Incredibly Creative Yali Pillars at the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, Tamil Nadu, India

The Yali is an incredibly recurrent motif in Hindu temple architecture. Most often the Yali is portrayed as part lion and part elephant- sometimes also part horse. The Yali sculpted on the outer pillars of the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram caught my eye because of how exquisitely the sculptors had carved the tail of the creature- yes…