A Road Less Travelled: A historian's guide to lesser known temples of Tami Nadu by Pradeep Chakravarthy

A ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: A historian's guide to lesser known temples of Tamil Nadu by Pradeep Chakravarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful book that brings forth to light the temples in the the off beaten tracks of Tamil Nadu. The author brings in a lot of passion into the description and background of the temples he has visited.

It arouses in one the desire to see these magnificent edifices. It is also disheartening to note that many of these have been vandalised by miscreants and sadly many by the restorers who have no knowledge on how to restore ancient treasures. White washed temple walls may appear great to the restorer but it pains one when one gets the know the paintings and the sculptures hidden behind the coat of lime.

Of all the temples that the author has visited and described the only ones that I seem to have visited were the Nava-Thirupatis in the Tirunelvelli district, thanks to my mother who made me undertake that journey. Although I do not have a very clear recollection of all the temples, I could remember a few of them.

When I now visit an ancient temple my point view would be very different than what it had been in all my past visits. Thanks Mr. Pradeep for opening my mind and heart.

A wonderful read for all temple and architecture lovers. One need not necessarily be a devotee to read the book.

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Periyar - A Political Biography of E. V. Ramaswamy by Bala Jeyaraman

Periyar: A Political Biography of E.V. Ramaswamy by Bala Jeyaraman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very balanced biography of the much revered political leader of Tamil Nadu. Just like any other leader he had his good points and his warts. As the author rightly says he is neither the saint that his followers make him out to be, nor is he a demon which his detractors make him out to be. He was an ordinary man who succumbed to the normal human temptation of attempting to make the whole world see things from his point of view.

The good part was that he wanted a society where everybody is equal irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. Some of the stance that he took were militant, like cutting off the tufts and sacred thread of the brahmins. It is arguable if they really deserved it. And in the later part of his life he seems to have become power crazy, power to bring his dreams to reality.

The other deified leader who has been brought down to earth in this book is Rajagopalachari. Many think he was a paragon of virtue, but this book brings out the shades of grey in him as well.

A eminently readable book.

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