Temples of south India, Authored by Dr. Surendra Sahai should rank amongst the most comprehensive and scholarly books written on temples in the peninsula. The huge canvas presented a daunting task involving tremendous research work and great photography. Great temple towns like Pattadakal, Kanchipuram Chidambaram, Srirangam, Madurai and Rameshwaram still draw millions of devotees, Cynics, historians, tourists and photographers from distant lands, no one goes back withour a rewarding experience of a lifetime. The architectural splendour of these gigantic temples and their aura of spiritual glory is an unforgettable experience. Why don't we build temples like these anymore? There are skyscrapers, glass monstrosities concrete forests, nut nothing to match the artistic and spiritual splendour of these temples build centuries ago. Mathew Arnold, the Victorian poet, writes about this “strange disease of modern life”-disillusionment and loss of faith in the higher values of life: ?the sea of faith Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd . But now I Hear Its Melancholy, long withdrawing roar Retreating to the breath Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear And naked shingles of the world? If, besides adding to our knowledge of these monumental temples of faith, the book rekindles that extinguished glimmer of hope and faith in our minds, it will be greatly rewarding. Dr Surnedra Sahai provides an extremely well-researched text and exquisite photographs shot at both famous and remote, forgotten places.
