Day by day I see great discussions opening up in PS. The new one being whether we should take pictures of 'moolavars' in temples.
I had a great experience with a different group that I had subscribed three years before. What started as a 'fight' ('benevolent' fight like the ones initiated by Mr. Aazhvaarkadiyaan) between two members on the world's oldest language (Sanksrit or Tamil) went on to provide great insights with examples of historical milestones the Indian culture had once achieved. So good was the discussion that I now repent deleting those emails from my inbox(as the group later collapsed due to some unknown intruder who cracked and misused administrative privileges)
Coming back to our topic, I do feel that there is nothing wrong in taking such pictures. There are special cases where archaeologists point out that the light could initiate chemical reactions in some paintings as in the case of Ajanta/Ellora ('sevi vazhich cheidhi' - correct me if I'm wrong). But I dont see any reason why the moolavar deities should not be videotaped or photographed.
Another argument could be made on the laying of tiles within the main sannidhi. Many of us disagree that the place loses is asthetic appeal once this is done. I agree that this is how I too feel in the case of tiles. But marble flooring? I have seen some temples in Bangalore with marble flooring that looks as appealing to the eye as many of the other temples.
Having said that, I should also say that it is more of a cultural issue (of perception) as we use tiles mainly in our bathrooms.
I've often heard that when the deities were installed in the temples, the people who did so were highly evolved spiritually (meaning that they were probably siddhars)- and they transferred some of their own essence to these deities. Instead of worshipping mere stone, this meant that we were now in the presence of the life-force of highly evolved beings-in a subtle form.
It also meant that foreign particles and rays had to be kept at a minimum, to preserve the 'saannithyam'. Hence, the banning of photographs.
The person who told me this also lamented the fact that it was no use today- for a bit of money anybody would sell the Moolavar itself!