Greetings from Japan. We moved here from Singapore recently.. so things have been in a state of flux and it explains my prolonged silence. Hopefully I can be a little more active (whether that is good or bad is for individuals to decide :)).
Anyway, one question that has always bugged me whenever I have visited Periya Kovil is the state of the moat surrounding it. One can clearly see the walls of the old fort.. so why hasn:t ASI cleaned up the moat and the surrounding areas? I am sure there must be archaeological treasures waiting to be unearthed there! Whenever I see the surrounding areas, I almost always imagine a secret tunnel or something leading in and out of the fort, such as the one used by Vanthiyathevan in the story. Any reasons why this hasn:t been done? Lack of money? Interest?
i guess a part of the moat around tanjore temple is a natural stream
but I guess we musnt dig too much for a popular legend goes to say the periya koil was built over another temple- the thalikulaththaar aalayam( mentioned by appar) though members remind me there have been grants issued for the thalikulaththaar alayam long after the big temple was uilt.
talking about archeology the gkc temple must also have a balocny around and above the lingam. any news on that( the gkc seems to be a more completed temple than tanjore) venketesh