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Mangalam VillageLet me take you to Mangulam, a village I visited last year in the evening, always

rmembering it as a most beautiful place. Getting up at 4 o'clock to drive by 12km, no delay, making sure to be there before

sunrise . The sun was still behind the Ovalam Hill on the horizon at 6:11. The village is rather unique, being that one half is built on an immense rock. On top of

this bare round shaped rock there is also a small Hindu Temple.

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A paradise for pastel paintersMadurai - Mangalam - Paraimadayanpatti

Morning 6:30 at Paraimadayanpatti, a hamlet of Mangulam. Give a me canvas and some brushes, I never would have been able to

translate to pastel this rural view as quick as my camera did :)). 

(A personal reflection: no I'm not a painter but very sensitive to colours like music in the air.) 

What you see here is the lake behind the village. The water is used as drinking water by people and animals, a lot more tasty then the chloride

of the governmental tap water. It was still very early, the village was slowly awakening. 

I hope you'll enjoy this early morning view of the countryside as much I did, heaven on earth ...

(the photographer is talking about the picture on slide 1 -Trinity)

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Paraimadayanpatti early morning at 06:35, the sun rising from behind Ovamalai, an archeolagic place with caves of

the Jain dating from 2nd century. 

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Paraimadayanpatti is a hamlet of Mangalam. Parai means stone hill and madayan means bald, so the people here are living on this bald hill; the Hindu

God is also called Paraimadayan, God of the bald hill. On the horizon you see the hills of Alagar Kovil. 

On the right you see the house where a young man was murdered a year later ... 

Every paradise has its snake !

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Good Mearning Mangalam!Totally wet from the early morning mist, biking up to Mangalam, 

16 km from Madurai through the night to arrive here before the sun came up ... 

mother already getting some water cause the children have to wash and eat before going to school at 9:30 and it was already 6:53 ! 

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Early morning at the lakeTaken at 6:26 in the morning, the village was still asleep, later on ladies came to the lake for drinking water, now it seemed totally

deserted in it's beauty of a slowly warmer and warmer day ,colouring with the upcoming sun.

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Fool on the hillI had to think of that famous Beatle song "Fool on the hill" from the time I saw her standing

there all alone; again and again, I hear that flute sounding over the hill ... Day after day, alone on the hill ... ... head in a cloud ... like a fool on the hill ...

see the world spinning 'round. 

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Water

The small natural lake of the village used by men and animals

for drinking .

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Getting water from the lake

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Getting water---

Although the village has government water, the villagers

use it only for washing and cleaning; the natural water found

in a small lake behind this hill is sweet and contains no chloride. 

A schoolgirl in uniform helps her mother early in the morning by

collecting water for cooking at 6:56 before going to the government

school at 9:00.

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Pigeons on the roof

Early morning, Paramadayanpatti-Mangulam,

6:44 AM. Slowly the village awakened.

Mother’s first task is doing the dishes as some families have dinner rather late at around 20:30 in the evening ... too

dark then. Her daughter helps to get more

water from the lake. 

7/27/2009

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At the end of the day, this family returns home from the fields.

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Sunset over Mangalam -MaduraiLeaving the village, I stopped my bike to watch the sunset and took in its most

beautiful moments over the rice fields. On the way back to Madurai ,the sky became an even more intense red colour till it went totally down; I had never seen such an intensity before and it lasted at least

30 minutes, before becoming dark. 

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…road to the village…

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Trinity October 2009