Temple Hopping in Tamil Nadu

Contrary to what you may have heard, O.A.T. does not stand for “Oh, another temple!”  However, while based in Mamallapuram we did visit several temples, as the city is right in the heart of South India’s temple country.  The distinctive Dravidian style of architecture developed around the 7^th to 8^th centuries, during the Pallava dynasty, when granite became the favored material for temple construction.  Prior to that time, most Hindu temples were made of wood.  Granite is certainly more durable, but it’s also extremely hard to cut.  Jaisingh informed us that it’s even harder to cut than marble.

I have to admire the way Jaisingh scheduled our temple visits to take advantage of the best lighting for photographs.  The first site we visited wasn’t actually a temple itself although it was related to temple construction.  It’s an open-air museum featuring a group of monuments known today as the Pancha (Five) Rathas.  We visited this UNESCO World Heritage Site late in the afternoon when the monuments were bathed in a golden light.  Judging from the number of people at the site during our visit, Five Rathas is a popular tourist destination for Indian travelers.  You’ll see them in a lot of my photos. 

The Five Rathas in Mamallapuram

Many believe that the site may have served as a place of experimentation and training for granite sculpture.  We saw about 70 monuments, each one monolithic, i.e. carved out of a single block of granite.  They date back to the 7^th and 8^th centuries.  Many of the works, which are considered prototypes of different styles, were never finished.

Later that same day, as the sun was setting, we made a visit to another World Heritage Site, the Shore Temple, located not far from our hotel beside the Bay of Bengal.  This early 8^th century temple is called a “structural” temple, i.e. it was built from blocks of granite, rather than being monolithic.  Its elaborate carvings reflect the taste of the Pallava rulers.  The Shore Temple is no longer a functioning temple but it remains an architectural marvel that attracts scores of visitors every year.

The Shore Temple in Mamallapuram 

We also made early morning visits to see two east-facing Hindu sites.  The first was Arjuna’s Penance, a gigantic (100 feet long, 45 feet high) granite bas relief carved in the 7^th century.  It portrays a story from the Mahabharata, a classic of Hindu literature. 

Arjuna's Penance in Mamallapuram

Afterwards, we stopped to see Krishna’s Butter Ball, an enormous granite boulder that seems to perch precariously on a hillside.  No one knows how it got there.  It looks as if it could easily roll down and crush everything in its path, but it has never budged.  The name of the rock is associated with a tale about Krishna, one of the avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu.  In the story, when Krishna was a baby, he loved to steal butter.  The rock reminds people of a giant blob of butter that he dropped.  Tourists love to stand under it and have their photos taken.

Krishna's Butter Ball in Mamallapuram

About 40 kilometers from Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram was the main focus for our temple hopping.  Known as the city of 1000 temples, Kanchi served as the capital of the Pallava dynasty from 6^th to 8^th century.  Today it has 158 active temples.  It took quite a while to cover the relatively short distance between the two cities.  Driving past sugar palm trees, coconut palm trees, stray dogs, lounging cows, and the occasional roadside shrine, we shared the road with motorbikes and brightly painted local buses.  Beyond the lush green landscape of rice fields, low jagged mountain peaks rose in the distance.  

We made a brief roadside stop to mingle with a group of people who had brought their goats to an outdoor butcher’s stand.  I tried not to look too closely at the hanging carcasses.  Most of the butchers in India are Muslims but many of the customers are Hindu.  Jaisingh told us that about half of all Hindu vegetarians will eat a little meat on Sundays.  Since butchers have no refrigeration for storing meat, animals must be slaughtered on the day the meat is to be consumed.  Mutton (goat meat) costs about $5 per pound, making it more expensive than chicken, fish and beef.  And I learned that there are actually Hindus who eat beef.  Laws vary according to state, but in some Indian states, possession of more than 5 kilos of beef is a crime punishable by jail time.  There’s currently a big controversy in Parliament about beef consumption.  And with so many protected cows, the country is facing a dilemma about how to care for its aging cow population.  

As we proceeded on towards Kanchi, Jaisingh gave us some valuable insights into Hinduism, which he described as a 5000-year old way of life rather than a religion in the Western sense.  While there is a great deal of Hindu literature, including the scholarly Vedas and the epic stories and poems of the Puranas, there is no single book of Hindu doctrine.  Likewise, there is no particular ritual one perform in order to become a Hindu.  Dealing with this vast topic, Jaisingh did his best to help us understand how Hinduism’s ethical concepts and moral code of man’s rights and responsibilities (including the caste system) shape people’s lives today.  

He also explained that Hinduism has single commanding figure, i.e. there’s no one comparable to the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church.  Instead, there are certain high level gurus who fulfill leadership positions.  The top guru of the Hindus in Tamil Nadu is one of a long line of religious authorities going back nearly 2500 years.

By the time we arrived at our first stop in Kanchi, I was very eager to get a look inside some Hindu temples.  I don’t know exactly what I was expecting to find.  Perhaps my expectations were colored by the impressive religious architecture I’ve seen in the past, such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Duomo in Florence and Notre-Dame in Paris.  Soaring, lofty, orderly, serene, hushed, and quiet are words that come to mind.  I pictured people sitting quietly in pews, waiting for a service to begin. 

After removing our shoes and donning our temple socks, we stepped through a modest doorway on a street in Kanchi and entered the Shankara Muut.  Jaisingh had told us that this site was more than a temple.  It’s actually the residence of the top guru, who is revered like the Pope, and other high-level religious leaders.  My first impression – surprise and confusion.  It was nothing like I expected. The interior didn’t resemble any church or synagogue I’d ever seen.  Since photos weren’t allowed, I’ll try to describe the scene.  It wasn’t so much a single building devoted to worship but a sprawling complex where multiple activities were going on simultaneously.  Some people were strolling, others were sitting and chatting, and quite a few were checking their cell phones.  To an outsider like me, the noise and commotion were startling.  We saw worshippers carrying garlands of flowers as they entered small shrines, which were only open to Hindus.  When they re-emerged, they bore colored lines and dots on their foreheads.  We were able to identify the Brahmin men by the sacred thread worn around their torso.  There were bathhouses for pilgrims, food stalls, and a cowshed for those holy animals.  Fortunately, officials in charge of the cows allowed us to take photos. 

A holy cow at the Shankara Muut in Kanchipuram

The second site we visited was the Mango Tree Temple, whose official name is Ekambareswarar.  Like most Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, this temple is devoted to Shiva.  The Mango Tree Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Kanchi.  Some sources say it covers 25 acres while others claim it covers over 40 acres.  The temple has a long history, going back to the 6^th century, although the current structure was built in the 9^th century.  The four very impressive gateway towers are more recent, dating back to the 15^th to 17^th centuries.  The tallest of the towers, the Raja Gopuram, with its elaborate stone carving, rises to a height of 59 meters (172 feet).  

Gateway tower of the Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchi

At the entrance to the Ekambareswarar Temple

Once again, we slipped out of our shoes and began our clockwise circumambulation of the vast temple under Jaisingh’s guidance.  This time, I had a better idea of what to expect.  Like the Shankara Muut, the temple was full of activity.  The interior was spacious and beautifully decorated.  I stopped often to admire the painted lotus designs on the floor and ceiling.  Over 1000 lingams, the phallic representations of Shiva, lined the inner walls of the temple. We passed by many shrines where pujas were taking place and were allowed to enter one to get a closer look at the ceremony.

Inside the Ekambareswarar Temple

One of several fantastical pieces of sculpture in the temple

Worshippers queuing to perform puja at a shrine in the temple

Lingams in the Ekambareswarar Temple

At mid-day, a loud procession of drummers and horn players signaled the daily ritual serving of lunch to the gods.  A priest carrying a tray of food followed the musicians as they wound their way through the temple.  Many of the visitors spread out banana leaves on the ground and enjoyed their own meal, while others lined up to receive the free food that is distributed everyday at lunchtime. 

Distribution of free food at lunchtime

Before we left the temple, we took a look at the mango tree, which gives the temple its nickname.  The tree is supposedly 3500 years old and bears four different types of mangos. 

The mango tree 

Then it was on to another Hindu temple.  Unlike the two previous sites, Kailasanathar is no longer an active temple.  This temple to Shiva is the oldest temple structure in Kanchi, dating back to the late 7^th century.  It’s an excellent example of early Dravidian Hindu architecture.  The temple’s beautiful sandstone carvings were originally covered with stucco, some of which remains. 

Kailasanathar Temple in Kanchipuram

Some stucco remains on the sandstone sculptures.

Kanchi is also known as a center for silk weaving, a cottage industry that goes back about 400 years.  We saw incredibly thin strands of silk thread being dyed in the open air and then visited the workshop of a silk weaver.  The lustrous Kanchipuram silk sarees (six and half meters of fabric), with their vibrant colors and designs inspired by temple carvings, are in demand across India for weddings and special festivals.  And no, I did not buy one. 

Silk thread being dyed 

Silk weaving is a trade passed down from father to son.

Due to a late, late lunch in Kanchi, I was satisfied with a couple of baby bananas for dinner when we got back to our beautiful hotel on the bay late in the afternoon.  Why is it that bananas in India taste so much better than the bananas I buy at home?