Silk Saris and Ancient Temples

On Friday we went to Kanchipuram, City of a Thousand Temples. We visited 3 of the most important ones. One temple dedicated to Vishnu, the other to the god Shiva, both made of intricately sculpted granite. There were many groups of pilgrims arriving, all men, wearing saffron or black wraps, having walked and fasted for 30 days. The final temple is now a historical monument, made of sandstone which is more porous and has deteriorated and so is no longer used for worship. All of these temples are dating back more than 12 centuries.

Kanchipuram is also the wedding dress capital of India. There are many weavers in town and they are reknown for their hand-woven silks and saris. Wedding saris often have intricate patterns of medallions, birds, or flowers woven into them with 22K gold thread. There were bride groups at every silk shop. Weddings are truly a family affair and the bride, all the women in her family, and her friends are involved in the choosing of the wedding sari. My highlight was being dressed up in a beautiful blue and pink sari. Felt really elegant. The fabric is 18 feet long and over 3 feet wide. A real art to rolling it and folding it to have it drape just perfectly—and not fall off (no fasteners of any kind used).

Before dinner at a beach side restaurant, we swam a lap in the 2nd longest pool in Asia, 660 feet long.Read more