South India 2008

Photos by Adam Jones

These photos were taken during two-and-a-half months in South India
(states of Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala) from June to August 2008.

Gallery 24: Kumbakonam, Darasuram, Swamimalai

I.

This photo and the next: more people shots from Kumbakonum. Here, eager supporters
of local politician Vijay Ganth pose with his portrait. (They also took a photo of me posing
with his portrait. At least they didn't expect a donation to the cause.) Like a great many Tamil Nadu
politicians, Ganth is a former movie actor; the cinema industry in the state capital, Chennai, is second
only to that of Mumbai's "Bollywood" in size.

II.

III.

This photo and following: inside the twelfth-century temple of Airaveteshwara, in
Darasuram village a few kilometres outside Kumbakonam. The temple is renowned
for its richly detailed sculptural work.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

There's a lot of communist iconography around Tamil Nadu state; the party,
which is committed to the democratic process, is strong here.

X.

This photo and following: in Swamimalai village, near Darasuram.

XI.

XII.

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