About an hour on the train west from Thanjavur, got me to Tiruchirappalla or Trichy, a city of around 1 million people. Which is home to the Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple in Srirangam.

Some of the temple entrance towers are shown here from a section of the rooftop that is accessible. It is a busy temple complex with several shrines and smaller temples within. There are several entrance towers as you can see the people entering below.

It took awhile to explore and see around the temples with lots of colour all around. As this door shows great detail with the figures either side and colourful surround.

It is one of the largest functioning temples in the world covering over 60 hectares, with the main shrine dedicated to Vishnu. Most of the temple complex dates back to the 14th century and you walk through several courtyards before reaching the inner most temple, which only Hindus can visit inside.

After lunch, I tackled the steps cut into the rock, to climb the rock fort that stands above Trichy. It stands 80m above the city and had a good views. I could see across the river to Srirangam where I had been at the temple in the morning.