The sweetness of Southern India circuit (Day 10 morning cont.) - Senhora da Expectação Church, Chennai - The 20th of February 2015

We drove up to St. Thomas Mount, in order to visit a Church which is known for bearing its name, though inside the small church the letters above the altar read in Portuguese - Senhora da Expectação (Our Lady of Expectation). It was built by the Portuguese in 1523 where St. Thomas is said to have died in 72 AD, thus the historical significance it still holds. Believers thronging to this little sacred church are strongly convinced miracles do occur for those who genuinely offer their prayers.


We had to walk up a lot of steps to reach the churchyard where the rather small church was located. At its entrance a young girl dressed up in typical India clothes looked us in the eye in an almost irresistable way.


Inside and outside the church every little detail led me to feel it was more of a pilgrimage sort of place, which I found to be exactly what it is. Interestingly enough, in the past (16th and 17th centuries) it is said to have served as the lighthouse for Portuguese and Armenian ships and vessels in the Bay of Bengal.

 

 

 

The sweetness of Southern India circuit (Day 10 morning) - Images and first impressions ..., Chennai - The 20th of February 2015

We left Kanchipuram and the resort behind on what would be our last drive in India, a 65 kilometre distance to Chennai where we would fly back to France from, after paying a brief visit to some of the most important places.

 

We had a group photo taken (guide and driver included), just outside the resort entrance garden to capture the faces of all who made such a trip an interesting one. We weren't many, which in itself was already an advantage and  to add to it we got along very well with each other. The fact that I was the only one on my own, so to say, didn't interfere with the overall "couple" group atmosphere and in no way felt the odd one out, on the contrary.

 

As we got closer to Chennai I started taking quite a few photos from inside the bus ... mostly photos of women, for the simple reason that they were the ones who, apart from some buildings and market scenes brought out the colourful soul of the city with their flamboyant  colour sarees.

 

The city looked  and sounded like a bustling "market" with people and traffic moving about in every direction. To actually drive across the heart of the city took us as much time as it had taken us from Kanchipuram to its outskirts.