Valluvar Kottam

 I thought the Valluvar Kottam stone cart that I mentioned in the previous post, deserved a few more pictures. 

Thiruvalluvar mentioned in the plaque above wrote the Tamil Vedas which is an important ancient text in Southern India.  It is written in rhyme.  Here's a brief excerpt from Wikipedia:

It was authored by Thiruvalluvar, a poet who is said to have lived anytime between the 2nd and 6th centuries AD.  The Thirukkural expounds on various aspects of life and is one of the most important works in the Tamil language.

Thirukkural (or the Kural) is a collection of 1330 Tamil couplets organised into 133 chapters. Each chapter has a specific subject ranging from "ploughing a piece of land" to "ruling a country".

Here's Char in front of the oncoming elephants pulling the cart for a sense of proportion.

Valluvar Kottam craft fair

There are several craft fairs throughout the year in Chennai.  One of the largest is held at Valluvar Kottam which is a large covered auditorium.  Just outside the hall is an immense stone car, carved from granite.  Take a close look at the life sized elephants that are pulling the car to get an idea of just how large this monument is.

The fair is sponsored by an organization that promotes traditional crafts, and has merchants and artisans from all over India.  This West Bengal booth that was selling handmade custom jute bags was very popular with the ladies.  I like to think that is partially due to the nation-wide ban on plastic bags the government is trying to implement, encouraging people to bring their own bags to the markets. 

Flowers, mostly fresh, are seen everywhere you turn in India, from the flower girls who weave Jasmine for women's hair, to arrangements like this man was selling.

Other artisans had unique ceramics.

These wooden representations of the gods are also very common.  The detail in these intricate carvings is quite amazing.

Shadow puppets, like this Peacock, are made from leather.  During a performance they are held up to a translucent screen and manipulated with sticks.  A backlight shines through the thin leather, so the audience sees the colored shadow on the screen.

Some of the other crafts for sale were hand-made jute shoes, a large assortment of handmade jewelry, cloth and clothes, wooden toys and much more.

I know how this group of women felt after wandering through the stalls for several hours.