Mountains of Stone

The Cholas left behind a Dravidian architecture of soaring vimanas and chiseled granite. Three of their temples — Brihadeeswara at Thanjavur, the temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and the jewel-like Airavatesvara at Darasuram — are together inscribed by UNESCO as the Great Living Chola Temples, still in worship a thousand years on.