On the Fly

We've been making things up as we go, deciding our next destination only a couple of days ahead of time. The freedom is glorious! Since I don't really have much time or a laptop to organize my thoughts beforehand, the below post might be a bit of verbal vomit so be forwarned.
After 3 days of incredible Kochi humidity we retreated to the hills along with what seemed like the entire middle class of southern India. Munnar, an old British hill station, ranks amongst one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I've ever been. Lush, green tea plantations carpet the valley and surrounding mountains, and the cool air was a relief. At 5 in the morning our 2nd day there we awoke to conquer one of the surrounding mountains on a guided trek. The sun rose as we climbed. The fog in the valley below slowly dissipated, moving smoothly over ridges like a waterfall. I wish I could post pictures.
Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The main attraction here is the Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar Temple, the most ostentatious version of Tamil's unique style of temple architecture, called gopuras. The temple itself is made up of a tangled maze of shrines, towers, sculptures, and colonnades and the complex is always overflowing with religious activities and fervor, disorienting to the untrained eye. Yesterday evening we visited the temple and witnessed men lay down flat on the floor in front of a shrine, arms above their heads and hands clasped in a prayer. Women layed tiny newborn infants in the floor in front of a statue of Nandi, Shiv's bull-vehicle. Four men carried a small statue of Meenakshi on a dais, following a seemingly illogical route around the complex.
This morning we found out that we had arrived in the midst of a huge festival held only once a year, celebrating the wedding of Meenakshi (a form of Parvati) to Sundareshwarar (a form of Shiv). The wedding ceremony was to take place this morning. We wandered around for a while like lost puppies trying to figure out if non-Hindu's were even allowed in, being told over and over again by strangers that we were lucky to be here on this day. After 20 minutes or so of confusion we found ourselves packed into a queue with mostly Indian women, the smell of jasmine in their hair almost making us faint, clutching a pass that somehow worked wonders when we showed it to the police standing guard. Getting in was a little nerve-racking as we recalled past stories of people being trampled to death in India; for anyone that has experienced waiting in lines with pushy Indians, you know what I mean. Once inside we found what turned out to be 70,000 people sitting peacefully on the floor. Jumbotrons were set up so that people in the back could witness the complex ceremonies taking place on the stage. It was like we were at a music concert or a political rally! After this, I look forward to a Rs. 30 meal of rice and various curries I can't keep straight, served on a banana leaf.