  1 The Brihadishwara Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram is almost out in the countryside |
 2 Brihadishwara Temple |
 3 Chiseling new stones for temple renovation |
 4 Brihadishwara Temple with Nandi |
 5 Nandi and Simha-Kinaru (lion) |
 6 A dog in the shade from Nandi |
 7 One of the temple guardians... |
 8 ... and the other |
 9 A friendly family |
 10 Exterior of the mandapa and tower |
 11 Androgynous Shiva, half-Shiva, half-Parvati |
 12 Vishnu |
 13 Shiva Nataraja, king of the dance |
 14 Palm tree and temple |
 15 The tower |
 16 Amman Shrine |
 17 Shiva Nataraja and Ganesh |
 18 Side entrance to temple, with guardians, tourist and guide (Raja) |
 19 The saint Chandesa, or the King Rajendra, receiving a floral victory garland from Shiva, accompanied by his seated wife Parvati |
 20 Temple renovation |
 21 Simha-Kinaru (lion) |
 22 Entrance to the mandapa (pillared hall) |
 23 A market in a small town near Gangaikondacholapuram |
 24 Bananas |
 25 Onions |
 26 Chili peppers! |
 27 Spices |
 28 Dried fish |
 29 Crocodile on a sand bar |
 30 Paradise Inn, for lunch |
 31 Gopuram of the Airavateshwara Temple, a beautiful small temple in the village of Darasuram |
 32 Dancers in Darasuram |
 33 Statues of black basalt from the Chola period (12th century) |
 34 Reliefs in the mandapa (pillared hall) |
 35 Parvati |
 36 The whole mandapa is a wheeled chariot; note the elephant trunks as balustrades |
 37 Remains of painted wall |
 38 View of the mandapa and tower inside the courtyard |
 39 Ceiling of the mandapa |
 40 Mandapa pillars and small worshipper |
 41 Atelier and store making and selling statues by the cire-perdu process |
 42 A clay-wrapped statue waiting to cool and dry |
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