Just the steeple

The grandeur of it

The Basilica

The main entrance into the sanctuary.

Grotto at the entrance

Standing right inside the entrance gate is this beautiful welcome.

Welcome to St. Thomas Basilica

St. Thomas Basilica

We actually went to the Basilica first, before I knew how significant St. Thomas was to India. After finding out more about St. Thomas, I asked Christopher to take me back before I left. This basilica is one of only three in the world to be built on apostles' tombs. It is open to visitors and pilgrims, with Mass being held at specific times of day. The book store and visitors center is quite large, and Michael and I spent a long time and some money there.

Another place to pray

Midway down the hill was this display. It appeared to be plastic and very big!

School wall

The wall was surrounding the school, not part of the school. I thought this was very appropriate for a school.

Prayer Park

We passed this prayer park on the way up to the top of the hill, and I thought it was lovely, so I had Christopher stop so I could take a picture on the way down.

Sunset over Chennai

The sun was setting as we were leaving. It was beautiful, inspirational, and made my eyes tear up. It could almost be appropriate to use "awesome"!

Mother Teresa

Cross sculpture

Preparing the ground

They were preparing for Mass. Women were preparing the ground, and the eucharist was brought out. Singing (in Tamil) had started before we left, but the Mass hadn't obviously started, although it may have, and I didn't know.

The church

At the entrance to the church, there was a sign that read, "You are entering holy ground. Please take off your shoes." notated by the scripture in Exodus where God told Moses to take off his shoes. There was a pile of shoes by the door. Inside the church, by the altar, there was a picture supposedly painted by St. Luke, if I remember correctly. It was all so ancient!

Interesting signs

Moving on with St. Thomas

The next pictures are from the place where St. Thomas was martyred. It is on the top of a hill overlooking Chennai. Again, a feeling of being at a very holy place came over me.

Inside the church at the hiding place

Michael took pictures of Christopher and I inside the church. I love how beautiful and ornate it is.

Grotto

Jesus teaching

Sign fun

Michael saw Christopher standing by this sign, and thought it would make a good picture....My Lord and My Christopher. I liked how the sign was in Tamil and English.

Beautiful!

Hiding Place landscape

In the area surrounding the hiding place and the church, there were many "exhibits", for lack of a better word. They were similar to the Stations of the Cross, but not exactly. Many were scenes of the Passion, though. This is right in Chennai, which can be seen in the background.

The Hiding Place

To get to the cave where St. Thomas hid, we went into a small opening, then down some very tight, worn stone steps. At the bottom was the cave. The stone with the cross carved in it was said to have bled. The nuns came every day to wipe it. I am not clear on when it stopped bleeding, but it wasn't bleeding when I was there. In the same cave, there is a spring that St. Thomas found coming out of pure rock when he was about to die from thirst. People bring their water bottles to be filled from it. Had I know, I would have brought one of mine.

St. Thomas in India

I did not know St. Thomas had such a mission in India. There was Christianity in India long before anywhere Western. We did not go to these places in order, but I am going to put them that way here, just make the story flow. All three of them, the Hiding Place, where he was martyred, and the Basilica are in Chennai. I have always loved Doubting Thomas. He gives me consolation when my doubts are great. To be here, I truly felt I was on Holy Ground.

More wedding pictures

I think I've got it this time! The groom is in the last picture. The pink building in the background of the first picture is where Michael and I were staying.



Or not!!!! The writing isn't quite where I want it. Bummer!






This is my last try. I have been at this far too long. However this turns out is what it will be!

Since I didn't have the card reader with me when I wrote about the wedding while I was in Jaipur, I will add some of the pictures now. These pictures are in reverse order. I saw the bottom first and the top one in the middle. I will add more and try to get them in the order that I want them.

My favorite picture

I saw these women working in the field as we were walking up the road to Ramesh's house outside of Ooty. They looked so beautiful, dressed in their saris and working with wooden tools. I felt a bit rude and very touristy taking pictures, so I tried to be discreet. They saw me anyway and asked Ramesh to have me take their picture. They stood and posed for me. I felt honored and happy. It makes me smile still to look at this picture.

Fish market

The fish market was only open at night. The boats went out every morning, and the women worked the market every night. Michael was surprised when I told him I took pictures. He didn't think I could stand the smell long enough to take a picture! Actually, it smelled worse in the heat of the day. All that was there in the daytime were some fish remains and dogs hanging around. Night on the beach was fascinating. It seemed a bit like a carnival. Kids had glow sticks, rides were set up, lots of booths and lights. Too bad it was too dark for pictures.

Still remembering things

I don't know if I will ever really be done with this Great Adventure!

The Trip Home

For my trip home, I chose my peacock saree. Aunty helped me put it on. She put the flowers in my hair, too. Christopher drove us to the airport in his auto. Michael walked me up to door, then I was on my own! I went to the counter, and missed the line where they security check baggage, but a very nice man went back with me, helped me do it, and carried the suitcases back to the counter. The next step was the personal security check. It is way easier in India than in the United States. We even got to keep our shoes on, although since taking off the bangles was too much work I let her do a simplified pat-down! The women at any security checkpoint have their own line with a more private area for the wand exam. I stepped in, and the lady there asked me if I was married to an Indian. I said no, and she told me that I wore the clothes very well. I was so excited by that, I felt like my smile was too big! Those of us on certain domestic flights had to wait for a bus to take us out to the plane. While I was sitting there, the lady behind me leaned up to tell me that she could smell my flowers, and we had a conversation. The flowers are jasmine, and do smell really good. We were talking, and the man next to me looked over. "I thought you were Indian." he said to me, and joined the conversation. When I got to Delhi, the same thing happened. People told me I wore the clothes well and thought I either was Indian or married to an Indian. Once on the plane, a lady three rows up that only spoke Hindi tried to talk to me. The flight home was full. The man sitting next to me was very friendly. We talked quite a bit. He told me purple was a royal color and the peacock was an honored bird in India. He was impressed with not only how I wore the saree, but with the material I picked. Actually, I just loved it. I had no idea of the significance, but now that I know, I like it even more. He asked me where all I had been, and was sorry for me not getting to Kashmir. He has a bungalow there, and very sincerely invited me to stay there the next time I was in India. He gave me his address! He was going to West Virginia for his son's graduation. I really wanted the complete look for John when I got off the plane in Detroit, but as we neared Chicago, the flight attendant told me to leave the flowers on the plane, because customs may slap on a big fine. I kind of expected them to take them, being agricultural and all, but I was planning on giving it a shot. I still thought about it, but then decided they were turning brown and it wasn't worth risking a fine, so I took them out. I am considering buying a jasmine plant now, though. Sad as I was to leave India, it was so wonderful to see John at the airport! This may be my last post, so I switched my color to purple just for fun. I may remember more things to write about, or just continue to blog my life, but really this is probably it. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing. Thanks for sharing my Great Adventure!

My Last Meal

Christopher's wife came to Michael's apartment to cook dinner for us on my last day in India. I was so sad to leave! Michael lives in Indian luxury, having an apartment all to himself. He has two rooms and a bathroom. Normally, his apartment would have at least 5 or 6 people living in it. Aunty is cooking on the floor in the room where I slept. The orange and green behind her is the bed. The red propane tank is the stove. Indian cooking, at least in my limited experience, has quite a bit of prep work. The actual cooking is fairly fast. She sat like that working for at least an hour, maybe two. I'm not sure what she made, but it was some of the best food I had.

Temple elephant

As we were walking through Pondicherry, we came upon an elephant in front of a temple. I am intrigued by the elephants, especially when they are decorated. Michael said, "Oh look! A temple elephant! I haven't seen one of those for awhile." We walked over, and I was watching it instead of Michael. Michael came to me with a handful of grass and said to feed it to the elephant then bend down. I did, and got blessed by an elephant! When we got there, we were the only people there. As we stood there, a crowd gathered, feeding and getting blessed. There was a hut selling grass. The elephant would also take coins and flip them back to the person sitting behind it. There was a sign that said "No bananas", but I saw people feed them, and although it took awhile, the elephant would eat them. I especially liked when the baby got blessed. The elephant was not tethered, although it looked like it may have been. It had ankle bracelet jingle bells on its front legs, but the back looked scarred. They may have been on purpose, though, like a tattoo. I don't really know. I just know that at the time I was there, it just stood were it belonged and gave blessings.

Sunrise over the Bay of Bengal

These pictures may be in reverse order, depending on if they are looked at first, or the text is read first. The sun is coming up, so start at the bottom and look up. I got up at 5:00 a.m. and went out on the balcony of our room at the ashram. I had been planning on doing this at the Chennai beach my last day, but this was far more beautiful...no offense to Chennai! It was so beautiful. I could hear the waves beating on the rocks. There was a bit of a breeze. As it got lighter, people came out one by one to walk or do yoga. If you look closely, there are fishing boats in some of the pictures. In the very top picture, it is possible to see the boat quite well. I had seen the sun sink into Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico, but I don't remember watching it rise out of water. I know I have been to the Tip of the Thumb more than once, but don't remember getting up for the sunrise. It was so comfortable, I would nod a bit, then remember I was watching the sunrise and open my eyes again. It was a very nice hour and a half.