Darasuram - The Chozha Storehouse of Art.

Our second day of the Thanjavur trip began at another beautiful UNESCO Heritage site. Located at ~40 km from Thanjavur, Darsuram is a place that you definitely should not miss.
The Airavateshvara temple here has some of the best sculptures and carvings in the country. It is often compared to the Ajanta and Ellora caves.

The temple is called so as this was the place where Airavat, Lord Indra's white elephant worshipped Lord Shiva. It is also believed that Yama took a dip in the sacred tank here after being cursed by a Rishi and got rid of the burning sensation he was feeling due to the curse.

The sculptures in this temple are so beautiful that you will never want to leave this place. The main mandapam inthe temple has 100 pillars and no two pillars are carved the same way.This manadapam looks like it is erected on a chariot drawn by elephants. The pillars in this mandapam have carvings and sculptures depicting stories from Shiva Purana, Lord Murugan's wedding to Valli & Deivanai, various forms of Lord Ganesha and Ravana carrying mount Kailasa, to name a few.

The intricacy of these carvings are more than sufficient to prove just how talented the Chola sculptors were. In spite of not being a very huge temple, the level of detailing involved in each and every sculpture and carving in this place, leaves you gaping.

Though the temple has now been put back in shape and is being maintained by the Archeology Department of Tamil Nadu, what is really depressing is that a lot of sculptures in this temple are not in the best of shape due to no maintenance and erosion in the past. I cannot bring myself to imagine how beautiful this temple would have been when it was constructed considering it is so magnificent right now even after all these years.

What I loved the most was a sculpture of goddess Annapurni in the main Mandapam of this temple that made the 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni' sound when tapped at different areas. A stone sculpture that made sounded differently when tapped at different places, just how mind-boggling is that? Sadly, I could not take a picture of it due to how dark the place was. But please ensure you see it when you visit the temple. For those who are curious, here is a link to a picture of the sculpture i found online. 

And, here are some pictures from the trip.

 The Gopuram at the entrance of the temple. 

 Gymnastics, way back then. 

Kudimi pudi sanda. Roughly translated, it means a fight where people pull their hair apart. Have a better explanation, anyone? Please leave a comment. 

 A view of one side of the temple.

This wheel was almost damaged when the Archaeology Dept of TN started cleaning up the place. This was then put together by them and the cracks are obvious due to the chemical treatment they are put through every once in a while. 

What you see above is  a woman beautifying herself. As the guide said 'paarunga, appove make-up laam pannika aaramichutaanga (meaning they used make up even back then).

One of the elephants that draws the chariot that the temple is built on. Again, the cracks here are visible due to chemical cleaning process it is put through for maintenance   

When it rains, the rain water falls out of the gargoyle on to a little pond below.  

This is one of the sculptures that stands out in the temple. It represents two women helping a pregnant lady while the woman on the extreme left is getting the necessary medicines and the women next to her is thinking of the next course of action. 

The above sculpture represents the fight between Bali and Sugreev at Kishkinda with Lord Rama aiming an arrow towards Bali. 

A view of the temple tower. 

The above sculpture represents an elephant and a bull. You cover the right side of the picture and you see a bull, and when the left side is covered, you can see the elephant. Marvelous, don't you think?

 A sculpture of Ardhanareshwarar with the face of Brahma. Do note the half male and half female structure. 

This sculpture really saddened me. I don't remember the story behind it, but it's one of a lion destroying a baby elephant. 

For an absolutely stunning view of the entire temple, please check out the below link. Stumbled upon this a few days back and i think it's crazy beautiful. 

Darsuram - 360* view.