After 3-nights in Chennai, we got an early start the next morning driving to Kanchipuram; best known in textile circles for Silk Saris and as a shopping destination for brides from across India and beyond searching for the perfect wedding gown.

Once we started doing our research on the city we were surprised to find out that it is also considered one of the seven holiest Hindu cities in the world.

Our first stop there was to meet our local guide for the day at his closet of a textile showroom and then to be taken to meet his partner in their workshop where they explained the process of designing a textile pattern.

From there we found we were just around the corner from Kailasanathar Temple, one of the oldest temples dedicated to Lord Shiva known in India having been constructed in 685. It is only one of several landmark temples in Kanchipuram.

We were amazed to get a close look at the ancient columns supporting the colonnade around the perimeter of the central courtyard. The oldest ones were fabricated from a lost old formula for an epoxy like material. Many of these showed the wear one might expect from exposure to 1300 years of weather. The “new” columns were carved from sandstone.

We asked our guide when the “new” columns had been installed and he said “in the 13th century” or over 800 years ago.

A local caretaker began to walk with our little group and when we arrived at the padlocked door to the base of a 3-story tower, he produced a key and invited us in. The guide decided not to follow.

We gradually worked our way up a series of narrow, low-ceilinged – curving stairways along the interior wall of the tower up to the top level, which opened onto a platform overlooking the courtyard.

Once there, the caretaker suggested a tip for his guidance, which we didn’t mind paying but after we left the temple and were walking back to the car, the guide asked if the caretaker had asked for money and became a bit angry when we said yes. I wasn’t 100% sure if he was angry at the caretaker for asking or at us for paying. It was probably a bit of both.

From the temple we drove across town over some dusty back streets dodging the pot holes and sleeping dogs to an area of Kanchipuram where there was something to do with weaving going on in every single house on the street. We walked through several work rooms, some with a single simple hand loom but others with multiple looms and some others with giant wheel warps.

It was a really interesting experience to walk from house to house to see how different families seemed focused on different aspects of the textile making process. Some were spinners. Others seemed to only set up warps.  We saw colorfully dressed ladies in front of their homes where they had small showrooms selling finished products.

Some artisans were weaving totally by hand while in some other houses we could hear the distinctive clickity-clack of a flying shuttle. We walked into one house making use of jacquard punch cards driving the pattern on a loom.

The work even spilled out into the dirt street where workers were stretching out long lengths of thread for silk sarees. Despite the humble surroundings, it was ironic to think that this was the place where the fabric that would become the world famous Kanchipuram silk sarees is being created.

We had a rather slow and unsatisfying experience at lunch in the dining room of a local hotel before heading to another of the famous local temples. While it was impressive, I’m afraid I failed to note the name of the temple.

After about an hour there we headed out of town and took a route that carried us over more back roads than highways. Over several hours of driving we made our way through countryside and small towns and past roadside vendors as we worked our way south though Tamil Nadu to our destination for the evening; the former French colonial city of Pondicherry.