temples of doom
If you are, or would like to be, a connoisseur of hindu temple architecture; if you think epic bus journeys to one-horse towns in the middle of nowhere that happen to have historically significant temples could be just the way you want to spend your vacation; then Lonely Planet South India is the book for you. Buy it, read it, be awestruck by its authors' dedication to the cause. Even if, like me, you decide you don't really want to make a full time career of it, a certain amount of temple-visiting will be an almost inevitable part of your Indian vacation / photo tour. Here are the basics.
Guidebooks (such as Lonely Planet South India) will tell you that there are many types of temple which can be classified according to things like the presiding deity - Shiva (Shaivite) or Vishnu (Vaishnavite); or according to historical periods or architectural styles - Chalyuka, Hoysala, Vijayanagar.
In reality, for the ignorant photographer-tourist there are two types of temple that matter.
There are those where you will be incessantly hassled from the moment you come anywhere near the place for “offerings” and “guides' fees” for somebody who tells you some piffling piece of information about one or two statues whether you ask them to or not. Your chances of actually finding a decent vantage point or a moment's peace and quiet to compose a picture in such places are minimal. The temple on Chaumundi Hill in Mysore is a prime example of a temple of this kind, as is the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum, the state capital of Kerala.
And then there are ones where, after you have penetrated a thin screen of postcard and souvenir sellers, you are left alone once you are in the temple precincts. You actually have time and peace and quiet to really look at the place and photograph at your leisure; and if you have chosen to employ the services of one of the guides, you find that they are genuinely helpful and knowledgeable. The 12th century Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebid, with their amazing sculptures, are very much in this category and make for a long but worthwhile day trip from Mysore or Bangalore. Also in the same area, and well worth a visit, is the Jain holy site at Sravanabelagola, home of what is said to be the world's second largest stone statue (the largest, apparently, being one of Pharaoh Ramses II in Egypt).
If you are, or would like to be, a connoisseur of hindu temple architecture; if you think epic bus journeys to one-horse towns in the middle of nowhere that happen to have historically significant temples could be just the way you want to spend your vacation; then Lonely Planet South India is the book for you. Buy it, read it, be awestruck by its authors' dedication to the cause. Even if, like me, you decide you don't really want to make a full time career of it, a certain amount of temple-visiting will be an almost inevitable part of your Indian vacation / photo tour. Here are the basics.
Guidebooks (such as Lonely Planet South India) will tell you that there are many types of temple which can be classified according to things like the presiding deity - Shiva (Shaivite) or Vishnu (Vaishnavite); or according to historical periods or architectural styles - Chalyuka, Hoysala, Vijayanagar.
In reality, for the ignorant photographer-tourist there are two types of temple that matter.
There are those where you will be incessantly hassled from the moment you come anywhere near the place for “offerings” and “guides' fees” for somebody who tells you some piffling piece of information about one or two statues whether you ask them to or not. Your chances of actually finding a decent vantage point or a moment's peace and quiet to compose a picture in such places are minimal. The temple on Chaumundi Hill in Mysore is a prime example of a temple of this kind, as is the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum, the state capital of Kerala.
And then there are ones where, after you have penetrated a thin screen of postcard and souvenir sellers, you are left alone once you are in the temple precincts. You actually have time and peace and quiet to really look at the place and photograph at your leisure; and if you have chosen to employ the services of one of the guides, you find that they are genuinely helpful and knowledgeable. The 12th century Hoysala temples at Belur and Halebid, with their amazing sculptures, are very much in this category and make for a long but worthwhile day trip from Mysore or Bangalore. Also in the same area, and well worth a visit, is the Jain holy site at Sravanabelagola, home of what is said to be the world's second largest stone statue (the largest, apparently, being one of Pharaoh Ramses II in Egypt).
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