Many years back, when I visited the National Museum in Delhi, one of the images that I was most impressed by, was the Surya from Konark. I remember being rooted to the ground as I stood in front of the sculpture, admiring every detail, simply unable to walk away. There are various ideas of where the sculpture was placed in the temple, but wherever it was placed, there is no question that it would have drawn all eyes. I remember wondering back then, if this single sculpture was so impressive, how much more impressive the temple would have been! The first thing that struck me about the Konark temple during my first visit, was its size. I have seen huge ancient temples before – the Brihadeeshwara temple and the Kandariya Mahadev temple, to name just two. However, Konark was something else. It was awe-inspiring to even think of just how much larger the original temple would have been, with its main spire intact. So many years later, on my second visit, the size was still impressive, bu...
The Mattancherry Jetty was busy, crowded, and lined with shops. A horde of tourists had just arrived, and amidst all the chaos, we couldn’t figure out where was the palace. It was our auto driver who pointed out the arched doorway, urging us out, obviously in a hurry to be paid and find his next customer. Walking inside, the first thing we saw was the temple of Pazhayannur Bhagavathy, and we wondered once again, if we were indeed at the right place. Thankfully, an ASI board pointed us to the staircase, which led us up to the first floor, where a wearied looking caretaker sold us tickets to visit the palace, which is now a museum.