Indian temples are known for their architecture, grandeur and vivid colors. One who sees these huge temples in the southern part of India for the first time are nothing short of being in awe of these imposing and stunning structures. (More photos of South India temples are here)
Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram in the state of Tamil Nadu is one such beautiful ancient temple. Apart from being a gorgeously colorful temple, it is one of the most sacred temples for Hindus and among one of the twelve jyothirlinga temples of Lord Shiva. According to Ramayana, the holy scripture of Hindus, Lord Rama is believed to have prayed Lord Shiva here to absolve himself of the sin of killing a brahmana – Ravana – in the fight between good and evil. Lakhs of people from all across India visit this temple, located at the confluence of Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, just few miles away from Sri Lanka.
I shot this photo when i visited this temple in the summer of 2013. It was really a hot day with scorching heat outside. But once inside the temple, i was soon forgotten about it seeing the vivid colors in the world-famous corridors of this temple. This temple has the distinction of having the longest corridor for any Hindu temple in the world. My shot captures a different perspective of this corridor where three Rathas are kept, which are used on auspicious festive occasions.
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More photos of Weekly Photo Challenge Vivid Weekly Photo Challenge: Vivid.
wow….
i enjoy ur blog….
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Thank you so much. I am so glad Neha that you enjoyed my blog. Have fun and a great week ahead 🙂
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thanks suyash !!!
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You are welcome Neha 🙂
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woah! I love the colors 🙂
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I am glad dear. Thanks a lot for dropping by my posts and all likes 🙂
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no problem 🙂
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🙂
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😀
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This is a wonderful picture Suyash! The art and the colors look unbelievable. I had heard about the temple but never visited it. Try and post more pictures of the place as it looks captivating. Kudos to the artists who decorated it so well.
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Thanks Ruchi. I will surely post more photos of it soon to give you a visual treat of this beautiful temple 🙂
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I didn’t mention I wandered the corridors of this temple for over a month – my absolute favourite Indian location. There was no bridge back then so no cars on the island. It was quiet and peaceful. Please post more on this location.
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Wow, that’s interesting. You are such a traveled person. I mean, you traveled when there was no bridge. That must have been quite few decades earlier then. Which year was it – any faint remembrance? Did you take train because i know Pamban train bridge existed long back and trains used to reach this place since few decades? I am curious to know now more about the past.
Even now I found this island to be very peaceful. So less people. Did you visit Dhanushkodi, the tip of the island where Bay of Bengal sea and Indian Ocean meets?
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I regret I didn’t get to Dhanushkodi. I would have had to walk and it was very hot when I was there. There were no surfaced roads back then and yes I did arrive by train as that was the only way to get to the island as I was intending to go by ferry to Sri Lanka.
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Hmmm….yes, Dhanushkodi is quite some miles off on the island and back then, I am sure there would be no source of transport, unlike now. Sometimes I really wonder how people used to travel countries 30-40 years back. Now with the help of technology, its such a simpler affair with tons of information available. Must have been a completely different experience for you then.
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It was. I’m sometimes tempted to return
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Plan it then. You will find lot of changes in the place. I am sure you will enjoy it and have a different kind of experience this time.
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I’m apprehensive as I did return to Bali years later and was saddened by the changes
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I agree with you Mallee. In order to promote tourism and habitation along with mindless planning, most of the times, pristine beauty of nature gets lost. That’s a sad reality of today’s times.
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Please visit https://thehutownerblog.wordpress.com ….for a challenge to do !
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Aha…this looks pretty interesting and challenging. Very different from other challenges. Thanks for nominating me for this. I would love to do it and would attempt it this weekend. Really sorry that I cannot do it immediately due to constraints.
Thanks once again dear. Have a wonderful weekend ahead 🙂
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thank you, Suyash for accepting the challenge…
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You are most welcome dear 🙂
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Nice to see that it has been well maintained
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O yes, its been maintained very well and some kind of renovation and patch up work keeps happening to maintain the temple. Authorities have done real good job.
Thank you Mallee for visiting my blog. Have a great day dear 🙂
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Thank you. Got the flash back of my trip to Rameshwaram, still feel blessed to visit it. The picture is beautifully taken.
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Thats great to know Babita. Rameshwaram is a beautiful place, and I am sure you must have had fun there.
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your appreciation. You are out of the blogging scene these days. When do we get to read your next blog?
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i m working on it…hope i get something good to work on.
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Will look forward to it 🙂
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Beautiful snap.
I have nominated you for a totally voluntary challenge called Five Photos, Five Stories 🙂 Check it out here –
https://aamrits.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/ice-cream/
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Thanks Amrit for dropping by this post and for nominating me for this challenge. I will have a look at the challenge and will surely participate in it. Thanks once again 🙂
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Thank you.
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🙂 🙂
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The Rameshwaram Temple is stunning dear Suyash!… Awesomely vivid… I love the colors…
Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!… best wishes. Aquileana 😀
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It is indeed a very beautiful and colorful temple, Aqui. I will share more photos of its splendor in some other posts later.
Thanks a lot for dropping by my blog. You too have a lovely and fulfilling weekend. Enjoy 🙂
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that surely is a long corridor – and I like how even the Rathas have color too – nice take on vivid 🙂
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Glad that you liked it. Thanks a lot 🙂
What you can see in the photograph is just a part of the corridor. If I am not wrong, total length of the corridor is more than 3/4th of a mile 😉
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wow – 3/4 of a mile = that is REALLY long – 🙂
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O yes, the temple has got really long corridors but you are not tired walking those distances because you witness plenty of colors, architecture and interesting statues all along with way. You will find people from over India inside the temple.
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sounds like a holistic experience 🙂
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I would definitely say so. Very spiritual experience as well.
Moreover, its so close to the confluence of two big seas – Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal – which makes the experience so unique. If you have ever been to a temple in India or elsewhere, you would experience for yourself the richness of these temples, not only from a religious perspective but also from an art and architecture perspectives.
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oh that sounds cool – and side note – I love love love India food. especially anything paneer – mmmmm
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Aha, paneer is a very traditional Indian dairy product and so healthy as well. I had small quantity of it yesterday night in my dinner 😉
Indian food are so tasty with their spices and method of preparation. I am glad you like Indian food so much 😉 😉
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yes – those spices are some of my fav – and we have a local store that carries these ready made pounces of indian cuisine = and I just noticed they are sold on amazon too – and for a nice price. I think I could eat it every day and never tire! what about you – do you have a favorite dish
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Wonderful. So now your appetite for Indian spicy dishes could be satiated fabulously. Great to know that there is this Indian store.
My favorite dish is Rajma masala, which is basically the red beans. Spicy dish with chick peas, which we call Chole Masala, is another of my fav. Apart from spicy dishes, I love the Indian sweets or desserts as well very much. Not sure if you have tried them ever. I am sure you will find few vaeity of it in the Indian Store as well 🙂
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oh those dishes sound good – and I will let you know if I get to try the sweets 🙂 ttys
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Great. And when you get them, do post photos of those in your blog to tempt your readers to taste them 😉
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I juts might have to do that Suyash! I actually have a food post in the works –
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I thought so since you seems to be a foodie, with a taste of cuisines from across countries. It will be super blogging on food. Hope to see them soon. All the Best 🙂
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well thanks for being so perceptive – and it has been fun getting to know you a little bit thru the blog world lately 🙂 –
but just for the record – my husband officially said I am not a foodie. I agree as well – I mean – I like to try stuff and appreciate quality and of course cultures – or as you note -t he cuisine across cultures – but at the end of the day – food is often on the B list for me – making me less of a foodie than some – but I guess it depends on how you define foodie – are you one?
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Hmmm….I would call myself foodie in some sense though I don’t experiment much with my taste but definitely love eating quality stuff. Food for me is the means to connect with my soul – hahaha. With an empty stomach, I tend to deviate towards ‘insanity’ 😉 😉
On a serious note, I don’t think I am a foodie 🙂
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got it – 🙂
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🙂 🙂
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suyash! Generally the variety of colors used in the temples of South India exceeds the one in North India! This is especially true in shikhara. I cannot say this is always true but yes, this is a general observation. I guess each temple style of architecture has its own unique thing. Anyways! its a nice picture for the challenge!
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Thats a very nice observation and it is true as well, in whatever temples I have seen in South India. Architecture is truly so exquisite with images from ancient scriptures and legends.
Thanks Arv for your comment and for visiting the post. Have a good weekend 🙂
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thanks suyash! looking forward for another interesting post from you! 🙂
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Will surely do so, my dear friend 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Blogging Path.
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Suyash is such a great entry to the challenge…This temple corridor is actually so vivid and colorful. I love the gorgeous colors on the ceilings and the Rathas lined up to one side. I have alway wanted to visit this temple and now that my hubby is getting posted close by (wellington, coonoor) I plan to go there sometime. Thanks for sharing this image and all the details !
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Great news. From Coonoor, I dont think it will be far. So on any weekend, you can plan it. And when you are in Rameshwaram, do visit Dhanushkodi. Its a magical place where you walk on a small stretch of land, surrounded by Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal on either sides.
BTW, is your husband in defence? Coz I guess Wellington is a famous defence center. If I am not wrong, OTA is also present there.
I am glad that you liked this entry. Thanks so much Sweety 🙂
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Haha Suyash I thought you already knew 😀 my better half is a colonel in the army 🙂 So you guessed it right…We are posted at the DSSC , wellington 🙂
Our weekends now are not always free and there some defence restrictions to but we will definitely make it during this tenure..or at least we shall try 😉 And thank you ever so much for the tip off on Dhanushkodi , I so want to visit it 😀
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I might have read it somewhere in your post but these top cells play around sometimes, you know 😉
Yes, do visit Dhanushkodi. It’s a beautiful place to laze around and see the contrast of both the seas. Waves of one sea makes come crashing down on the beach with so much gush and noise. Whereas the other one is as humble and meek as it should not be 🙂
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I just adore these Indian temples. Fabulous!
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These temples are truly hallmark of wonderful architecture and artwork. Cambodia too has got one such temple – the biggest in the world. I am sure you must have visited Angkor Vat, which I wish to visit some day.
Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
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Not only great color, but wonderful perspective.
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Thanks a lot Marilyn for your kind words and for visiting my blog 🙂
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Wauw so beautiful !!!!!
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Thanks Nancy for your appreciation and for visiting my blogs and for following my page. Appreciate it very much. Glad to know that you like my blogs. Have a great weekend 🙂
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Very beautiful capture 🙂
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Thanks a lot dear for your appreciation. Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
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You too have a great weekend 🙂
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🙂 🙂
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