And then there was light - from heaven.

Was it Kumbhakonam, or Darasuram? Can't remember.

The expansive temple was desolate, damp and creepingly silent. Like some treasure hunters in a cave six of us exploring each direction. Me panning a 360 through my viewfinder and suddenly there was this pool of light - godsent from heaven. Before even I could check the meter or frame, Raji was walking past. "look up' I screamed - and the moment was frozen for posterity.

Birju Maharaj would have adored the styling though!

I realize that architecture until a generation ago had always had this drama of 'layering' light and shade areas within structures. Remember the houses our grandpartents built with a courtyard in the centre? You open the front door, you see a dark veranda. Beyond which you have the well-lit courtyard and beyond that a rather dark room that has a window opening to the sun-lit backyard again and so on....
I guess like plants human beings also have a tendency to be drawn towards sunlight.
Have you noticed that in a restaurant you would prefer to face the entrace door that opens to the street beyond than facing the kitchen wall inside?
Remember those special requests for the window seats you always insisted on a journey?
Next time you enter an air conditioned, modern living room profusely furnished with wall to wall & floor to ceiling curtains, politely ask your host to open the windows for you instead!