View from the Top of the Rock, looking over the native Town, Trichinopoly, India

The Ranganathaswamy Temple, dedicated to the god Vishnu, originated in the 1st century CE and is still active today. This view sets the gopura (temple entrance towers) in their urban context and juxtaposes the vast scale of the complex against the much humbler buildings where the Indian population lived and worked. To see carvings inside the temple complex, look at 2015.37 in the collection.