When leaving the Kerala region, we crossed the Tamil Nadu region from East to West to reach Pondicherry. On the way, it was the chance for us to discover the huge Hindu temples built by the Chola dynasty around the 10th century.

Our first stop was Madurai, where the temple Sri Meenakshi is situated. When we arrived, the colourful shine of a big tower stuck out a mile. I was as amazed as I had been in front of the big silvery Shiva in Honnavar, except that this temple is much older. We were fortunate that the restoration of the paintings, that takes place every 13 years, had just been done. We discovered the architecture of the Chola temples, which consists of a big square enclosure with four doors topped by huge pyramids (the gopurams) adorned with statues. Gods and goddesses parade, surrounded by their guards. Some of them spread out their arms, red with anger or purple with rage, and some of them sit in the lotus position raising their hand as a sign of appeasement. 

Inside, a maze of yards, corridors and big halls leads to the two gold temples that house the god Shiva and his spouse Parvati. The eccentric colours of one temple jarred with the uniform black stone of the other, and the light from outside entered weakly through the high columns decorated with legendary dragons and elephants.

The statues of numerous deities stood on all sides, covered with powder and clothes offered by the faithful. The atmosphere was saturated with incense and the smell of the butter burning at the feet of the idols.

            François being blessed by the sacred female elephant

In the evening, we followed the procession that accompanied Parvati to the residence of her spouse. The goddess was carried by the priests to the sound of the musical instruments and songs in a cloud of incense. The people crowded behind her and hovered around the stationary throne forming a strange dance, and then Parvati joined Shiva in his temple. We went out a bit stunned.

            The nocturnal procession

When arriving in Thanjavur at the front of the Brihadisvara Temple, we were amazed once again…by the absence of colours this time: a beautiful sand-coloured stone gave a pretty ochre tint covering the whole building. There were no big doors. The immensity awaited the visitors inside, where a 70-metre high gopuram stood above a Shiva temple. This tower was an architectural and sculptural masterpiece. When listening to our guide, we pictured the flurry of thousands of human beings working, and hundreds of elephants pulling huge wagons of stones and sand. This ‘big temple’ (in English in the text), as renamed by the British, also houses two colossal sculptures each cut from a single block of granite: the Lingam that symbolises Shiva’s strength and, in front of him, the bull Nandi which is his mount. Shiva is the god of destruction; he annihilates demons to purify that which needs to be purified. Shiva is considered to be the most powerful of Gods ahead of Vishnu the preserver and Brahma the creator; together, they form the Hindu trinity (the Trimurti).

            Thanjavur Temple

The temple of Srirangam that we went to visit in Trichy (Tiruchirapalli) is dedicated to Vishnu, the blue God. Behind the first door, watched over by a 73-metre colourful gopuram, we discovered an alley bordered with shops of all kind, and dwellings…a genuine small town where the profane and the sacred mix among the stalls. This temple was built over centuries by the Cholas and the dynasties that followed. Only Hindus can go through the seventh enclosure in order to enter the gold temple where Vishnu rests. The fourth enclosure indicated the entrance of the sanctuary, where the shops stopped and we had to enter barefoot.

            Tiruchirapalli Temple

Our guide led us through this maze to the door of heaven! A few contortions were necessary to see it.

            François attempting to see the door of Heaven.

We admired the representations of Vishnu and his wife, the beautiful Lakshmi. On our way, we passed the diverse reincarnations of the god Vishnu; Krishna among others. The Don Juan was perched on his tree, waiting for the ladies (whose clothes he had hidden) to come out of their baths naked…so much for asceticism!

            Krishna hidden in his tree.

Gabrielle
(Translation: Yolene Dabreteau)