The Smile of Murugan: A South Indian Journey

by Michael Wood
Penguin Books, 1996
ISBN 0 14 02.4732 7

Wood has written a very enjoyable travelogue which has an engaging mix of personal anecdotes, theology, philosophy, history and architectural description. To rectify elements in Wood’s horoscope, a Chidambaram astrologer prescribes a pilgrimage to a selection of South Indian temples. A Chidambaram friend pulls Wood into a pilgrimage to visit many of these temples with a busload of other local pilgrims, and he visits the remaining on his own.

Wood’s openness to the experiences he has along the way, his appreciation of the antiquity, continuity and value of Tamil civilization (what he calls " one of the last - if not the last - of the classical civilizations to survive to the end of the twentieth century") and his respect for others’ religious beliefs, make this book much less painful than those by many Europeans who visit other parts of the world. Wood is definitely an outsider, but his basic belief in a shared humanity comes through in all his encounters. He laughs at himself as much as at others, and the reader ends up laughing, too.

The friend who insisted I read this book, and even gave me his copy, told me, unfortunately, that he had a hard time getting his hands on The Smile of Murugan. He finally managed to buy it in Chennai.

Wood studied Anglo-Saxon history in school and his most recent books have been In Search of the Trojan War and In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia, so he obviously enjoys ancient things. There is another book called The Smile of Murugan which is about Tamil literature and sells on Amazon.com for over US$100.  Wood’s book is available in paperback and cannot be so costly, if one can find it.

Reviewed by: Avis Sri Jayantha