Orissa is the home of the Orissi classical dance, and the features of the dance are illustrated on the carvings at the temples.  This picture, taken by my wife Rachel at the Lingaraja temple in Bhuvaneshvar, shows dancers striking various poses redolent of the Orissi dance itself.  In the same way, the outside of many Hindu temples are decorated with intense concentraations of sculpture. 

Madurai        

Madurai is in deep South India, and the south Indian temple style emphasizes temples that cover large areas--many of them are virtual cities in themselves-- bounded by barrier walls, with great gates called gopurams at the cardinal directions. This image shows the facade of one of the gopurams at Madurai's Minakshi temple; in the original city plan this temple was dead center in the city. 

Here's another shot of the same gopuram, from the side. This gopuram is about as high as a ten-story building, and you can climb a little stairway all the way to the top (no guard rail, no liability). Although the figures look plain here, they are painted in vibrant colors every couple of years, and in short order the south Indian sun bakes all the color off again. 

Both of these pictures were taken in October 1985. 

Amritsar ("pool of nectar") is the most sacred city for the Sikh religious community. Amritsar's holiest place is the Harmandir, also known as the Golden Temple, since the upper part of the building is covered with copper plates gilded with gold leaf. Amritsar was founded by Guru Ram Das (d. 1581), the fourth of the ten Sikh gurus, but the present temple was built by Ranjit Singh, who ruled the Sikh kingdom in the early nineteenth century.

Sikhs are monotheists who have always avoided the worship of images; the most sacred object in the Golden Temple is a copy of their scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. . The dome on the left side of the building here is supposed to represent an inverted lotus, through which the nectar of God's wisdom can be poured out to humans below.  This photo is taken from the marble walkway that surrounds the Harmandir, and the "guru's bridge" through which one gets out to it can be seen at the left.  Anyone may enter the Harmandir, and in fact the Sikhs are very proud of it, and love to show it off--but all visitors must remove their shoes and cover their heads as signs of respect.  This picture was taken in the late afternoon in Jan. 1999, and shows off the reflecting pool to good advantage.

Here's a shot taken at night on the same visit.  The Harmindir's beauty is evident at every level--the lowest level of the building has elaborate pietra dura inlay work, reminiscent of the Taj Mahal, and the interior has elaborate paintings in vegetal motifs (flowers and trailing vines).  This photo also can't convey the attitude that Sikh pilgrims carry with them--the whole complex is immaculately clean, and is maintained that way entirely through volunteer labor by the Sikhs themselves.  Sikhs see such labor in service to others as a religious duty, whether in moppping the marble walkways, cooking food in the langar, or working on construction and renovation projects.