Another day, another temple...

... But this temple looks very different to yesterday's. It's the Brihadeswarar Temple or "Big Temple" in Thanjavur, which is an hour and a half by bus from Trichy where I've been staying. It has an outer courtyard with pillars which reminded me of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. They are both from the same Dravidian style of temple architecture.

It was really busy. I'm not sure if it's always that busy on a Saturday or whether there was some event or special day happening. The extra shows crowds queuing to go up the steps into the main inner temple and others watching a dancer in front of the giant granite bull statue. There were a lot of school groups and Indian tourists. I lost count of the number of times someone asked if they could have their photo taken with me. Seems having your photo taken with a random foreigner you met for 10 seconds while you're on holiday is very popular here!

For my main blip I was lucky to find an angle and timing that makes the place look very quiet! After I took the shot I found a group of schoolgirls patiently waiting so they didn't walk in front of me!