Vellore trip
Dec , 10, 2011
It was a mild Saturday. Just enough sun to lure me out. Setting aside
my budget concerns, I step out. As always armed with a water bottle
and biscuit packets.
Water contamination is endemic, you can never be too careful.
Recently the government has raised transport fares to balance their
books. In some cases doubling the fare.
I use a rickety auto to get to a nearby bus stop . Then on a bus to
Koyamedu bus stand.
It was 9 am.
The bus stand is busy as usual. And for a third world bus stand
reasonably good. Tamils have a talent for running public bus
transport.
I find a bus to Vellore in under a minute. Ticket cost is Rs. 100. Just
about $2. Having lived in the USA for couple of years , my brain
automatically calculates $ value of amounts. Only in India, I can
travel nearly 200 kilometers in under $2. If it was the US, I will need
a car, a much more expensive proposition.
I brace myself for sitting in a single position for long, I have a back
muscle that is prone to spasms, so I must not slump in my seat.
The bus journey for the first hour was dusty, so I had to cover my
nose. I tried to dose as much as possible, after an hour I could smell
green grass and I knew I had left the dusty city behind. Now I may
stop covering my nose.
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| Vellore Fort wall and moat |
speed limit, which is a relief. Indian roads are a death trap and most
drivers mistake public roads for Formula1 race track.
The national highway is in good shape. So the journey was pleasant.
All the to Vellore, you could see the roadside dotted with factories and
engineering colleges. Tamil Nadu is a industrially advanced state, by
Indian standards.
It was noon, by the time arrived at Vellore. I was hungry. Next to the
bus stand , I found good South Indian lunch for Rs. 42. Excellent
economy.
After lunch , I boarded a bus to Sripuram. Ticket cost less than Rs. 10.
In about 20 minutes, I was at the gates of the Gold Temple. I did know
what to expect, I have grown playing in great Tamil temples, none
Golden. At the reception I handed over my cell and other baggages.
Parting with his cellphone is difficult for a modern Indian.
The reception staff suggested I buy a Rs. 250 ticket to avoid long
queues. I hate queues. So I purchased a ticket.
I quickly made my way through long corridors. The garden
surrounding the temple is well-manicured and almost good as best
gardens I had the pleasure of visiting in California.
After a kilometer of long corridors, I could see the golden temple, my
pace automatically quickened. On the way one could see tourists ,
many of them from North India.
Finally the temple itself. A semi circular pond surrounds it. It is a
medium sized temple that you may see in a Chennai suburb except it
is gold-plated. The sight is mesmeric.
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| Temple inside Fort. ( not the golden one ) |
to see the gold-plated features. It contained standard motifs of South
Indian temples.
After 15 minted, I was ushered out. On the out I saw a very beautiful
cow and calf. Cow worship is a Hindu thing to do.
I made my way out and the staff ushered into another queue for
prasadam.
For the return trip to Vellore, the public bus was full and no other bus
in sight. So I took an auto at a cost of Rs. 100. The auto driver nicely
doubled as a tour guide.
The auto dropped me at Vellore fort. I quickly visited Jalakandeshwar
temple, for me it was just another South Indian temple.
The fort walls were huge and the moat impressive. It was funny that
once the fort was Vellore, right now Vellore surround the fort. I was
glad to see a medieval town has survived and morphed into a moder
town, even though Vellore has a long way to go before it is considered
truly modern by American standards.
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| Fort one view |
My return journey was hassle-free, I was back in Chennai for dinner. I
was incredibly tired, but very pleased.
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