Nandhi temple

In Nandhi village, I happened upon a temple. This temple is not in any guidebooks, which is unbelievable. The temple is huge and dates back to the 6th century. It is, without a doubt, my favorite temple in India so far. Everything inside was remarkably preserved. Normally you will see carvings that are worn down or broken off - but not here. A nice gentleman followed me around, trying to proudly show off the temple in broken English. At one point he flicked the stone sculptures... and I heard a metal ringing sound. It turns out that all the stones were picked because the metal content is very high, and so they've lasted through the years.

Towards the end of my time at the temple, I got to see something interesting. They took one of the gods out and marched it in circles around the temple, banging drums and playing horns the whole time. I was standing in the wrong place and when they went to put it back in its "home," I was nearly trampled by the procession. But I was right in the midst of everything, which was a neat experience.
You can't take pictures inside a temple, so all of this will have to stay in my memory. Outside the temple were two structures that looked like medieval war machines. They were enormous wooden structures with huge stone wheels, and they were decorated with colorful banners. I'll never know quite what they were, but they were impressive.