Temples

Everywhere I looked in Srirangapattana, on the island created by the Cauvery splitting and joining again, there were the ghosts of history. As a strategic site, with a natural moat, centuries of rulers fought over the land but it is most famous as the capital of Tipu Sultan the ruler of much of southern India. Read More

When I arrived in the traditional temple town of Chidambaram the streets were full of hundreds of pilgrims who had come for the festival at the ninth century Nataraja temple. Shops selling flower garlands, coconuts, and multicoloured kum-kum lined their path, and hand turned mini Ferris wheels echoed with the screams from the children inside.Read More

By the time the cauvery reaches the sacred site of Srirangam, the river is an enormous one kilometre across and so it was only in the distance that I saw the light blue gopura of the Ranganatha Temple. It was not until I reached the island that I realised this was only the first of twenty one in the massive sixty hectare site. Read More

Large dunes rise up at the end of a street in the village of Talakad as if they had been made for a movie set. A sudden desert in the lush Cauvery basin. These shifting sands have covered the fifth to tenth century Ganga dynasty capital, which was later an important centre for both the Cholas and the Hoysalas. Read More