📷 The Roof Was Already Theirs — India · 19 Jun 2026
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The Roof Was Already Theirs
India · architecture
Two macaques claim the ribbed sandstone shikhara of an old temple, silhouetted against an unreal turquoise sky. The architecture was built for gods — the gods, apparently, share.
Indian temple roofs are full of stone animals — lions, elephants, peacocks, bulls — carved into the shikhara as guardians and ornaments. What the carvers may not have anticipated is that the real animals would show up too. Macaques and langurs treat temple roofs the way pigeons treat European squares: prime real estate, with a view, slightly warm from the sun, and reliably free of human interference.
I caught these two on the ribbed dome of a side shrine. One had wedged itself into the recess beside the kalasha — the urn-shaped finial that crowns the spire — and was grooming itself with the focused air of a monk at vespers. The other sat lower down, scanning the courtyard for snacks. The sky behind them was so saturated it looked filtered. I checked the camera. It wasn't. Sometimes the world just looks like that.