Photo book captures myriad facets of Tiruparankundram

During a function organised at the Government Museum here, the book titled ‘Other Face of Thiruparankundram’ was released by famous writer Indra Soundar Rajan. After releasing the book, Indra Soundar Rajan praised the author, Reflin, for her work and said Tirupparankundram has been beautifully captured in the book. 

He said Madurai has a rich history and no book can entirely cover all of its aspects. He was also a bit cautious on making Tirupparankundram famous. “The more we make a place famous, the more vulnerable it becomes,” said Indra Soundar Rajan. However, he appreciated Reflin for her efforts to capture the features of Tirupparankundram such as fish, monkeys, the sculptures and the stories behind them. Speaking about her book, Reflin said she started working on it from July and in the past three months, she went to the Tirupparankundram hills daily to capture various images.

Out of more than 6,000 images, she carefully chose 225 images for her book and explained about the pictures with the help of historical documents. She said when one thinks about Tirupparankundram, they will instantly think about the Murugan temple but there are several other aspects to the town. She has focused on Jain beds, present at 300 metres in the hill, the Kasi Viswanathar Temple, atop the hills, and a Dargah for Sikandar Badshah, in the foothills. Also, she has focused on the fauna especially the monkeys of Tirupparankundram which are rather friendly, said Reflin. 

‘Other Face of Thiruparankundram’ is the third book of Reflin.