Saint Thomas and the Fishes

We got up this morning and decided to see the city. So after breakfast we went to the travel desk and arranged for one of the packaged tours. Our driver turned out to be the one who had picked us up in the airport, a jovial sort named Namril.
He started the tour by confiding that he was a Christian and asked if we were, too. Sure, we're Christians, why do you ask? Ah, because Chennai boasts several unique Christian elements and here we go with those items now. Chennai is the location of the martrydom of St Thomas, who came to India in 52AD. We saw a number of relics involved related to this, including the spear that killed him and a cross that bleeds his blood. Mmm hmm.
So, the first stop is a church on the hill where Thomas had his missionary in life. It's on a hill near the hotel that boasts a commanding view of the surrounding country. Getting there we drove through some poor areas and at one point had to get out of the car to shoo some lazy goats out of the road. The church itself was very small inside, barely more than the size of a large conference room. And plain. You could picture a poor, roaming priest setting up shop there. Now, the outside of the church was a different story with a gold Jesus crucifix, and creepy life size statues of Pope John Paul and Mother Theresa. Halfway down the hill there was also a giant Jesus sculpture of him praying under a tree. It reminded me of Buddah a bit, the way he was being shaded. Oh, and the story is when the martyred him they speared him in the back of the head as he prayed, he got some blood on the cross he was praying in front of and later they found that the cross weeped his blood so they have an annual dealie about that. We also saw a bit of his skull fragment later, but that's a different church.

Ok, so. Next it's off to a snake park. We weren't very excited about that, but we put ourselves in our guide's hands and went. It was pretty shabby and small. You couldnt see most of the snakes and they were just in these very basic terrariums. There were some crocs there, too and they were more interesting because you could see them, but in the heat they just sat there looking so much like statues.
Deeper into the city we go; next to a historic temple where we hooked up with a creepy temple guide. He had rotten teeth and lightning bolts shaved into his head. This would have been fine if he didn't browbeat us for bigger and bigger donations for the temple and his "services" which mostly consisted of asking us where we were from and gesturing to the temple. We couldn't go in so it was a quick stop. The wrinkle here is that the temple overlooked a large, fenced in pool of algae-green water. In the center was a small island with another temple where they keep some ceremonial lamp lit. The pool is populated with thousands of catfish that swarm like sharks in a feeding frenzy whenever anyone tosses any food in the water.
From there we saw the Basillica of St Thomas. This is a Western-style church which has the distinction of being one of only three churches built on the tomb of an apostle. Being Sunday, church was in session. Our guide ushered us in and encouraged us to take photos in the middle of the ceremony. This seemed bad to us, but I took a few quick snaps anyway. Then we went down below and saw the actual tomb, where another mass was in session. Again, we marched down the center aisle with our guide, watched the service for a bit and sauntered out. No pictures this time, not allowed. Of course there was a St Thomas museum too, where we saw the skull fragment and the spear that killed the doubting apostle.
Next was the highlight of the tour for me: the fish market. Chennai is in the beach and the local catch is sold in a shanty-style market by the wives of the fishermen. This was down and dirty India. The sounds and smells of the market were intense. To Western sensibility, the hygiene level was a concern as the sun was warming up the day pretty well and there was no refrigeration anywhere. The flies were everywhere.
It was also interesting to see the makeshift houses the fishermen and their families lived in on the opposite side of the street. The area was hit by the tsunami and you could see areas that were just wiped out. The people just did what the could and kept on. Their boats were the large, open affairs that you see everywhere in local fishermen. But you got the whole thing; they live here, they fish there from those boats, and relax under that tent while the wives sell the fish on turned-over boxes there.
At this point the blog gets boring I'm afraid: we went back to the hotel, sat by the pool, counted our blessings ate a tasty buffet and slept most of the afternoon.