The Chronicles of Sowmya: India part 2: more temples, beaches, and KITTENS!

Sri Ramanatha Swamy Temple, Rameshwaram

This one is also, clearly, massive.

According to mythology, Lord Rama prayed to Shiva at this location for absolution of his sins after the war against Ravana. Thus, the temple's main deity, Lord Shiva, is called Ramanatha Swamy. This temple is considered very holy, and one of the four Char Dham shrines that many Hindus visit at least once in their lifetime, and so we saw lots of people from all over India making their pilgrimage here.

The whole gang minus Raghava.

Former Indian President Abdul Kalam grew up in a small fishing village near Rameswaram. We drove over to his house and bought some seashells and other trinkets at a store owned by his family. How touristy.

I'm pretty sure it didn't look like this when he was growing up.

Finally, we set off to the last locale on our trip: Thanjavur, a.k.a. Tanjore, an ancient and awesome city with a rich history.

Brihadeeswara Temple, Tanjore

We set off to the temple that evening to take some beautiful nighttime pictures while it was all lit up! Truly spectacular, as you can see.

The entrance.

This picture makes it seem way smaller than it actually is.

After much persuasion, I got everybody to sit like this.

The Great Living Chola Temples (UNESCO World Heritage Site) are temples that were built by the Chola dynasty's most famous king: Rajaraja Chola I. The foremost of these temples is the Brihadeeswara Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. Its center piece is a massive 6 foot Shiva Lingam, possibly the largest ever. Also, the temple is thought to be the world's first complete granite temple. The large structure at the apex of the main tower is believed by some to be made of a single block of stone (though this is controversial), meaning that some sort of ramp-like mechanism would have been needed to transport it all the way to the top.

Daytime. You can appreciate it's size.

About to enter the inside of the tower!

Inside, hundreds of sculptures of classical dancers

Some were left unfinished!

The ancient script that to this day, is indecipherable.

Wall fresco of Rajaraja I himself!

Can you imagine what it took to build temples of this size in the 11th century?

We toured the temple inside and out the next morning, encountering sculptures, archaic forms of writing, and bat droppings. Three or four hours later, we were finally ready to leave and drove back to Chennai. The next day was spent mainly relaxing and playing badminton outside (heat permitting). Oh, and we ate mangoes. Lots and lots of mangoes.

Group of Monuments, Mahabalipuram

An hour's drive from Chennai is Mahabalipuram, a small coastal town. It is famous for its beautiful monolithic monuments built by kings of the Pallava dynasty in the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries. My dad and uncle took me and the boys (Vishnu, Naveen, and Raghava) to tour these monuments the next day. It was HOTTT

During the annual festival, classical dancers dance against the backdrop of this sculpture.

Stone chariots!

We earned a few cuts and scrapes climbing and performing stunts on the rocks. We visited the beach again and then went to a restaurant where we ordered chow mein, Indian style. Quite tasty!

KITTIES!!
In Chennai, we found a few tiny kittens on the street. They seemed aimless and motherless, so we cared for them for the next two days until finally giving them up to Blue Cross India (animal rescue) after their mother never showed up. In the meantime, we enjoyed watching them interact with the dog, Jimmy, and sneaking them bits of curry from our plates.