Temples of the South

Situated on the shores of Tamil Nadu, near the states of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari, lies the Tiruchendur Temple. It is one of the six main shrines of Murugan (a god).

I got this photo of a gopuram of the temple. A gopuram is basically a prominent architectural feature present in South Indian temples, at the entrance of a temple.

In the next picture, you can see the gopuram of the Tirunelveli Temple (in Tirunelveli). Gopurams are beautifully decorated with intricate carvings, painted and decorated with characters (sages, deities, their incarnations and symbols) from Hindu mythology. The carvings often have to do with the particular deity that each gopuram is assosciated with.

In the first photo, you can clearly see a blue spear kind of weapons, which is known as the 'vel'. The 'vel' is the symbol/ main weapon of the deity Murugan.

Click on the post's title for more info on South Indian Temples, which I found really interesting!