Built in the 10th century CE, this temple, dedicated to Shiva and Parvati, is known for its fine gopurams. Gopurams are the entrance gateways to temples in South India. They grew in size from the mid-12th century CE until the colossal ones came to dominate the temple complex, surpassing the main sanctum for architectural elaboration. Often a series of gopurams are to be found at a shrine, each providing entry through a new enclosure wall. The gopuram is generally constructed with a stone base and a superstructure of brick and pilaster. It is rectangular in plan and topped by a barrel-vault roof. The exterior walls are covered with sculpture. [Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica]

Outermost gopuram

Divine battle

Zooming in

Ravana?

Song and dance?

Push, push

Gateway sentry

Dreadlocks

Second gopuram

Third gopuram w/ mandapa

Third gopuram

Third gopuram detail

Comfy sitting?

Ravana?

Krishna with gopis

Krishna with gopis

Path to the inner sanctum

Pillared hallway

Center of the hall

Pillar detail

Fourth gopuram

Courtyard sculpture

Fifth gopuram

Beggar woman

Ramanuja (1017-1137 CE), the single most influential thinker of devotional Hinduism, settled down at Srirangam, where he organized temple worship and founded centers to disseminate his doctrine of devotion to Vishnu and his wife Sri. He taught that the worship of a personal god and the soul's union with him is an essential part of the doctrines of the Upanishads on which the system of Vedanta is built; therefore, the teachings of the Vaishavas and Bhagavatas (devotees of Vishnu) are not heterodox. His influence on the course of Hinduism was profound. By embedding the urge for devotional worship (bhakti) into his doctrine of salvation, he aligned the popular religion with the pursuits of philosophy and gave bhakti an intellectual basis. Ever since, bhakti has remained the dominant flavor of Hinduism. [Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica]

Today the vast temple complex is a noisy little town. An example of a still-popular ancient temple that is ill-maintained (unlike the nearby Jambukeshwar temple, or the Meenakshi temple at Madurai), it seethes with half-naked priests with painted foreheads hell-bent on preventing cameras inside and keeping non-Hindus out of it, a disturbing practice not uncommon in Tamil Nadu temples. Until the efforts of Gandhi and Ambedkar in the 1930s, the "untouchables" too were not allowed in. At the temple Namit met a retired civil engineer in traditional attire, escorting his 90+ mother. Mixing mystical ideas with reason, he criticized the temple's orthodox priests and rituals. "You must stay away from temples," he said, adding mischievously, "what do you think happens to all the sticky sin that others unload here?"

Entrance gopuram (more)

Second gopuram

Third gopuram

Fourth gopuram

Road through gopuram

Riotous sculpture

Hallway behind inner sanctum

Around the inner sanctum

Rock Fort Temple

Built by the Nayaks of Madurai

Relief sculpture near entrance

Vinayaka (Ganesh) temple

Shiva temple

Miscellaneous pictures

Trichy on the Cavery (more)

Trichy roads

Brick & mortar jungle?

Another view of Trichy

Cauvery river

Lourdes church

Girl leading blind woman

"High class" restaurant