Thanjavur December 27

The bus reached Thanjavur at 2:00 am. We arrived at a Carmelite convent and it took a while to rouse someone to let us into the guest accommodations. The 24 of us fit ourselves into the three rooms, and I was one of five people who slept on a bed sheet spread on the floor of one room.
 

I got up at 6:30 and attended mass with the family. One of the family members, who died twenty years ago, had been a sister here, so the family has visitation privileges and we were able to briefly meet the sisters, who, being cloistered,  normally do not meet visitors. One of the sisters who does appear in public is Sister Rose, who has been blessed with a stigmata – marks of the crucifixion.

Sister Rose with the stigmata meeting the family

 

The Carmelite Convent

The grave of the family member

We left the convent at 10:45 and then visited the famous Brihadisvara Hindu temple in Thanjavur.

 

Some of the younger members of the family at the temple

 We then went to the Our Lady of Lourdes pilgrimage basilica at Poondi, dating from the early 18^th century. We toured the church, where a tiny piece of the True Cross is displayed.

The Poondi Madha church

The church interior

The True Cross on display

We left at sunset and went to another church dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Elakurichi, built in 1711, which we saw after dark. We then proceeded to Velanganni, arriving at 10:45 p.m.

That night, I slept on an uncomfortable, lumpy mattress on the floor in one room, while five others fitted into the double bed.