Built by Raja Raja of the Chola dynasty in 1010. The Nandi (cow) sculpture facing the main temple-shrine is carved from a single stone, weighing 25 tonnes and measuring 3m high by 6m long. The cloisters are the longest in India and several visitors told me the tower is famed for never casting a shadow.
For the first time, I entered the inner sanctums of a Hindu temple. I’d met an academic from the university at Chidamburam (the neighbouring town), who guided me in. At the lingam shrine, a brahmin marked pilgrims foreheads with ash. The atmosphere can be very charged in the inner shrines, which anyway are often closed to non-Hindus. I had refrained from encroaching on any so far. My host was delighted, and I was very happy to have had the experience. Later he explained to me that all are equal before god and also that gods of all faiths are the same god.
