March 18 Temple

Brihadisvara Temple is both a museum and an active temple. Many vendors surround the outer wall, but just inside the main entrance, things get more serious. Only blessings are sold, here for ten rupees (25 cents), Gail receives the blessing of the gate elephant. There are 15 temples or sacred areas in the temple, many locked behind bars, visible only dimly. The 7 temples and shrines are open, but a small donation is expected and the priest will offer a small gift and forehead smudge. Passing through the gates, the lowering sun highlights the script still legible from the completion of the complex in 1010 CE – if you read Tamil. Inside the inner main gate, the sun brings out the full relief sculptures on every surface of the gate house. We have arrived in time for Gail and Ann to be blessed at every possible place. Some of the temples had prayers and special ceremonies at different times. This boisterous duo in conjunction with the main temple gongs, ushered such a ceremony at the Amman Shrine.
The cap of the Brihadisvara Temple itself is a single stone. Some folks like to speculate how it got placed so high. The big lingam is directly under it. The many lingam/yoni sets are in the barred cloisters around the inner compound wall. As the moon rose, artificial lights came on, we ended our pilgrimage, and reclaimed our shoes.