Date:18/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/18/stories/2006031818900500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Book on South Indian temples released

Staff Reporter

The 316-page work takes the reader through prominent shrines, covering their history, legend

Chennai: Temples are not mere symbols of our religion, but representatives of our culture, engineering skills and traditions, C. Chandramouli, Commissioner, Tourism, said on Thursday.

Releasing a book on `Temples of South India,' written by Ambujam Anantharaman and published by East West Books (Madras), he said that the Agama sastras laid down the depth of the foundation if the temple tower had to be of a certain height. There were maintenance manuals, which spoke of the rules for periodic protection, care and renovation of the temples, he said.

The Oushadha Mandapams were the hospitals where medicines were dispensed with in temples, the Vyakarana Mandapams were places of learning while the Natya Mandapams and Chitra Sabhais were places for music, art and dance, he said.

S.B. Arya, Chief of Bureau, United News of India and Nanditha Krishna, Director, C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation spoke about the treasure trove of culture that contained in temples in India. K.S. Padmanabhan, Managing Director of East West Books, S. Anantharaman, Chief Passenger Traffic Manager, Southern Railway, (the author's husband) also spoke. The 316-page book takes the reader through the prominent temples in South India, covering their history, legend, devotional and societal aspects. It provides information to help tourists plan a visit to the temples. The author said that the book was born out of a series of articles about the temples of Tamil Nadu for an online magazine.