Why a Booktrail?
1765, 1770, 1777 – Maya- a young girl is training to become a Hindu temple dancer.
The Pagoda Tree
What you need to know before your trail
Amongst the towering granite temples in the ancient city of Tanjore. Maya, like her mother before her, is destined to become a devadasi, a dancer for the temple. Her family all expect that the prince himself will choose her as a courtesan.
On the day of her initiation, a stranger arrives in town. Walter Sutcliffe, a black-frocked English clergyman. He is there to offer moral guidance to the British troops stationed in Tanjore.
The British tear apart the princely kingdoms of India, forcing Maya to flee her ancestral home and head to the steamy port city of Madras, but a new city brings new problems and fortunes are just as easily lost as they are found. satins are traded, poets vie for patrons, and fortunes are lost and found.
It’s there that she meets Thomas Pearce, an Englishman, and the attraction is instant. But their love is forbidden and the consequences are devastating.
Locations
Reset- India - Thamil Nadu - Thanjavur /Tanjore
- A: Thanjavur Big Temple Fort
- B: Brahanayagi Shrine
- C: Maratha Palace
- India - Tamil Nadu - Chennai/Madras
- D: Fort St George
- E: Chennai Port
- F: Vellore Valley
Travel Guide
1700s India
This covers a massively important time in India’s (and European) history. The cities have changed beyond recognition. What was Tanjore then is current day Thanjavur. Madras is now known as Chennai.
India was a country undergoing great change and turmoil during the 18th century. There is colourful, evocative detail about the landscape and the country
The Pagoda
At the time the novel is set the word ‘Pagoda’ could mean two things. It was a southern Indian Temple and a gold cold used in and around Madras. If you were said to ‘Shake the Pagoda Tree’ it meant you were one of those heading out to India to make your fortune
There is also a legend surrounding the tree – the branches are made of twisted gold, merchants believe they can shake the tree and make their fortune. Some perish trying to climb the tree greedy to have more. If you anger the goddess of the tree or don’t offer something in return, you risk the wrath of them both at their peril. Trees are also important in other ways – The Pipal Tree is where there’s a meeting held every full moon in the village.
The temple (Tanjore fort)
The landscape and the heritage of the setting is stunning. The reader is taken through the colossal stone gateway, wooden gates with a small door leading to a pyramid. Green parrots squawk in the trees above. There’s an initiation ceremony for those who dance in the Temple, with a procession with singers and cymbals. A woman is branded with an iron and warned that “ours is not a life where we can afford to be soft” The role of women is one of obedience and duty. Sacrifice and servitude above all.
The homes
“The houses are built in” the traditional Tamil Style with narrow bricks of red earth, the same hue as the Rich alluvial plain of the Kaveri delta for which the region was famous. In his bedroom, there was a cot with a straw-filled mattress, a washing bowl and a jug”
The turmoil of the country, the turmoil of the people overshadowed by war, poverty and the Big Temple. The English troops are there to protect God and King, and there are two garrisons close to the temple and the palace. Foreigners and locals. Outsiders and those who must obey. Foreigners take local women. The traditional role of the devadasi is being twisted to cater to the men of the East India Company.
Streetview Maps
A) Thanjavur Big Temple Fort
D) Chennai - St George Fort
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
This is an immersive reading experience and visit to India during a fascinating time of history. There’s a lot of detail and it’s very carefully crafted. Careful research is evident but it’s layered and slow building to reveal the full and very colourful picture. This is a lifestyle and time period that I know little about, but what a journey of discovery! Initiation ceremonies, dancing, learning the ceremonies and dances, respecting the Gods and realising just what a devadasi is required to do..The story belonged to Maya, but I would have liked to have stayed with her more. There are several threads with Thomas and Walter who become involved or rather tangled up in each other’s lives. The thread seems to cut off rather short at the end – is there a sequel?
It’s a very strong book for evoking the senses and the country’s turmoil is palpable. I had no idea about the extent of the Easst India Company and loved and feared the “sequences” learning about the devadasi.
A story I will definitely remember
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Pagoda Tree
Destination: Thanjavur, (Tanjore), Chennai, (Madras) Author/Guide: Claire Scobie Departure Time: 1765, 1770, 1777
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