The Health Gods of the South

When we decided to take the road trip, our personal health was one of the biggest considerations. Both of us had difficult experiences with our health in our past few years especially while living in the Delhi metropolis.  We tried our best to start our journey with relatively healthier versions of ourselves and also vowed a lot of health commitments to ourselves as well to each other. 

We tried our best to stick to the health routines during the trip. However some of the cities that we passed through were known for such intense health gods that it was no wonder that we came out of the trip in pink of our healths.

We travelled to a small coastal church town of Velankanni, on the Coromandel coast (Coromandel is the Portuguese version of Cholamandalam i.e. realm of the Cholas), in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. Velankanni is one of the biggest centers of Catholic pilgrimages in India. However the pilgrims are from multiple faiths, religions and nationalities and not only Catholics. The town houses the 16th century Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, which is revered as the goddess that can cure the severest of the diseases.  People who get cured, gift metallic (steel, silver and gold) replicas of the cured body parts. We went through a gallery that has the collection of hundreds of such gifts and letters thanking the deity. The annual festival is between 29 August to 8th September and we visited a few weeks before and hence the place was starting to wear a festive look.

Trichy, which was our next destination after Thanjavur, has one of the oldest and biggest living temple complexes in the world after Angkor Wat. Located in Srirangam along the Cauvery river, this temple complex is spread over almost 160 acres with a perimeter of 4 kms, the temple makes for a stunning site when viewed from atop the Rockfort temple in the Trichy. The main entrance or Rajagopuram is rises up to an astounding 72 meters, 6 meters higher than Brihadeeswera temple’s vimana. This temple complex has a separate temple for God Dhanvantary, who is the deity of medicine and health and revered as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Dhanvantary temples are spread across India but this is one of the biggest and most important temples. Here also we were told of a belief that people pray for good health and offer replicas (probably wooden) of body parts that need to be cured.

Yet another temple was Mariamman Temple in Trichy in the nearby Samayapuram. Devotees believe that the Goddess has great healing powers and here also people buy metallic replicas of various body parts that need to be cured. Mariamman is also similar to the Shitla devi, a deity worshipped in northern India for her healing powers over small pox and other epidemics.

A bit north in Andhra in the city of Nellore, we found yet another religious center, and this time a dargah, though healing ailments is one of the powers it is believed to have. The Bara Shahid Dargah is known for the celebration of the Rottela Panduga or Rottiyan ki Eid. People exchange Rotis during this festival and the belief is that their wishes will come true if they visit Dargah during the festival. Devotees make different wishes related to education, health, business, marriage alliances and so on.

People whose wishes have been fulfilled leave a roti in Swarnala Cheruvu (Nellore Tank) and the ones making a wish take these rotis. Health roti, Job roti, house roti, marriage roti and few others are the most sought after rotis.

While traveling through most of these places, we felt what it might feel to be in a secular environment. The colour and shape of clothes and caps didn’t turn people hostile to each other and the beliefs of one didn’t conflict with the others. These beliefs are common minimum beliefs of these people irrespective of their religion and they know that there is no harm in adhering to them as they might only gain something (good health) and not lose at all. In the world we live in, this common minimum has been constantly eroding and there is a forced belief of a common maximum where one wants the other to believe and follow everything they believe and follow. We kept driving with yet another hope that the all of us keep experiencing the Gods through the people He created instead of the Gods people created. 

The Geographical Stamps of Excellence

As our fifth wheel steered our four wheels towards Tamil Nadu while we hopped between various cities in this state, we kept experiencing the vintage of the skill and culture of the people from this incredible state. One of the themes that had kept recurring on our travel so far was the GI or the Geographical Indication. As per Article 22.1 of the TRIPS agreement, Geographical Indication refers to “..indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin." After encountering the attempts that Kolhapur made for a GI mark for its Tambra Rassa, we realized that Tamil Nadu is abundant with GIs. It has secured one of the maximum numbers of GIs marks (both registered and pending) for its natural products and crafts.

We entered Tamil Nadu through Salem, known for its fabrics ranging from exquisite silks to the famous dhotis with red or green borders that resemble the eyes of the peacock (not the real ones but the eyespots on its beautiful feathers tail). In fact the area around Salem and Erode is known for its various handloom products. While we were in Salem, the government announced the Prime Minister announced the creation of a special Salem handloom mark on a visit to Chennai.  A family in the old town of Salem hosted us and while talking to them we realized that they supply handloom material to my hometown Rishikesh-some 2,500 kilometers away and it is transported every week!! The amount of turnover in the markets in Rishikesh and that of these handloom suppliers was unimaginable for us.

We then passed through Madurai that has two GI tags: one for Madurai Sungudi - a traditional saree textile; and the other one for Madurai Malli - the ever fragrant jasmine flower. It is not uncommon to see the two together if you are in Madurai, and they make a striking combination.

The GIs of Thanjavur

And then we reached Thanjavur, another great city that lives on with its abundantly rich traditions and culture while also embracing all that has come its way. Thanjavur and its surrounding towns had the most amount  of GIs under its name compared to any other city we had been to yet. Thanjavur is well known for Thanjavur paintings (or Tanjore paintings). It is a classical Indian painting style that flourished here during the 17th century under the rule of Nayakas which were ruling under the Rayas of Vijayanagara empire. These are painted on cloth/canvas with themes of gods, mythology, saints and others. Earlier they were painted using vegetable colours but now a lot of artists use poster colours.

Thanjavur or Tanjore Dolls (or Thalaiyatti Bommai i.e. headshaking dolls) are also under GI mark. These are bobblehead toys with an oscillating head and the dolls looks like as if they are dancing. It is completely handmade and materials used could be terracotta, papermache, wood, plaster of paris and sago among others.

Thanjavur art plate is yet another unique product from Thanjavur safeguarded under GI. Silver, brass, and copper are overlaid on each other, creating the contrast of white silver over reddish copper background. The base of the plate is made of brass with copper and silver encrusted on top using an elaborate manual process. Both the metal plate and the dolls were encouraged as craft forms by the last ruler of the Bhonsle dynasty ruling over the then Maratha principality of Tanjore.

Thanjavur Veenai

Another unique product that owes its origin to Thanjavur is the Thanjavur Veenai. The Veenai is one of the latest entrants in the club of GI - the first musical instrument to be accorded a GI tag. And though I couldn’t verify it from any government source, it is also referred to as the national musical instrument of India.

We had a chance to meet one of the approximate 10 families that remain in the musical and noble profession of making the Thanjavur Veenai. The person we met lived in a modest house and worked in a 8 by 8 feet workshop. However what he created was something so beautiful to behold and listen that its music can fill all the empty spaces, in the physical realm as well in your hearts. His workshop had no fan and had an asbestos roof. Still to finish the order of a Veena, on some days he would work for 20 hours in a day. He is not averse to working so hard but the demand for Veena has been declining steeply, weaning him away from this hard work he loves.

He explained that there are various types of Veenai but all of them are made from the jackfruit tree wood. There is a place about 200 kms from Thanjavur where these trees are grown and for every tree cut, two are planted. Other than that, the tree can be found in the nearby villages. Earlier, there used to be a lot of jackfruit orchards but very few remain now. Also, the tree that can be used for the Veena has to be about 40 years old. This 40-year-old tree transforms into a Veena that will be about 4.5 ft long with a diameter of 18.5 inches and depth of 12 inches. This Veena can be made from one single piece of wood i.e. just one tree (ekantha veena) but a lot of them are made by a combining more than two wooden pieces as well. We saw both the kinds and with the finishing, only a professional can tell the difference between the two. The tools used are manual and even the intricate carvings on the sides are done by hand.

He told us that there are only about 10 families living in the area who make Veena and most of them are interrelated. He had two daughters and both of them were engineers. He lamented the fact he didn’t have any son and there aren’t any takers of the knowledge he has acquired over the past many generations. He told us that young people come to learn the skill working on the wood but ultimately start working with carpenters as they make much more money on daily wages.

We were able to spend a few memorable days in this amazing city of trademark goods. The dolls, paintings, plates, veenai as well as the bronze idols from nearby Swamimalai greet you everywhere. The stamp that city leaves on you, is not just of its historic places but also of the excellent inter-generational workmanship its people have.  We left the city with a resolve to come again and hoping that it will keep ageing out of habit instead of ungrateful children. Till then, Brihadeshwara temple will continue to live with the ambiguous myth (or reality) that its vimana doesn’t cast shadow outside its perimeter and also with the fact that shadows falling on its perimeter will keep increasing.