TNB - Tanjore's Big (and excellent) Temple

We continued from Chidambaram to Tanjore (or Thanjavur - sounds like Tanjore if you say it fast enough) to halt for the night. But since it was still sort of light out, we went ahead and visited the "Big Temple" - the Brihadishwar Temple. Our visit highlighted to me the stark difference between many temples of India.

I can gauge how a visit to a temple is going to turn out by looking at the ground. I have had the best experiences (not necessarily spiritual) at the temples that are the cleanest. And it makes sense: If you treat a place like the house of God, you wouldn't want to mistreat people there - God's watching! Akshardham - spotless. The Krishna Mandir, Naggar - spotless. The Brihadishwar Temple, Tanjore - spotless.

The temple guide, from the getgo was very obviously proud to show people around the temple. He wasn't a priest but he knew a lot. But he did one thing that I've been hoping guides would do all around the world. He told a story. He placed the Brihadishwar temple into the context of the Pallavas and Cholas - how Rajaraja built this temple in a revisionist style that rejected the idea that the entry gate should be taller than the main sanctum spire. He also weaved the story of the sociological evolution of Hindu Gods in India into the tale. And on top of that he only asked for Rs. 150/- not to be paid until we were satisfied. He even stopped his tour midsentence as we approached the sanctum sanctorum (his favorite phrase) to bow and pray to the Shivalingam within - that he forgot what he was saying made me believe it wasn't just for show. Then he made sure the Pujari waited till JM and I had taken aarti and gotten prasad. Then at the end, he sat with us for 20 minutes because he wanted to make sure we stayed to see the sun set over the temple and explained how all the deities - Vishnu, Murugan, Subramanian, Shiva, Ganesha, Parvati, and Durga all fit together into the jigsaw framework of Hinduism. Really spectacular.

As he left, I had to remind him that I hadn't paid him yet.