HOLY PLACES
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Venkatam Muthal Kumarivarai - Part II : Tho. Mu. Bhaskara Tondaiman; Kalaignan Pathippagam, 10, Kannadasan Salai, T. Nagar, Chennai - 600 017. RS. 80.
MANY RELIGIOUS books have been published throughout the world for enriching the devotional ardour of people desiring a spiritual elevation. Bharat is indeed a wonderland with its natural landscape consisting of huge mountain ranges, small hills, dense forests, rivers, oceans and temples.
A trek between Benares in the North and Rameswaram in the South is considered a holy pilgrimage. Those who ravel to have a holy dip in the sacred rivers like the Ganga, the Cauvery and the Tamraparni are delighted in seeing the temples, the fine deities and the beautiful sculptures. The historic and Pranic lore the epigraphical evidences and the near divine artistic excellence make them feel justly proud of their ancient and inimitable unique cultural heritage.
The author has dealt with 30 places of tourist and pilgrim interest in this book, which serves as an authentic guide. In narrating each temple complex in a fascinating manner, many details have been assiduously colleted from the Divyaprabandham, the Thevaram, the Sangam literature and later literature like Pillaithamizh and kalambakam. Importance is given to the many traditions unique to the particular temple. The photographs of deities, temples, mantaps and tanks lend splendour to the presentation.
Avoidable though are some references in the book where the author mentions that the idol forms of certain deities are not pleas
