Two great Tamil Temple towns Triuchirapalli (Trichy) known for the Rock Fort and the Ranganathaswamy Temple. Thanjavur (Tanjore) - the Brihadishwara Temple and a nice palace.

Rock Fort in Trichy has a nice view of the town. You have to walk barefoot part of the way so watch the the heat A vendor is filling coconut oil burners for use in the temple Much of Tamil Nadu is a large plain, the hill stations are all in the west Ranganathaswamy Temple seen from the Rock Fort Free meals are a common charity offering in temples This temple is near the top of the Rock Fort Kathryn enjoys an excellent meal just below the Fort at Hotel Suriya Waiting for a fare; at Sree Krishna, superb restaurant opposite the bus station Hindu traveller outside the Ranganathaswamy Temple at Sriranagam 6km from Trichy Main entrance tower to the temple complex This view from a roof top is available for a small fee The girls loved getting bopped by elephants for the price of a coin Temple priests are a hereditary caste Very old murals Sitting in the shade during July heat Are you taking MY photo? :) Martial themes are common on pillars and walls Simple services are needed for the thousands of pilgrims who come daily Applying paint to a Hanuman figure A cool hall full of beautiful columns The character with long arms is fairly wacky These bats roosted under the awnings of the Ashby Hotel; it had satellite TV! Brihadishwara Temple in Thanjavur is unpainted sandstone with fine carvings This huge Nandi is central to the temple The stone on top of this tower weighs 80 tons; biggest rock ever moved The outer walls of the compound have many Nandi sculptures And many, many lingam A 6.5 km long ramp may have been used to move this to the top These carvings are on the gateway into the temple Lots of trinket vendors ooutside the temples The art gallery in the Palace has many excellent bronze statutes A view of the main temple from a tower in the palace This is the view from the other side of the tower A courtyard in teh palace We had to pay an extra fee for this part of the Royal Palce compound Spires on a mosque we saw while walking back to our hotel Street side typists offer services to people The Nandi enclosure and the main tower Cleaning the grounds in the morning These are along the outside wall This run off is from washing ghee off the main idol inside the temple All major idols are bathed so drain spouts are common Empty coconut oil burners made of clay Religious texts are carved on the pillars around the outside walls A view into the large Nandi enclosure Meditating in the sun I don't know if he was aware I was even there Can you lick your nose? A prostrate priest is praying Then he got up and rode off on his motorcycle I took many shots of this guy; thought he looks great The umbrella is a nice touch She was at the temple with her family Workers doing some repair work near the main gate He is mixing cement for the brick layers Carrying a water pot in the train station