is goddess of wealth, prosperity; learning and wisdom; courage and strength. Each of the eight Lakshmis is said to have distinct powers. If you’re going to pray for a child, for instance, you’ll want to walk up the stairs to the third tier where the shrine of Santaana Lakshmi (bestower of offspring) is located and perform your devotions there.

It’s easy to be swept up in the emotion of need-based worship even if you happen not to be Hindu. It is quite evident from watching the people around you here at Ashtalakshmi (as well as at Our Lady of Velankanni, a mere stone’s throw away) that Hindus take their gods very seriously.

Peter Koelliker; pkoelliker8@yahoo.com

Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art, Chennai, S. India

“I have been feeling ever since freedom came, that the artists of the big towns of Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras, have been cut off from their roots and become individualist artists in the European sense. They have little or no contact with people and have totally removed themselves from their native landscapes. In this way they have also broken away from the craft centers of India’s small towns and villages. Consciously or unconsciously, all of you in Cholamandal (artists’ village) may have wanted to break away from the borrowed abstractions of the West and return to your inherited impulses.

“In the works of the Cholamandal artists which I have seen in the last 20 years, I have noticed that most of you are experimenting with synthetic forms, transforming the old imagery with new materials into a futuristic art. On every occasion, when I have been asked, anywhere in the country, about the future of the arts, I have asked my ardent young friends to go to Cholamandal to see what is possible and (then) found their own artist villages so that they can get back to their roots and away from the derivative influence that so often ensnares the artists of our big cities.”

With these words, renowned Indian author and founder of Marg Publications, Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) endorsed the Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art as a starting point for native Indian visual artists to discover their own unique direction. It is likely that the collection has changed several times over the years. In fact, I saw a good number of non-Indian names attached to the sculptures displayed in the garden. The only connection to Indian themes I recognized, was the medium used: granite (which is ubiquitous in this part of the world). For traditional Indian art (especially in granite) you would do well to travel 50 km south to the historic stonecutters town of Mamallapuram.

Peter Koelliker; pkoelliker8@yahoo.com

INDeco Resort Hotel, Mamallapuram, South India

Living here in Chennai, we’ve been down to Mamallapuram any number of times. I’ve written about it in previous blogs. Each time we go there’s more to discover. One of my titles reads ‘GRT Temple Bay Resort’ which rightly deserves much more than a mention (even if it is way too expensive for us retired folk).

We did actually overnight at Mamallapuram some years ago in a place that calls itself ‘Sea Breeze’. The location couldn’t be better. It’s directly on the beach right next to the town’s main attraction, the Shore Temple. The compound is at the end of a wonderfully neat dead end lane. It contains both cottages and rooms, a pool, a restaurant, and gift shop. ‘Sea Breeze’ is relatively new, but lacks the attention to detail and sophistication of the Radisson GRT complex. There’s a certain charm in that though. Whereas ‘Temple Bay' consists of a template that is recognizable anywhere in the world, ‘Sea Breeze’ retains a distinct Indian flavor.

Last weekend we made still another intriguing discovery: The ‘INDeco Hotel’ just south of the World Heritage site. It bills itself as the hotel that is also a museum and is run by the Indian government (that owns some of the best real estate in the country). INDeco too has a restaurant and a pool but it’s a bit of a distance to the ocean - about 5 minutes walk.

INDeco is wonderfully lush, green and shaded. That’s saying a lot for the east coast of India that tends to be arid apart from monsoon season. INDeco - like ‘Sea Breeze’ - is totally Indian. There’s a touch of the exotic here that’s missing at ‘Sea Breeze’ which seeks to be modern. No such pretensions here. INDeco is proud to be old (colonial) school.

I never actually stayed there. Neither did I eat at their multi-cuisine restaurant, ‘Pongamiya’ (named after the Pongamiya Glabra trees that shade the grounds). But from what I’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t mind checking it out. It has, of course the added advantage of its government affiliation which in my experience has always served us well throughout India.