It is good to see our towns shut down one day of the week. People who work here need rest and leisure and the town wears a quiet, unhurried look.
Mayiladuthurai looked this this Sunday as we stepped out to explore this legendary town where the Lord Mayuranathar Temple was hosting a Natyanjali.
We stopped to look at some antique lamps, went around a church and a kuttai that held some water and were drawn at a colony that sported many large, tiled houses.
We were in Kooranadu. A land within a land, with loads of history.
The place where the Salai/ Salaian Chettiyar community who fled from Kanchipuram settled down after a Chola king appreciated their weaving skills and gave them a royal order. From here runs the great koora / koorai style of weaving, saris now made popular by Co-optex and private players.
We explored a sprawling Chettiyar mansion that is crumbling down while its stunningly carved wood pillars stand tall; met a Chettiyar who employs 400 people to craft wood and metal for temple-designed works of craft, checked out a new little hotel carved out of a bungalow and imagined the tributary of the Cauvery that once ran through this area.
Natyanjali pilgrims, the dancers and their friends often end up performing, praying and dashing off.
Here is an opportunity for the Natyanjali circuit to be fleshed out so that artistes explore local heritage.
