Wonders of Indian Temples
Stone that sings, a pillar that hangs in the air, a chariot that tells the time to the minute. Our temple builders were engineers, astronomers and musicians. Most of these temples are still standing and still in worship, so go and see them with your family.
Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
The sky of consciousness
Brihadeeshwara Temple, Thanjavur
An 81-tonne stone, 216 feet up
Musical Steps, Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram
Steps that sing, and three that say Om
Konark Sun Temple
A stone chariot that keeps time to the minute
Hoysala telescope carving, Halebidu
A man with a telescope, carved 900 years ago
Hanging Pillar, Lepakshi
Slide a cloth under a pillar that holds up the roof
Musical Pillars, Vijaya Vittala Temple, Hampi
Granite that plays sa, re, ga, ma
Baan Stambh and Surya Temple, Somnath
An arrow that points to the South Pole, and a sunbeam that finds the Sun God
Sun Temple, Modhera
Built on the Tropic of Cancer so the first rays reach the Sun God
Rani ki Vav, Patan
A queen's stepwell, buried for centuries and dug back out
Kamnath Mahadev Temple, Raddu
Desi ghee kept for 650 years, with no fridge and no smell
Lord Brahma's Temple, Goa
We are told Pushkar has India's only Brahma temple. Goa has another, over 1,000 years old
Agni Vrishabha, Pateshwar
The fire god of the Rig Veda, carved exactly as the verse describes
Vishnu seated on Sheshnaag, Badami
A whole cave temple cut from a single rock
Rock-cut caves, Mahabalipuram
Durga fights Mahishasur across a single wall of rock
The 25,000 carvings of Halebidu
A temple wall that tells the Ramayana in stone
Belur's floating pillar
A 48-foot stone pillar with no foundation
Shivaganga Betta
Ghee turns to butter on the Shiva lingam
Shakuni's temple, Kerala
Where the villain of the Mahabharata prayed for the soldiers he sent to die
Trishund Ganapati, Pune
Ganesha with three trunks, riding a peacock
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
The world's largest Hindu temple, on a national flag