The Bruner Family Journey: The Hindu Temples of Tamil Nadu (Part 1 of 3)

So many temples, so little time. Some people may tire of visiting temples (like my wife and children), but I found each one to be a fascinating experience: Colorfully decorated elephants dispensing blessings for a coin; unadorned cows grazing on sacred ground; loud ringing bells, devoted chanting in unison, and jubilant musical processions; the smell of garlands and burning incense; soaring gopurams (gateway towers) crammed with vivid - at times riotous, even garish - images from Hindu myth and tradition; intricate rock carvings and statues; brilliantly painted murals and ceilings; small golden shrines for offerings and rituals; holy men wearing nothing more than a white sarong bestowing blessings on small children and their proud parents, people on their way to work, devout pilgrims from near and afar, Indian and foreign tourists, and newlyweds decked out in flowers and jewels; and exotic names like Arunachaleswar, Sri Ekambaranathar, Brihadishwara, Sri Ranganatahaswama, and Sri Jambukeshwara. With names this long, it's no wonder we needed three blog posts to cover all the temples that we saw (or maybe it was because of my obsession to see every temple I could track down in three weeks)!

On the road to Kanchipuram

Our first temple town was Kanchipuram, which boasts several impressive Hindu temples from different eras and is also a center for silk production famed for its high-quality saris. But it's not just about Hindu temples and shopping for silk. The ride to Kanchipuram gave us an opportunity to catch a glimpse of everyday life in the pretty (but poor) rural countryside of Tamil Nadu.

My favorite site in Kanchipuram was the Kailasanatha Temple, the oldest and smallest of the temples that we saw, which was built in the 7th century and is dedicated to Shiva. It's filled with interesting rock carvings, including a bunch of dog-like creatures with bulging eyes and big teeth. Unlike most of the other Hindu temples we visited in Tamil Nadu, the atmosphere here was decidedly serene.

Rice harvest, on the road to Kanchipuram

Kailasanatha Temple

A highlight of the Devarajaswami Temple - which was built about 1,000 years ago with various additions over the centuries - is the beautifully sculptured “1,000 Pillar Hall” (though only 96 of the original pillars remain). On each pillar, ornate carvings of horses, warriors and scenes of battle come to life. One notable feature of the hall is a large chain that is actually carved from a single piece of stone. There's also a pretty whitewashed gopuram. It's good either to carry some small coins for all of the “holy men” wandering around asking for contributions, or, alternatively, to stick to our driver's advice: “Don't pay anything to anyone!”

Same shot as above, with funky lighting after a light rainshower

The Kamakshi Amman Temple is another ancient Hindu Temple with intricate stone carvings, a picturesque water tank, a tall, imposing gopuram, and two colorfully painted elephants. It took some prodding to convince Jeremy to pose with the elephants, and he made it very clear to me that he didn't want to get too close!

The Sri Ekambaranathar Temple, built in the 16th century during the Vijayanagar Empire, is dominated by a towering gopuram nearly 200 feet high. Apart from being the largest, it seemed like it was the busiest of Kanchipuram's temples. We saw a fascinating ceremony with ringing bells and burning incense, at which I was sternly scolded merely for thinking about taking a picture.

We finished our touring in Kanchipuram with some silk shopping and a fantastic lunch (south Indian vegetarian cuisine for the adults and vaguely Chinese vegetable fried noodles for the children), followed by a ride on a mechanical coin-operated miniature elephant.

Our next temple town in Tamil Nadu was Chidambaram, home to the Nataraja (“Lord of the Dance”) Temple, which commemorates Shiva's victory over Kali in a dance-off, in a nearby forest, judged by a panel of deities (kind of like the ancient Hindu version of “Dancing with the Stars”). Built around 700-800 years ago, it's filled with ornate, colorful artwork and is one of the five holiest temples in India dedicated to Shiva. One of the highlights of our visit was running into friendly groups of Indian tourists and pilgrims, who asked us to take pictures of them. (How convenient is that?) After visiting the temple, we stopped in the small nearby town of Pichavaram for a pleasant boat ride through mangrove backwaters and tidal swamps.