Stop 5 and 6: Lunch, and a Seeval factory visit

Kumbakonam Trip: Stop 5: Lunch!:
Well, that was certainly something. After the Patashala, we drove to the Darasuram area, and sat down for lunch at the Paradise resort.
Of course, everyone went to the bathroom first, but once they had had a good discussion with nature, it was time for food.
Priya Thyagarajan called all the non-vegetarians to one side, but strangely hardly 10 people opted for non-veg. Those poor vegetarians missed out on something!
The serving-boys were all completely clued out on what they were serving, and when asked what a dish was, asked each other, until someone ran into the kitchen, or if Pradeep Chakravarthyep happened to be around, got an earful, and sent into the kitchen!
I didn't notice the veg items that much, they were decent. But what really caught my attention was the crab, and Kaadai(pheasant). A whole crab AND a full pheasant was put for all the non-vegetarians, and though the crab was super spicy, it was delicious!
We finished lunch with vanilla ice cream, and then sat around for a whle in food comas.
Pradeep and Priya now had a dilemma on their hands; go to Darasuram, hardly 1km away;go to someone's house in the middle of the city, and finish with Darasuram; or go to a seeval factory(this last option I was not so keen on, but having never seen Seeval before, decided to experience it. ) and then continue with option 2.
The verdict was Seeval. then coffee at the house, and finally Darasuram.

Stop 6: Seeval factory: Not much to say here, so I might as well link these two.
We were greeted by a two story structure, which called itself a 'factory'. I was very surprised. What kind of factory was this? But as we entered, I comprehended.
Right by the door is a basement structure, with the Seeval grinding machine, in a dank dark room. A line of clothes have been hung by the back, and there are bags of Seeval everywhere.
The man who worked the machine demonstrated it for us.
Seeval is pumped into the side, and comes spilling out onto our feet, as finely carved shavings. Before this, it is soaked for a week.
After shaving, it is left to dry for three days, and then sorted. We saw that too. Rows of women sat inside the house, packing the Seeval, which has been sorted into fine, and coarse.
Seeval is an essential part of paakku, an essential part of the Kumbakonam middle aged man. He will have a box of paaku or seeval on his oonjal, and a bit of Paaku tucked into the corner of his mouth, and his lips will always be stained be stained a bright red. We will encounter a few over the next few posts, but they may not feature prominently. Maybe a background appearance.
According to Pradeep Chakravarthy, Devadasi's had to know multiple ways of folding vethilai, as part of their training.




Sorted Seeval ready to be packed.


The sorting room

Stop 5: Thiruvudaimaruthur

A long name to chew on. But we had plenty of time, having to cut across the length of Kumbakonam(already a small town).
For the reader, let me break it down. Thiru(a title assigned to almost all temples) Vudai-Maru-Thur.(Pronunciation:Theeru Veedey Maroo Dhoor).
This is an ancient Chola temple built on 107 acres. Magnificent, right? Wrong! The authorities have had a field day removing all the inscriptions and some pillars, replacing them with modern...stuff from the 70's, when renovations took place.
Right now, the only reason we were going there was to see a lamp, burning out of Marathi love.

The Bhonsles were in Thanjavur, having ousted the Tanjavur Nayaks. Amar Singh, or Amarasimha, uncle to Serfoji II, will feature, but for now, we will settle for his son, Pratapasimha. Pratapasimha was to be married, engaged to a cousin. But soon before his wedding, he died of an illness. His fiancee then decided that even though they were not yet married, she would take on the duties of a widow. So she comissioned a 1000 lamps, to burn in perpetuity, in the temple which they patronised.
999 were made in a divine form. The 1000th lamp was made in her own form, to show her devotion to her God and to her husband to be. This is the only lamp left burning.

So said Pradeep Chakravarthy, in the van.



But this lamp's oil had gone cold, figuratively speaking. As we entered the temple, we noticed the grandeur of the place, but we were all busy following Pradeep. We were in three batches. The batch right ahead, even ahead of Pradeep, rushed on through, oblivious to everything, following his directions.Through a series of corridors, lined with an array of many eras of pillars, and modern paintings on the walls, Finally we reached a pair of wooden doors. But what is this! They were being shut! We ran forward, and squeezed our way through, I being in the middle group, with Pradeep, as the temple authority tried to push us back, shouting rudely. A few of us made it. The majority did not. Priya ran back, and coaxed and cajoled him to open it, but he insisted we had overshot the time. It was 12:05. The temple was apparently closed by 12. He told those of us who had gotten in, to take a side route and exit the temple premises.
Luckily that rushing, forward group had got to have a quick look at the deity before the last set of doors were closed to them and they were chased out.
We glumly walked by the side of the temple, leaving the premises.
Luckily, the next item on the agenda was a palace, with no opening or closing time - the palace of Amarasimha Bhonsle! 

After our almost fruitless visit to the grand temple, we were in Thiruvudaimaruthur , and passing some old structures on the road. Balaji Thatha, who was sitting at the opposite window pointed out a building with intricate window lintels, with weeds spilling out of them. He said that he had been impressed by the structure. Simultaneously he asked Pradeep if we would be stopping there. Apparently that was the palace!

In 1792, the regent of Serfoji/Saraboji II, Amarasimha, declared himself Raja of Thanjavur. But in order to do this, he had to prove that Serfoji's adoption by his father, Thuljaji,(he was not the biological son of Amarasimha's half brother) was reason enough to prove that he was the true regent. Unfortunately, some of Serfoji's father's Ranis, including a very powerful one contested that, and with the help of a Christian missionary Schwartz who had happened to be a friend of theirs, (and who hoped to spread Christianity in the tiny state of Tanjore through this) they battled out Amarasimha's contention in court.
So that he could be the legitimate ruler, Amarasimha also locked up Serfoji in a small room, and starved him, in the hope that he would die.   The Governor  used this against him.
Amarasimha tried to bribe some priests, and present his case in Bengal, but the Governor General, Welleselly, the brother of the famous Duke of Wellington, had some Bengali pundits look into the matter, and they said that according to Hindu custom, an adopted son had equal claim to the throne as a biological one.
That more or less ended Amarasimha's suit, and in 1798, he was forced off the throne of Thanjavur, but Serfoji, feeling some pity, let his uncle rule as a regent in Thiruvidaimaruthur, with a court, which became a centre of art and learning, some poetry and music being composed here.
Now the palace lies in pieces. One section, the entrance, has been bought to be restored, and was where we entered from. The large portion abutting the road has been let out to shops, and the part of it that faces inward is not visited for fear of snakes. The centre has been demolished.
The temple: Thiruvudaimaruthur Mahalingaswami temple

After some time here, speaking to the caretakers and looking around, we headed off to a very late lunch in a village lefted from the 19th century which was to be our final stop: Sengalipuram!

The entrance to the temple

Just inside the temple

The wall

Thiruvudaimaruthur palace

Palace windows from the road

Richly decorated windows

The palace

From the entrance

Inside the temple

A pano of the area enclosed within the walls of the palace, taken on the steps that lead to the terrace. The man in the dhoti, pointing, is the caretaker.