Land of Kovils கோவில்
The temples of Tamil Nadu, photographed with care and documented in three registers held deliberately apart: what stands, what can be dated and cited, and what is told. Begin with a region.
Four historic countries of the Tamil land
The northern country around Kāñchipuram and the old Pallava heartland — cave shrines, the earliest structural temples, and the great coastal monuments of Mahābalipuram.
The Kāvēri delta, the imperial Chōḷa country — Thanjāvūr, Gangaikoṇḍa Chōḷapuram, Dārāsuram — where the southern temple reached its fullest statement.
The western uplands around Kōyamputtūr and Karūr — a distinct temple country at the watershed between the Tamil plains and the Ghats.
The southern country of Madurai and the far coast — the Pāṇḍya and Nāyaka temple cities, the great gopuram fronts, and the land’s end at Kanyākumari.
