ADHVAGATI

I am nuts about Dravidian Religious Architecture and Iconography. Not for me the modern jazzy marble and vitreous tiled, neonlit shrines with the gods decked up like filmstars in rhinestone and sequins-ed polyester costumes......There is something undeniably comforting about an ancient stone monument, holding in its dark, oil stained , echoing interiors the accumulated energy of centuries of reinforced faith and prayers. The sculptures, both inside the sanctum and in the circumambulatory corridors , seem to attain an august benevolence only if lit by softly glowing oil lamps. There was this period of obsession with visiting old temples once. Read up on various categories of temples in the Cauvery belt of Tamil Nadu , made notes, set out on trips to take in as many on the list as possible. For each one had some unique feature, even if it conformed, over all, to a set pattern. Mama, ever enthusiastic, ever obliging , agreed to be co-traveller and off we went in his LPG powered