🌄 South India: The Country of Temples Part 3 – From Goa and Karnataka to the Deccan Plateau: The Sacred Triangle Concluded “When at last I climbed high above the plateau and looked down, India lay before me as a triangle of sea and stone — its vertices crowned by temples, its sides traced by mountain ranges and rivers. The journey that began at Kanyakumari had become a living map of devotion, craft, and continuity.” 🏛️ Entering the Deccan – Where Kingdoms Shaped Stone The Deccan Plateau is not merely a stretch of land; it is a palimpsest of empires. As I left the coastal greens and climbed onto basalt and laterite, I felt the weight of centuries underfoot — the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadavas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara rulers had all left temples that read like chapters of a vast history book. Their architectural languages conversed here: rock-cut sanctuaries met free-standing temples, northern shikharas met southern vimanas, and local materials shaped reg...
🌺 Part 1 – Tamil Nadu and the Architectural Dawn of Dravidian Civilization “The first light of dawn falls upon stone spires that have watched centuries rise and fall. In South India, temples are not just places of worship – they are the very language of history.” 🏛️ The Architectural Heart of India South India is the soul of Indian architecture. From the granite cliffs of Tamil Nadu to the misty Western Ghats, this region gave birth to a distinctive Dravidian style – defined by its towering gopurams , pillared halls, and cosmic geometry. Every temple tells a story of kings and dynasties – the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Vijayanagaras – who carved their devotion into eternity. Unlike the northern plains where invaders reshaped history, the southern peninsula remained a cradle of continuity. The people’s faith in art, stone, and cosmic rhythm preserved an unbroken architectural tradition for over two millennia. 🌄 Tamil Nadu – The Cradle of Temple Architec...