Saturday, May 19, 2012

Thirumayam Rock Cut Temples

There are two rock cut temples at the base of the Thitumayam Fort - a Siva Temple and a Vishnu Temple which is one of the 108 revered Divya Desams. These temples were built by the Pallavas around 1300 years ago.  The Vishnu temple is it is much a much-venerated temple and is considered second in importance only to the temple at Srirangam.It contains one of the largest Anantasayi group icons in India where Vishnu is reclining on Anantha (Seshanaaga).

T
Entrance Tower or Gopuram
Another view
Close up of the tower sculptures
The rock wall surface behind the temple
A sub shrine
Outer design of sub shrine
Naga Idols in stone
Other stone  idols
Stone Idol of Vishnu
Sculpture on stone pillar - Man carrying wife on shoulder ( I was forced to use flash hence the finer details are not as clear)

28 comments:

  1. Awesome set of photos... beautiful Temple!The interior is very interesting too.

    Thank you for your visit and kind words, man.
    Greetings from Portugal
    BlueShell

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  2. I love the way people crave nagas and other forms out of rocks, and in very intricate designs. They look grand and beautiful.

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  3. Sir you are very good in making us plan our next "vacations" now only.

    Very Nice Sir

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  4. Impressive gopuram. Admirable work of the carvers.

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  5. Beautiful architecture.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

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  6. What incredible creations. These temples look so impressive...

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  7. I really like the exterior sculptures. It must have taken a long time to carve these temples from stone. I imagine they are no longer in use? Amazing they are 1300 years old.

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  8. amazing ... so many stories must be engraved in those sculptures ... thank you so much for capturing them.

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  9. Nothing to beat Tamilnadu temple architecture! Thank you for taking us with you on this visit, Ramakrishnan Sir.

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  10. lovely pics............
    specially Naga Idols in stone.....

    thanks for sharing.

    anu

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. @Gigihawaii: On the contrary these temples are fully functional with regular daily services at specified times for devotees. The temples employ trained priests for carrying out the rituals and pujas.

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  13. Wow, that must be a winner, beautiful sculptures. Terrific photos.

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  14. Great series of awesome photos.
    The sculptures and the temple are beautiful.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Mette

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  15. wonderful post.. I didn't know of this temple earlier..

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  16. I get a good darshan of all the temples thanks to your postings and pics on your blog! Beautiful!

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  17. We had problems in our net services due to a big fire in the BSNL exchange followed by diggings by the civic body disrupting broad band services. Beautiful post. I have heard about thirumayam and is in my wish list.

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  18. My mom wanted to say she enjoyed looking at these temples a lot! :)

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  19. By reading your blog i feel that i should also explore the places.it was wonderful to know about your experience.If anyone wants to travel then book bus tickets in the leading travel operators Madurai Radha Travels

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