Perhaps your idea of bhakthi is different from mine- I too have felt the same things you describe. I may not have had the fortune to spend 4 years there- but I have had my own experiences. In fact, when Sathya and I walked through the corridors in the Periya Koil, I lagged behind...feeling the stone pillars lining the corridors.
I always do that, in most temples- my theory is rather-different. I've always felt that you 'feel' the atmosphere of that place through your mind- and touching the stones and inscriptions helps you to do it. (Looong ago, I wrote a story in which the hero time-travels into 10th century Chola period by touching the inscriptions in the Periya Koil:-))
Doing this, I've held the same conversations you held, thought about and felt very much the same things you've described- I have a weird fantasy that if your mind is powerful enough, you *can* be transported into the past.
In fact, all through the trip my mind kept going back to the 10th century AD....especially in the Periya Koil, where I felt Raja raja's presence most of all. (I feel it even now-though I'm sitting in an airconditioned office, tapping on my keyboard).
Perhaps that's what I'm trying to say, I felt the weight of so many Chozha kings, their personalities, their pride, their magnificence, their humility, the heights they rose to fill me with a pride, happiness that I cannot even begin to describe.
As I touched those cool stone pillars and raised my eyes to the sculptures, I admit I felt divinity- but I must confess that it was overshadowed by Raja raja Chozhan's spirit.:-))