Valeeswaram (Thirunelveli - Tamil Nadu)

Valeeswaram has a beautiful stone vimana, built in 10th C CE, majorly by Cholas. The Lord Shiva here is Vaaleeswarar, facing east. 

All the walls are filled with several inscriptions which belong too all major kingdoms - chola, chola-pandya & pandya! One particular inscription talks about King Rajaraja chola and his contribution of land.
The color of the granite here is a beautiful red! A row of yaali and a row of boothagana are below the vimana. Inquisitive ganas indeed, playing musical instruments and dancing!
The sculptures around the vimana are the most important feature here to be noted. 

On the south are a Dakshinamurthy and dancing Nataraja at the centre. On the right and left were Rishabanthaka Murthy, Alingana murthy, and Ardhanarishwara. 
On the west are a Lingothbavar and Yoga Naraswimhar. The Lingothbavar is tad interesting! The wild boar which beneath the earth searching for Lingothbhavar's legs, is there along the yaali-s in the yaali row. 

On the right and left are Kankalamurthy, a seated Shiva burning Manmadha with Rathi overlooking, Tripurantaka and Rama. 

On the north are a very beautiful Gaja Samhara murthy and seated Brahma at the centre. On the left and right are Siva Parvathi on Rishabam, 2 more scenes of Lord Shiva and a standing lady! 

In the east were sculptures of Indra on elephant. On the left and right were Kannappa Nayanar and possibly at Parashurama!
All around beyond the outer circum-ambulation passage, along the compound wall is a simple mandapam. At the entrance, of this passage, are 2 simha thoon, standing lions!!!
Btw, that's the shot of a jet that was flying above, taken with my 55-250 lens!

TO GET THERE:

Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan & Co.

Bhushavali

An ardent traveler by passion. Being an ex - Art History Teacher, my area of interest especially lies in Nature and Heritage. Visited 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites as of June 2022. I've been listed among the Top 7 Women Travel Bloggers of India, Top 50 in UK. I have been interviewed in a couple of TV Shows, Radio Channels and Events as well. Read more about me and read the testimonials of different brands

10 comments:

  1. Glad to know about this temple. Lovely sculptures.

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  2. Great Blog that i like to follow. I am not an avid traveler, but like to so everytime i get a chance to do so.

    It would be great if you could post the google location of each of these places along the blog. Hope this wont be too difficult technically.

    regards,
    Ravi

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    Replies
    1. Mostly I do put up with map coordinates or route itself. Sometimes I miss it. Will try my best not to miss it.

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  3. Wow. We have so many such lovely temples with these beautiful arts...

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  4. Dear Bhushavali…
    Thank you bringing some of the most amazing temples in South India onto the stage. They are so unpopular but in full fledge radiate the beauty and pride of Indian Architecture and style. Wonderful photography and it’s a guaranteed five- star vote from me.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words! Glad I could shed light on some of these sculptural marvels & pieces of our history! Glad you liked!
      Thanks for visiting & commenting. Do visit often. :)

      Delete

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