Indian Columbus

Ten heads flare in defiance. A single bow is drawn in response. A deer glows deceptively. Brothers clash in a forest duel. A vanara kneels before a sorrowing queen. Flames rise. A coronation follows. This is not unfolding in a sprawling Chola complex. Not in Hampi. Not in a monument celebrated in every history book. It is in Pulicat. Or, to call it by its older name, Pazhaverkadu. Yes...the same Pulicat near Chennai, better known today for lagoon sunsets, migratory birds and weekend boating. Step inside an unassuming temple here. Do not look straight ahead. Look up. Across the laterite roof cross-beams runs an entire epic, carved in miniature. Miniature figures march across horizontal panels, episode after episode, as though the Ramayana chose to live quietly above our heads rather than on towering walls. Welcome to the Adi Narayana Perumal Temple of Pazhaverkadu . A Ramayana in Miniature The most astonishing sculptural programme of this temple is not on its façade. It...