Tamilnadu the land of temples is my current location . Am spending a week to experience the wonderful temple world not to miss a gastronomic experience
We landed in Chennai , just aother metropolitan in India . Did not experience or see anything that is worth writing about . A couple of temples, George fort ramkrishna mutt , Marina Beach . My highlight was a visit to Poes garden to see Jaylalitha and Rajnikanth homes😂😂😂😂
Mahabalipuram a port city of the Pallava dynasty houses a group of temples that are renown for their carving and architecture. Large cave temples, open air rock reliefs , Ratha temples and monolithic temples all built between the 7 and 8 century . Many of the temples are left incomplete because of the war with Chalukya dynasty . Take a look
👆Arjuna’s Penance carved from two monolithic rocks
Ganesh Temple
This gigantic boulder around 250 tons rests naturally on this slope . Now called Krishna’s butter ball – no connection with Lord Krishna😂😂
👆The five monolithic temples made from granite are popularly known as the Pandava Rathas , named by the locals . Very beautiful
The sea shore temple overlooks Bay of Bengal and has two shrines one dedicated to Vishnu and other to Shiva
The CHIDAMBARAM Nataraja temple over 1000 years old is one the rarest since here no customary Lingam, which is worshipped. The main deity is “space”. An idol of Nataraja—Lord Shiva in a cosmic dancer position, is installed in a golden sanctum
This temple is one of the five Pancha Bhuta Sthalam temples (refers to five temples dedicated to Shiva, each representing a manifestation of the five prime elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air, and ether). All these 5 temples are geographically aligned in almost a straight line . The mysterious, highly accurate alignment of the temples is a geographical, engineering, and astronomical miracle in itself.
R & D scientists worldwide have proved that the Nataraja Temple lies at the Centre Point of Earth’s Magnetic Equator ( imaginary line where the magnetic attraction of the North and South poles is equal. )
The temple’s roof is formed of 21,600 gold sheets depicting 21,600 breaths (15 x 60 x 24 = 21600) taken by a person in a single day. Inside of the temple below
Look at the symmetry of the architecture and the carving . Amazing
Pondicherry was a bit underwhelming , Also a lot of people have already seen and experienced it better than me so will skip
PICHAVARAM MANGROVES
Consider to be the second largest mangrove in the world, it covers almost 50 sq km of area
The mangrove trees are permanently rooted in a few feet of water.
Enjoyable Boat ride
The World Heritage Site Of Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple
Brihadeeswarar Temple, also known as Gangaikonda Cholapuram , dedicates itself to Lord Shiva( biggest shiv linga) and is considered as one of the largest temples in the country. It is a fine example of the grandeur of Dravidian style of architecture of the Chola dynasty. Over 1200 years old , Many sculptures brought from Andhra, Karnataka and Bengal as war trophies are also preserved in the temple.
The precision of architecture , symmetry and intricacy of carvings is difficult to put in words or capture in photos
👆Dwarapalas are the two guardian deities or the gatekeepers of the temple entrances
The Nandi behind is huge
CHETTINAD MANSIONS
Chettinad is a region of Tamil Nadu almost 90km from Madurai and 150 km from Tanjore. It consists of a cluster of some 80 plus villages which houses about 10-12 thousand of the Chettinar mansions.
these mansions located in sleepy villages of Tamil Nadu are a pinnacle of architecture. The Chettiars astute businessmen started their roots with banking and later became traders in South East Asia during the British rule and the large mansions were a showcase of their wealth. Ranging from 20-40000 sq. The entire extended family stayed together.In a bid to show off their prowess, each mansion was built to be better than the next and used imported material for the interiors. They were built with Burma Teak, flooring made from Italian marble, adorned with Belgian mirrors, French clocks and Moroccan chandeliers. While every mansion may look similar from the outdoors, their interiors are unique and stunning. The layout of the mansions is also very similar, with an open to sky verandah in the middle which was a communal sleeping area, and specific areas for conducting weddings and functions. However, as time passed by, the later generations moved out of the small towns and given the high maintenance required for the properties, a majority of them are in a dilapidated condition today. A few of them have been converted to hotels and are maintained and a few are open to tourists for a small fee. We stayed in a really nicely restored mansion , Chidambaram Vilas Heritage Hotel
Take a look
Entrance which always had two sections : one for lending money, and the other for receiving back the loans given earlier.
Two counters were always separate
The center courtyard, which is the focal point of every mention beautifully lit at the hotel
We also enjoyed an amazing Chettinad spread for lunch, mutton chicken, and fish some 24 items, including various chutneys. Glad we only spent a day or or one can easily put on multiple KG’s in a couple of days.
Out of curiosity and for future reference I just googled the top ten temples known for architecture and beauty. In over 90% of the lists both the both the temples in Thanjavur and Madurai were listed. These temples are indeed icons of architecture, India’s rich cultural heritage, the wealth and personal commitment of Indian royal dynasties to leave these imprints. These architectural marvels and theit precision, intricacy and exquisiteness of the craft leaves one awe-struck and wondering at the scientific, astronomical and mathamatical knowledge and skill of the people back in the day.
*Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur, *
A UNESCO World Heritage site. This temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva, is a gorgeous example of Chola period architecture and characterized by carved pillars and large gopuras or gatehouses . Over 2000 years old this temple was completed in six years and utilized over 13,000 tons of granite. After the Chola dynasty the Pandyas and Marathas added to this temple complex.
👆Look at the grandeur of the gates. There are three of them, an expert photographer ( not me ) could only capture two
👆These colours from natural elements like flowers, spices, leaves etc.
King Raja Raja Chola has left behind a large number of inscriptions detailing the temple’s construction, temple rituals, donations made by his family, villagers for it’s construction , how many workers, important milestones …….amazing record
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Located in Madurai, also known as the temple city of India , this temple complex was originally built in the six century by the Pandyas, looted by Muslim invaders in the 14 century and rebuilt by Nayakas in the 16 century
Absolutely astonishing and amazing. This was my favorite and it was nominated for the seven wonders but did not make it.
Interestingly, this temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvati , most Indian dimples are dedicated to male deities and Gods. Here it’s all about Meenakshi(Parvati) and Lord Sundareshwar I.e. Shiva and secondary in the temple complex.
The temple has 33,000 sculptures .
There is no photography allowed inside the complex. In fact, you are thoroughly checked. My guide had some amazing pictures which you shared with me and I with you take a look
A great model of the complex, the temple has 12 Gopurams(entrances) which are all heavily carved and supposedly cleaned once in 10-12 years
Most famous carvings in the temple and my top favorite the wedding of Shiv and Parvati. Vishnu on the left. Acting as the brother is giving away the bride. The expressions clarity , intricacy and neatness of the carving is evidenced throughout…… Jewelry expressions parts of the body costumes the works . I could go on and on………..
Above illustrates a total partnership and relationship the man is blind his woman companion has only one leg, rest is obvious
Above is the hall of thousand pillars. It is a magnificent architectural piece believed to have been built out of a single rock. Yali is a mythical guardian creature and embodies five animals lion, elephant, horse, ram and snake . Similar to a gargoyle Yali protects against evil and harmful spirits
For me this temple is above all in size beauty and architecture
The food in Madurai is just mind blowing. I had a list of 10 places to go to good only do half.
Hole in the wall place nothing fancy but the most delicious food surprisingly non-vegetarian
Anybody going to let me know I can share my list with you.
We also went to Kodaikanal, which was absolutely gorgeous, but most of you have been there, so I’m not going to attach pictures
All in all the temple tour of south India, just open my eyes to the absolute beauty of travel in India
Going to try to make it to the 15 beautiful temples of this country. Namaste
