My aunt aka my mom's elder sister suggested us to visit a place in Coimbatore to vanish away all our life problems and get some peace. My mom sincerely obeyed her words almost after an year. So, that's how the quest to explore Coimbatore began. I was occasionally googling for places to visit around Coimbatore. Haven't book tickets and no hopeful action taken on the travel plan. A need for another motivational boost to actually make us pursue this travel goal. Lunch time at my office is super special to me. Not because that's the time to eat food but because that's the time my mind gets nourished by the wisdom of my office colleague. Only one office colleague and me exists in the whole room. (Every introverts dream workplace!) We eat our lunch together and share lots of conversations from quirky stuff to sensible ones.
One fine day, during such lunch time the conversation shifted to her contemplating her life choices like how she didn't spend her younger days fruitfully and time flew by without achieving any desired adventures or experiences. It strike a chord in me. She was the one who actually made this trip possible by saying "You book the train tickets now! Then figure out what else to do. Don't overthink." We procrastinated a lot and weren't even sure of the trip until we actually booked the train tickets. In Tamil Nadu as per religious tradition some people put Pillaiyar Suzhi (an auspicious calligraphy) on top of paper to begin anything on a good note. My office colleague's words were like the Pillaiyar Suzhi to my Coimbatore trip. Quite thankful to her words! My dad and brother stayed back in Chennai. Me and my mother set out our journey to explore a new place.
(Long post alert!)
Dec 21, 2018 - Chennai to Coimbatore
The trip day has arrived! We woke at 3:30 am, took bath in freezing cold weather and took our bags in half drowsy state. I am a person who is paranoid about anything that has numbers in it especially time. My dad dropped us at the Chennai Central Station.
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| Trying to take decent picture of Chennai Central clock in my half awake state |
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| Still Half awake |
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| Found the Train & finally awake! |
I took a platform ticket for my dad and enter the station. This was the first time for us to travel in a 2S Seater type train. The trains usually display reserved names and seating numbers on a sheet of paper stuck nearby to the doors. This time there was no paper stuck on the train. Me and my mom had no idea which compartment our seats belong to. So I check the soft copy of the ticket and made a random guess with the letter and number on it. The alphabet is the train compartment and number is the seats assigned to us. The seats were small and the passway was narrow. Each row of seat are for six people instead of ergonomic four. Now I understood why the tickets price were so cheap. I wouldn't recommend it for long journeys. My dad came up later after parking the car. He sat beside mom and we spoke for a while. I was teaching him how to do video calls in Whatsapp. Train started to move bit, my dad left the train and waves us good bye. The train started to depart late than the mentioned time.
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| I think I just captured a ghost |
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| Train tracks |
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| Some random pond |
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Two flights just passed by making an "X"
Is this the sign from my guardian angel to halt this journey? |
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| Mountains! |
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| Greener plains |
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| Rocky hills |
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| Morning Sky |
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| Keychain marketing |
So there was this lady who had chains hooked with many variety of key chains. She started hanging it for display to sell. A bunch of old ladies were fellow passengers who sat beside us. Their old age vanishes the instant they saw all these different colourful key chains. They were touching and wondering how cute the key chains were. We spoke a while with the fellow ladies because the journey was never ending. It seems they all ganged up to visit a meditation centre in Chennai and returning back to their home in Tiruppur. How cool is that! Roaming across cities at this age as a girl troop. I wish in future I get that stamina and friendships.
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| Meadows! |
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| Plantain farms |
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| Mom told me a name for those yellow flowers which I forgot |
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| Asian Palmyra palm trees |
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| Railing over water |
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| Evening |
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| Coimbatore! |
After a hours of agonising travel in cramped seating we finally reach Coimbatore. There is this underground way for exit and entry at Coimbatore railway station. Me and my mom being newbies to this place we were not sure where the entry and exit is situated. Finally, we found a hoard of crowd walking downwards the platform which we mistook to be entry to some other platform instead of exit. What we did? Walked straight till the platform ended, crossed few train tracks and came out of the station. Oh well, it did conserve us some time. On our way to the exit we spot an antique rail engine display.
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| Rail engine display |
I booked an auto through a phone app. The auto guy was way more confused about the location than we were. He made us walk a bit to reach the auto. On the contrary we could have taken a bus but my mom was hesitant and the place was unfamiliar. The auto guy has no idea where the hotel that we were about to stay was located. I don't even understand why auto people that got smart phone doesn't budge a bit to look into the GPS for guidance. Finally I told him to leave us at a street that was walkable to the hotel. We took our bags and walk. The hotel was nearby to Gandhinagar Bus depot. The reception guy was really suspicious or acted like one when he saw two ladies (us) with luggage booked a hotel room online. Turns out he was not the reception guy, he's just an employee of the hotel. The reception guy went out for lunch it seems. We waited for a while, my mind anxiously processing how the precious travel time is quickly slipping by and we haven't had our lunch yet.
I started asking him about timings and distance to reach few different places from the hotel that I planned to visit on the day of arrival. He had no idea which places I was talking about. I lost the little enthusiasm that I had in me and was really tired. I think when people belong to some place they should try to be curious and informed enough to know the prominent or famous places around even if it feels like unnecessary information. There is no such thing as too much information if you are eager to learn like me. On other hand, I really wanted to sit on a bed stretch my feet to relax. It might seem like Oh, she was just tired and wanted to relax. But if you are a tall person who sat for so many hours cramped in one place. Then you surely will understand how grim I was.
Finally the reception guy arrives. He himself was more confused. After a tiny interrogation on which site I booked, where we are coming from, our legal documents scanning and scrambling for room keys under the desk and we reach our room. All this for to sit in one place and relieve whatever happening in our exhausted self. The room was compact. The hotel was literally backside to Gandhinagar bus depot and bus horns were like the norm. We quickly ordered food and were still tired that we postponed our actual touring agenda. But after a long thought process I regain the will power to not waste any minute and visit at least one place.
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| Oh the room had interesting LED lights |
Me and my mom took our bath and got ready to explore a bit of Coimbatore on foot. We started to walk towards a mall that looked like nearby but took a good half an hour to reach. The evening sun was subliming into darker hues. We still walking to reach the mall.
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| Sky and Sunset |
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| The mall |
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| Inside the mall |
We roam around the mall. There was Christmas decorations everywhere. Me and my mom ate snacks and kurta shopping. We spent so much time in the trail room than the actual roaming of the mall. Finally we end our mall expedition with ice cream out of hunger woes.
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| Ice cream |
I took an auto back to the Gandhinagar Bus depot. Because the locals said there is not direct bus that goes to the depot from the mall area. We were hungry and went to a kind of popular vegetarian restaurant at the depot. Dinner done by evening.
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Dinner
Idly, Sambhar, Molaga Podi and
3 Chutneys (Coconut - White, Tomato - orange, Coriander - Green) |
Dec 22, 2018 - Temples & spurted devotion
The next day began. We pre-booked a rented car to roam around the places of interest which are nearby to Coimbatore. Tripping with my mom is like taking care of a toddler. One has to remember everything and take care of her to avoid any tantrums. I have to always remind cue time to make sure she gets ready on time, fed with no discrepancies and pamper to all her whims and fancies. After we both were awake and ready to step outside the room, we began the day with a breakfast.
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Breakfast
Poori, Idly and sloppy dollops of chutneys |
After eating, we were waiting for the car to pick us up. I found a Neem sapling was protected with a rectangular wooden box nearby the platform we were standing.
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| Secure Neem |
As we didn't do much other than the car ride and sight seeing the temples and spiritual areas. I don't have much to write about, So here you go! Enjoy the photos galore of Day 2!
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| Random old Building |
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| Mountains! |
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Marudhamalai Murugan Temple
(Temple 1) |
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| Sunrise |
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| Misty Weather |
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| My Mom |
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| Temple Oil Lamp and Gopuram |
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| Sculpted art |
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Did you know:
The statues on the Hindu temple's Gopuram has a significance to depict ancient mythological stories |
While finishing our temple visit, a gang of old ladies were figuring out how to take a selfie along with Gopuram backdrop. I offered to take pictures of them. After the picture session, I taught them about self timer and stuff. One of them, subtly placed her palm over my head and blessed me for a prosperous life. More than the temple deity I felt the blessings from the old lady to be very nourishing to the soul.
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Dog and the Deep slumber
(You know me 80%, if you know my love for dogs ) |
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| En route to Shivan temple |
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Behold the Shivan Temple
(Temple 2) |
If by chance you visit this place don't forget to buy their Prasadam (Auspicious Temple Food). Budget friendly and yum it was! This temple also had various ancient statues of Nataraja - Hindu Deity for Dance.
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| Shivan Temple Gopuram |
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| Interesting Kolam |
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| The Dravidian Temple Architecture - Stones & wood |
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| If you look up, there are interesting paintings related to the deity |
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| Motifs on the side |
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| Random picture of the same temple |
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| I found this to be cool - Peep holes in the pillars |
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| Each pillar had a different design and art on it |
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My mom wanted to walk & explore
even after knowing it's a dead end |
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| Saying bye to the place |
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| Temple 3 - I forgot the temple name |
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| Oh, the title indicates it's the temple of Velliangiri mountain area |
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| I found this Nandi & leaf garland to be cute |
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Oh this is known as Trisulam
Found at Hindu temple that has Goddess Durga as Deity |
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| Snake gods |
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Navagraha - Literally means Nine Planets
Yes we are very inclusive of Pluto too and we worship them all alike!
Diversity in Universality |
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Old metal bells
You can spot a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu if a building outer wall
has vertical stripes of red and white painted on it |
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| Monkey |
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Supposed to be water pond but
Meh, Who knows why it is empty? |
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Kind of a Temple / Meditation Center / Retreat / Spiritual Brand
Nevermind, Location 4! |
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Dhanalinga
(It says the place is open to visit from 6 am to 8 pm ) |
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| Iconography though |
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| Snake Entrance |
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| Trees |
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| Tropical Water lily - Quite an Exotic looking Flower |
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| Some more trees! |
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| Map of the place |
And we were halted to give our phones and footwear at a counter to enter this place which was beautifully groomed architecture with a hint of paranormal vibes. So, first we visited a huge pool called Suryakund where the men bath and practise whatever taught at this place. Then, we walk over a bridge above a pond filled with Koi Fishes. There was a queue system to visit the goddess sanctum where a group were doing Bhajans. After the visit, we purchased and had delicious Payasam (Dessert made using Milk) as Prasadham. Later we roamed around a bit and ate our lunch at their canteen. After the meal, we went inside the Dhayanalinga. It was a dome shaped almost earthen place with a huge Lingam statue in the middle. People were given water in copper vessel and they walk up the stairs to pour it on the Lingam and this water drips all the way down with pitter-patter sounds that resonates to the walls of the dome which makes it surreal and pleasant to meditate in this dome.
Then, I visited Chandrakund a pool for women. My mom didn't prefer to have a dip in the pool to avoid catching cold. I was curious and went ahead to experience it. There's a ticket system to enter Chandrakund. After that, they gave a cotton bathing gown, which I took to a dress changing booth, changed my clothes and was ready to have a dip in the pool. The pool lady halted and told me a shower is mandatory for entering the pool. So, I go back to a shower booth and drench in the gushing cold water. The weather was cold, water droplets dripping from my gown, I take stealth steps down towards the pool chamber to avoid fatal injuries. I take a dip and came to a side of the pool. For some reason, I was the only one in that huge pool at that time. Calm, serene and being one among the ripples of the pool. There was a huge painting all across the roof of the pool area. I stood in the pool watching it for a while and left the place. I change back to my clothes and meet my mom who was sitting at a corner and meditating which seemed like a nap to me. Finished our visit, collected our phones and footwear. Began to walk aimlessly towards the big Shiva Statue.
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Things that scare me
(I personally think I have Dyscalculia) |
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| Entrance to Textile museum |
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| Start to end product of Textile |
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| Raw material |
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| Threads |
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| Fabric |
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History of Textile
Begins from 4000 BC |
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| Indian Chakra - Used to make Khadi Chlothes |
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| Warping Machine - Helps to arrange threads to form a piece of cloth. |
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| Spinning Wheel in a Box |
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Types of Fibre
Natural and Man-made |
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Fibre's Properties
Length, Appearance, Moisture Absorption, Heat Conduction & Strength |
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| Ginning - Removing seed and debris from cotton |
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Carding - Helps to arrange fibres in parallel rows
Combing - Fibres are straightened |
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| Synthetic Dyes |
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| Sources of Natural Dyes |
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| Bleaching - Makes clothes look White |
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| Fulling Machine - Eliminates oil, dirt, other impurities and makes wool thicker |
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| Finishing processes of Textile |
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| Wall decor & vintage textile equipment |
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| Types of weaves |
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| Revolutionary Textile inventions - Flying Shuttle, Spinning Jenny & Water frame |
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| Some more textile inventions - Spinning mule and power loom |
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| Anatomy of a handlooms |
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| Something about shedding systems |
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| Some textile equipment I forgot the name for |
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| Feels like Madame Tussauds Museum of handloom |
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Dobby loom
(Definitely not named after Harry potter character) |
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Looks fancy, forgot the name again
Go visit this to find out! |
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| Huge spinning wheel |
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Huge spinning wheel in side view
Because it was grand like that |
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| Spools of Thread |
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| Oh the huge wheel is called as Warping machine |
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This mannequin about cotton field worker looks surreal
If you have watched movie Night at the museum, you will know what I mean |
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History of cotton
Heck, Who cares about silk route? |
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Silk
Journey of cocoon to thread |
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Types of Silk
Mulberry, Tussar, Oak Tassar, Eri, Muga |
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| Apparently silk route matters |
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| How to make Silk |
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| Silk stuff - Worms, Cocoon, Thread and the finished goods |
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| Cotton stuff - Just the cotton thread from plant to Finished goods |
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| Meaning to all those quirky labels stitched with the clothes |
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| How to make Wool |
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| Wool comes from sheep's fur |
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| Jute! |
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Two types of Man-made fibres
Cellulosic Fibres & Non - Cellulosic Fibres |
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| How to make synthetic textile |
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| How Rayon and Nylon came into existence |
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| The interior design though |
Next up, The Pictures that tells us the uses of all these textiles!
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| Hometech - For home & Medtech - For medical purposes |
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| Oekotech/ Ecotech - For environmental purposes |
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| If in case you were clueless about Medtech |
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Sporttech, Geotech, Protech, Agrotech
For Sports, Geology, Protection gear, Agriculture |
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| Buildtech - For construction purposes |
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Clothtech & Packtech
For Clothing and Packaging |
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| Indutech - Technical textile for manufacturing industries |
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| Mobitech - For Transportation purposes |
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| Physical, Optical and Chemical tests for Textile |
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| Machine for Optical Test |
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A piece of textile can be inserted to test optically
But the machine was off |
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Nano Textile
Coated with Poly urethane plastic that repels water droplets
Used as waterproof fabric |
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Silver Nanoparticle Fabric
Kills bacteria & keeps the fabric odourless |
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| Nanofilters - used on medium & heavy duty diesel trucks |
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Conductive Nano Fabric!
Dress that can charge portable electronics |
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| Textile as Housing - Tents |
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| Geomat - Erosion Control Material |
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| Smart shirt |
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| How the smart shirt works |
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| Eden Project - Sustainable greenhouse architecture using textile |
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| Cushioning Mechanism in shoes |
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| Community Power bag - Absorbs sunlight and generates electricity |
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| Genetically engineered silkworms to make spider silk |
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| Saree |
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| Crafts from Textile |
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| Sample of Textile crafts |
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| Evolution of apparel design |
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To make an apparel
Pattern making, Marker making, Apparel sewing, Cutting, Pressing and Finishing |
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| Costumes of India |
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Thermochromic fabric
Changes colour when temperature changes |
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| Photovoltaic Fibre - Converts sunlight to Electricity |
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| Nanotechnology in Fabrics |
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| Touch sensitive textile |
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| The next level in textile would be... |
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| Biotechnology! |
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Biotech used as Disease resistent Cotton crop, microbes for pigments,
DNA Probes for fibre quality detection & Microbial enzymes to manage textile effluents |
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| Enzymes for textile finishing |
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| Biotech for better silk and wool production |
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| Info on Eco-friendly Fabrics |
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| Mannequin of Bharathanatyam dancer |
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This attire and jewellery of Bharathanatyam
It's a classical dance originated from Tamil Nadu |
Phew, so much stuff about textile. Well, Coimbatore is a manufacturing hub for Textiles. Later we entered another room filled with astronomy stuff which did not interest me much.
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| Bye to the hall filled with Textile info |
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| Pun Intended |
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| Astronomers used it to find zenith distance and altitude of the sun |
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Jantar Mantar is a place filled with astronomical architectural marvels
(Spoilers for next blog: I visited Jantar Mantar in Jaipur but not fascinated by it) |
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| Used to tell time |
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| So much about astronomy |
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| I feeling mundane to know about astronomy |
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| Replica of Nebra Disk |
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| Inuit moon spirit mask |
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| First World Map |
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| Psychedelic stuff |
Finally the hall of astronomical obscurities was over and we came out.
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We almost finished 50% of the place
still no visitor on sight |
We walk and took stairs to enter fun interactive science room basically for kids to learn science concepts. But I believe in the eyes of learning everyone is a kid and we gorged in all the fun science experiments to fiddle around and the bonus was no crowd, we had fun without any hurry. I didn't took many pictures as it was so interesting and one has to experience to see what we felt as a joy of learning. Highly recommended to visit if you like science experiments.
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| Lazy coins |
Dec 24, 2018 - Coimbatore to Chennai
We woke early, super tired and took a bus to the train station. This time the seating was bit different but nevertheless was cramped as it was cheap ticket. Always avoid booking 2S seating ticket for train journeys of more than 2 hours.
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| Train signage in Tamil - Coimbatore to Chennai Central |
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| Quiet morning |
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| Somewhere in Tamil Nadu |
Back to home before Christmas! A lot happened after this. I had my first solo trip! Will be telling more about it in my next blog.
