Tanjore Pagoda. The great pyramidal tower

During his military career Edmund David Lyon was Governor of Dublin District Prison (Military), 1854-56. He later worked as a professional photographer in India, with a studio in Ootacamund. From 1867-1868 he was commissioned by the Madras and Bombay Governments to photograph archaeological and architectural antiquities and produced an extensive documentary record of South Indian architecture as exemplified by this view of the monumental Brihadishvara Temple at Thanjavur, the most impressive architectural achievement of the Chola era. The great king Rajaraja I, who founded the whole construction of the temple around 1010, personally presented the golden pot finial which is still to this day at the summit of the 70 m tower.