Thread by @ArunKrishnan_

Tricky to Thanjavur road. TN has always had the best roads in the country. Even back in the 80s.

On our way to Gangaikonda Chozhapuram!

Hoping to also cover Darasuram and Brihadeeswarar Periya Kovil today!

A sight for sure eyes. Near Kumbakkonam

What names! Thiruvaiyaaru, Papanasam, Umayalapuram. Names associated with dozens of Carnatic music.

Calling them out to the kids as we go through.

We crossed a village called Koranattukaruppur. Seems there are some traditional Vaidyars here. The driver tells me he brought his daughter here after tying out everything, and they cured her of some intestinal issue.

First look at GangaiKondaChozhapuram

The ancient Nandi sits in anticipation ...looking in the direction of the Lord.

The inner sanctum has a HUGE Nandi, smaller than the one at the Thanjavur Periya Kovil

Can imagine Rajendra Chola walking here. In essence, he speaks to us through what he has left behind.

Some brilliant panels. And the environs are lovely!

Nataraja!

Vishnuji.

Some writing is more recent, within 300 years. Some more ancient.

The famous sculpture of Rajendra Chozha seated and being made king by Shiva and Parvati

Some idiots HAVE to deface anything beautiful.

A whole bunch of kurtis standing guard. I have no idea why they are here. They are not just placed on the floor, they are embedded in it. @tskrishnan your insights please?

A YaaLi at the northern side of the .

A final look back at the great Rajendra's grand temple.

Explanation about the history of the temple

An awesome, traditional banana leaf lunch at this place right outside the temple, to the right, sun by an old couple. Simple yet tasty! Highly recommend this.

And onwards to Vaitheeswaran Kovil!

Entering Vaitheeswaran Kovil.

Parallel lines meet at Infinity @SharadBishnoi05 ... inspired by you.

The temple pond.

Dusk descends upon Chozhanadu.

Good .morning folks. Off to our Kula Deivam Kpvil at Sorakkayur, a little village on the way to Kumbakkonam

.

The river on one side and paddy fields on the other. Idyllic.

Our little temple. The current structure was constructed about a 100 years ago. My great grandfather contributed to it.

So there is an interesting story about our Murti here. Usually the Ayyappan Murti sits straight with His hands straight down. Ours has his right elbow on his lap with his head resting on his fingers on his right.

The above was written in the 16th Century by Appayya Dikshithar about our kula deivam “Maha Sashtha” - Iyyapar.
अम्बेदि गौरीम् अहम् आह्वयामि पत्न्य पितुर् माता एव सर्वः ।
कतम् नु लक्ष्मीम् इति चिन्तयन्तम् शास्ताराम् ईडे सकलार्थ सिद्ध्यै ॥

He wondered, why is Ayyappan here sitting in a 'thinking' pose?
He replied:
Apparently Ayyapan is thinking: Shiva is my father. Vishnu (Mohini) is my mother. I can call Parvati my mother since she is my father's wife. What do I call Lakshmi, my mother's wife?? :-)

And for all the Shabarimala women's entry activists, our Ayyapan is on grihasthashramam. His wife is Pushkalambika.

Onward to Thanjavur Periya Kovil now.

Brihadeesvara Temple, Thajavur. Built by Raja Raja Chola the Great.

Some more shots...

Nataraja again. Very similar to the one at GKCP

Lord Murugan or Karthikeya

The Mount Meru of the South!

The fort walls with the moat. How I wish this were cleared.

The incongruous sculpture of an Englishman on the temple wall! The guy in the top hat!

A comparison of the 2 temples by the father and the son.

The walls are filled with textual engravings wish I could read the old Tamil script :)

And now on to Srirangam via the Kallanai!

Srirangam!

The Kambar Mandabam.

This is supposed to the place where Kambar placed his Ramayana along with others and where God is supposed to have himself placed Kambar's version on top of the pile.

The Vellayi Gopuram. Here is where, as the legend goes, Vellayi, a Devadasi lady, lured Malik Kafur's general to the top and shoved him to his death. Overcome by the grief at having killed someone, she jumped to her death. When SriRangam was liberated by Kempanna, he dedicated..