. For someone who fought with his grandmother and vowed never to set foot in temples again for all the stupid superstitious rituals associated with it, I have come really a long way. I don't know exactly when the fascination for Thanjai Periya Kovil started for me. I think it was after i finished reading “Ponniyin Selvan” novel. Ponniyin Selvan changed me completely.... it made me to explore the Tanjore temple and trasnformed me as someone who has interests in historical temples, sculptures,architecture and their heritage.
Thoughts about making the documentary film:
I have been planning to make a documentary film on thanjavur periya kovil for a long. time I wanted to make the film so as to bring out the architectural finesse of the 1000 year old temple in a video so that it reaches a wider audience. The idea is to make the viewers aware of all the unique features of the various structures, scriptures and statues of the tanjore temple and make them appreciate the rich Tamil history of the Cholan era. 2010 is the 1000th year since the temple was constructed. So I discussed with my friends who are part of 3ifactory design studio – Sreejith and Vishwaant and they readily agreed to make the documentary film. I have seen few documentaries which includes Thanjai Periya kovil like the one from BBC - Michael Wood's "The Story of India" - Part4 (Ages of Gold) (video link) and NGC's "The Lost temples of South East Asia" (video link).Though they were visually spectacular there were lot of errors with respect to the history of the temple and they didn't cover the Periya kovil in its entirety.
Just wanted to share what we did during our trip to Tanjore, Trichy and Kumbakonam.
Following is a compilation of tweets that i posted during the trip! Enjoy :)
Day0:
* Planning 2 go 2 Kumbakonam, Trichy & Thanjavur with my coll friends. Leaving tonite! Hope I get some good pics in the trip. Will b back on Monday | 8:51 AM Jul 16th.
* TAnjored!!!! :) 8:19 PM Jul 16th.
* I think am over excited. Its 2:35 AM now and I am still not able to sleep.| 2:34 AM Jul 17th.
* Is it because of the excitement of touring lot of new places with my friends? | 2:35 AM Jul 17th.
* Or is it because of the beautiful girl who is sleeping opposite my berth. | 2:36 AM Jul 17th.
Day1:
* My breakfast today. 2parottas-rs.4, 1 dosa-Rs.2, 1 vada-rs.1. Beat that:-P | 10:48 AM Jul 17th.
* Going to swamimalai now (Murugan Temple) | 10:54 AM Jul 17th.
* After seeing the wonderful temple in darasuram, which is also an UNESCO HERITAGE SITE, v r nw having lunch in meenakshi bhavan, kmu | 1:41 PM Jul 17th.
* Darasuram temple is wonderfully maintained by the ASI. If you are visiting kumbakonam, don't miss the darasuram temple | 1:43 PM Jul 17th.
* Watched Nadodigal film in kumbakonam, awesome movie. Now proceeding to Magaamaga kulam. | 5:30 PM Jul 17th.
* Worshipped Adhi kumbeshwarar also came to know about how Shiva created this temple. :) | 7:26 PM Jul 17th.
* Still searching for k7, he again got lost in a prasadam stall. | 7:30 PM Jul 17th.
Day2:
* Going to trichy now. A pleasant weather, great weather for sightseeing. | 7:50 AM Jul 18th.
* Had a good darshan of Aranganadhar, Srirangam. | 1:51 PM Jul 18th.
* Saw the mandapam where kambar recited Kambaramanayam. I have no words to describe the feeling. :) | 1:52 PM Jul 18th.
* Went to rockfort. Come to know about the four different forms that can be seen of the mountain. :) | 5:48 PM Jul 18th.
* Looking from different angles one can see the lingam,vinayagar,kamadhenu and singa forms of MALAIKOVIL (Rockfort) | 5:50 PM Jul 18th.
* Got nearly blown away by the wind in rockfort. Will upload video once I come back. | 5:52 PM Jul 18th.
* Thiruvaanaikal - thiru+aanai+kaal. Beautiful temple of shiva. Shiva as Jalangandeshwarar. One of the panchabootham (Water form) | 5:56 PM Jul 18th.
* Shivalingam in thiruvaanaikal wil always b submerged in water. There is a natural spring near the lingam. Awesome. | 5:58 PM Jul 18th.
* Went to kallanai the dam built by Karikal cholan, in 12th century yesterday. | 5:21 AM Jul 19th.
* Came by Thiruvaiyaaru - (the place where five rivers meet) while returning from trichy. | 5:24 AM Jul 19th.
Day3:
* Getting ready to play cricket in my village ground. :), i hope the ground is not crowded | 5:25 AM Jul 19th.
* Today was the best sunday morning in my life so far. Had a terrific time now. | 12:22 PM Jul 19th.
* Woke up at 5, and then played cricket in my village cricket ground for two hours. Though we lost the series 1-2 we enjoyed the game. | 12:25 PM Jul 19th.
* Total elani (Tender Coconuts) that i had today = 8. Those were the sweetest i have ever had. Total elanis that v all had = 50+ totally! | 12:30 PM Jul 19th.
* Playing Cricket + Having refreshing Elani = Heaven ;-) | 12:34 PM Jul 19th.
* Most of my friends had never seen a bore set. Today they all took bath in one of the bore set and had the best time of their lives. | 12:37 PM Jul 19th.
* 1 bore set and thirteen friends. Lush green paddy fields, coconut trees. Relaxation Unlimited. | 12:39 PM Jul 19th.
* Sitting in the tallest tower in tanjore (The Bell Tower) and twittering. Now thats fun, with high speed winds for company. Thrilling exp | 2:30 PM Jul 19th.
