I have always been amazed by the love shown towards Tamil culture and heritage by Tamil diaspora from across the world more than the locals in Tamil Nadu.  Yalini Raja is one such person who, even though being from Canada has immense love for the Tamil culture and especially the Tanjore Big Temple. So when she approached me for a dance portfolio shoot at the Big Temple, I couldn’t but  grab the opportunity. Apart from the grandeur of architecture and sculpture, the Big Temple is an ode to dancers. In its heyday, the temple had 400 classical dancers from across the Tamil land who devoted their life to dance at the temple. And the great king Raja Raja meticulously had their names engraved in the temple walls which can still be seen today after 1000 years. The temple even has natya karanas in sculptures inside the sanctum. So a dance shoot in this temple just felt right.

Here are the pictures from the shoot.