Ayyanar Horse temple in Chettinad, Tamal Nadu

This afternoon we went to a small temple in totally the middle of nowhere to visit a horse temple. This is a one off, no other temples with horses in it. There are 1000 of these ceramic horses and every year new ones are dedicated as the old ones, battered by monsoon storms, disintegrate and return to the soil.
The horses are believed to run around the local village at night and protect it from evil spirits.

We also visited some grand old homes in the area which whilst still belonging to wealthy families are not really lived in anymore. Some were over 200 years old with just 1 or 2 retainers keeping them together for owners who tend to use them for the odd wedding or two every 10 - 15 years. Beautiful old buildings, l have added a collage of some parts.