Monday, April 18, 2005

Dakshin Chitra

Last week, after hearing a lot about Dakshin Chitra (Portrait of South), i took some time off to visit the place. The name of the place, is apt - the entire trip is bound to take everyone into nostalgia; of the often talked about "good old days".

The place is defenitely a "potrait of South India" as it stood not so long ago, before being 'invaded' by the influence of the apartment complex and modern architecture & culture. The place has 2 complete sections - that of Tamil Nadu and Kerala; while Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka (often the 2 "neglected cousins") is Work in Progress

The potrayal of homes and culture is very accurate & every detail has been painstakingly put together. What was quite noticeable, was the mastery over the science of house building; as the temp was in the higher 30s and still the porticos and the main section of the house remained cool; without any modern amneties like fans, coolers or the AC.
  1. While the TN & Kerala section were impressive, the same cannot be said about the food. At 75, it is moderately priced but did not do anything to the taste buds. A definite area that needs improvement.
  2. The Tamil Nadu section missed out a TEMPLE GOPURAM. It is not an understatement, that lifes of people revolved around temples in the days gone by - hence the lack of temple was quite surprising
  3. The AP & Karnataka sections needs to come up fast.

Parting advice, the glass blower was amazing and personally - i haven't seen too many of them. I felt that the pricing on his products were quite a bargain. If anyone has expertise on buying these products, keep me posted.

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