Stone figures hardened by ascetic discipline and heroic effort face north in deep shadow. There they meet the gazes of the same gods and goddesses but with gentler bodies enacting grace, warmth, seduction, and marriage, drenched in sunlight, facing south. These figures adorn the eighth-century Kailasanatha temple complex in southeastern India, built by rulers who were both warriors and ascetics, engaged in the work of this world and in spiritual quests. They designed their temple as an exuberant visual feast to sustain both modes of being. In Opening Kailasanatha, Padma Kaimal deciphers the intentions of the monument’s makers, reaching back across centuries to illuminate worldviews of the ancient Indic south. She reveals how circling the complex in a clockwise direction focuses the mind and spirit on worldly engagement; in a counterclockwise direction, on renunciation and ascetic practice. This pairing of highly charged, complementary pathways enabled devotees to grasp these counterpoised opportunities in their own listening, gazing, moving bodies. By focusing on the material form of the complex—the architecture, inscriptions, and sculptures, along with the spaces they carve out that guide light, shadow, sound, and footsteps—Kaimal offers insights that complement what surviving texts tell us about Shaiva Siddhanta ideas and practices, providing a rare opportunity to walk in the distant past.

Paper presented at the Conference on "Indian Painting : The Lesser Known Traditions", held at Houston in March 2008.

Kanchi, the ancient capital city of the South, teems with historic temples of great beauty and grandeur. The magnificent temple of Lord Varadaraja, situated in Vishnu-Kanchi, has played a remarkable part in fostering the growth of Sri-Vaishnavism and has justly been ranked with the famous temples of Srirangam and Tirupati as the holiest of the holies. This is the first comprehensive and illustrated treatise on this hoary temple, focusing attention of the various aspects like the origin and the growth of the temple, critical review of the temple traditions, the role of the temple in the growth of Sri-Vaishnavism, the association of the acharyas like Ramanuja with the temple, besides the pivotal role the temple has played in the social and cultural life of the community. The vast literature that has grown round the temple and the five hundred and odd inscriptions that crowd the wall-spaces of the shrines provide a sumptuous source material for this study. One of the largest temple complexes of South India, the temple presents interesting variety of architectural and sculptural styles of different schools. The temple is particularly rich in Vaishnava iconography. The book provides a detailed study and interpretation of these features with the help of hitherto unpublished photographs and drawings. The book also brings to light the presence of fine paintings of the Vijayanagar times that are found in the dark cloister around the sanctum. The book is a distinct contribution to the field of historical and architectural studies of ancient Indian temples.

Although Hudson died without completing 'The Body of God', the work has been edited and brought to fruition by Margaret Case. The book is a detailed study of a renowned Tamil Hindu temple, the Vaikuntha Perumal (ca. 770 CE). Hudson uses this temple as an illustration of a major current and historical stage in South Indian Vaisnava religion.

MAHABALIPURAM became a world heritage site in 1984. This group of monuments (mostly sanctuaries), founded by the Pallava kings, is carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famous 'Descent of the Ganges', and the temple of Rivage, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva.