Thaaramangalam

Thaaramangalam is a little hamlet near Salem.  The peace of the hamlet hides a spectacular temple for Lord Siva - Kailasanathar. Said to be built by a chiefton called Kettaya Mudaliyar, the scultptures mark many of the features of those of the Nayakkar clan of the sixteenth century, such as presence of Vishnu-related characters in a Sivan temple, and in particular, the importance given to the God of love - Manmathan and his consort, Rathi.

If you know Tamil, read a  detailed description of the temple and its sculptures at dude's blog.   

 

 

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The sculptures are breathtaking.  The passion and sincerety that went into this art form is obvious from the beauty.  There are some really cute sculptures - there is one of Rama killing Vali - the figure of Rama is on a pillar, and that of Vali and Sugreeva on another.  The pillars are designed such that, you can see the VAli pillar from the Ramar side and not the other way round, as according to the story that Rama hid himself when he killed Vali.

There are more pictures in dude's post. 

 

 

 

Comments

[Emjay]

This is interesting - and love the photos.

[Lakshmi]

Emjay, thanks. Sometimes I feel that what media reports of India to the outside world is very one-dimensional and there is a lot more to the country than snake charmers (honestly, I haven't seen one in the past twenty years) elephants and spicy food.