Sublime Stuff (in South India): Part 1

While taking an excursion in Tamil Nadu I saw a bunch of stuff.  Small and large Chola Temples, about 1000 years old with incredible details of sculptured deities and their entourage. Yallis for example, are human bodies animal heads, like Ganesh for example. (so you can imagine my interest).

But in the first small temple was a giant Nandi bull and this giant Cat which had a room in it's belly, making it a building that really impressed me too. 

Visiting a temple, one must remove one's footwear. I had forgotten. But in this case, there is a lush green lawn that felt wonderful between my toes. In some of the other temples there were sisal runners that helped, otherwise my tender footed nature was really getting broiled. So I was running from one shady patch to the next. Some of these patches got crowded with other tenderfoots. There were a couple of tour groups that apparently been warned; they were wearing socks.

There was a visit to the palace in Thanjuvar to see the Chola bronzes. The height of the Chola period which started in the 3rd century was during the 10th-11th century when they were creating amazing temples and beautiful bronze sculptures. It was a time when the arts really flourished and a disciplined government was put into practice. Think Italian Renaissance in a few centuries to come. So, back to the bronze sculptures. Ever since I saw my first in Paris at the Guimet museum I have been captivated by their grace and form. The Nataraj (photo below) or the dancing Shiva creating the Universe. You can see that also in the stone sculpture on the temples as well. The palace museum was 'kinda funky' it was an interesting contrast in sublime and ridiculous. Unfortunately, the pix are on my other card....next posting. But here are some examples of the bronzes themselves without showing how they are shown (too much).

So there it is for a bit. I'm back in Pondicherry now for several more days. I am curious to see how the Ganesh I made while here did in the bisque fire. Fingers crossed! If the results are positive I will share them. Meanwhile I'll write next on the less sublime more everyday aspect of the trip. Nothing bad, well not really, just a contrast. The contrast that is India. But before I go here is a view from the terrace where I stayed at the Ideal River View Resort. It truly was Ideal.