Location : Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Built By: Rajaraja Chola In 11th
Century
Main Deity: Lord Shiva- Peruvudaiyar,
Rajarajeswaramudaiyar
Important Festivals Celebrated: The
Annual Festival Celebrated For 9
Days In The Month Of Visaka
(May-June) |
Tourism in
Thanjavur
The Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur is an
architectural wonder and reflects the
artistic skills of the erstwhile Chola
rulers who ruled peninsular India in the
early medieval period. Built by the Chola
king Rajaraja I in the 11th century, it is
one of the tallest temples in the world. It
was so designed that the Vimana never casts
a shadow at noon at any part of the year.
About The Temple
The origin of the magnificent Brihadeeswara
temple goes back to the late 10th and the
early 11th century, when Rajaraja Chola, the
great Chola ruler, ruled a kingdom that
spread through a large part of peninsular
India. Rajaraja Chola, like other Chola
rulers, was a great patron of art and
architecture. During the time of the Cholas,
most of the magnificent temples as well as
exquisite bronze sculptures in South India
were created. The style and grace of these
sculptures and temples, and an eye for the
minutest of the details, till today, is
without parallel.
Temple Architecture
Sama Varma was the chief architect of the
Chola court and was commissioned by Rajaraja
Chola to build the House of God. Sama Varma
began his work diligently and took his work
seriously. He began to design a structure,
which was to stand on a 29m square base and
rise up to a height of about 65 m. Like all
other Chola temples, the Brihadeeswara
temple is also a fully carved structure.
A 107 paragraph long inscription on the
walls of the Vimanam records the
contributions of Rajaraja Chola and his
sister Kundavai to the Thanjavur temple. The
temple stands within a fort, whose walls are
later additions built in the 16th century.
The towering Vimanam is about 200 feet in
height and is referred to as "Dakshina Meru".
The octogonal Shikharam rests on a single
block of granite weighing 81 tons. It is
believed that this block was carried up a
specially built ramp built from a site 6
kilometres away from here. Huge Nandis dot
the corners of the Shikharam (also spelt as
Shikhara), and the Kalasam on top by itself
is about 3.8 meteres in height. Hundreds of
stucco figures bejewel the Vimanam, although
it is possible that some of these may have
been added on during the Maratha period.
The Shivalingam - Peruvudaiya,
Rajarajeswaramudaiya - is a huge one, set in
a two storeyed sanctum, and the walls
surrounding the sanctum delight visitors as
a storehouse of murals and sculpture. The
Shivalinga of Sri Brihadeeswara is probably
the grandest in existence. This image was
originally called "Adavallan" (the one who
is good in Dance). Another name was
Dakshina-Meru Vitanken. Rajaraja Cholan
calls the image Rajarajeswaramudaiya, - The
Lord of Rajarajeswaram.
The long Prakaram surrounds the great temple
(500 feet/250 feet), and the walls
surrounding the Prakaram again go back to
Rajaraja Cholan's period. The walls house
long pillared corridors, which abound in
murals, Shiva Lingams and Nandis. The Periya
Nayaki temple within the temple is a later
addition from the Pandya period, and so is
the Subramanya temple sung later by the
Saint poet Arunagirinathar.
Noteworthy Sculptural Art
Incidents from the lives of the Nayanmars,
several of the 108 Bharatanatyam dance
postures, manifestations of Shiva (Aadalvallaan,
Nataraja, Tripurantaka, Dakshinamurthi etc.)
are depicted in sculptured panels or in
exquisite Chola murals. Both the interior
and the exterior walls of the temple are
replete with images of the kind described
above.
The Sanctum, the Ardhamandapam, the
Mukhamandapam and the Mahamandapam, although
distinct, form a composite unit with an
imposing appearance that awes visitors,
forcing one to wonder how such timeless
architectural feat was executed about 1000
years ago. Entrances to the Mandapams and
the towered entrances to the Prakarams are
majestic. The grandeur of the architecture
and the sculptural finesse speaks volumes of
the skills of the Imperial Cholas.
The Nandi, which dates back to the Nayak
period, is housed in its own Mandapam and it
matches up to the grandeur and size of the
temple. It is a monolithic Nandi weighing
about 25 tonnes, and is about 12 feet high
and 20 feet long.
Sub Shrines Within The Temple
The various shrines within the temple
include the Shrine of Sri Subramanya in the
northwest corner, Shrine of Goddess Sri
Brihannayagi, Sri Chandeeswara Shrine,
Shrine of Ganapati, Shrine of Dakshinamurti
in the north eastern corner, the colossal
monolith figure on Nandi, the sacred bull,
in the central courtyard and the Shrine of
Karuvurar
The Shrine Of Sri Subramanya
The Shrine of Sri Subramanya has been
pronounced to be "As exquisite piece of
decorative architecture as is to be found in
the south of India" and "A perfect gem of
carved stone work, the tooling of the stone
in the most exquisitely delicate and
elaborate patterns, remaining as clear and
sharp as the day it left the sculptor's
hands". Its correct place in the evolution
of Dravidian temple architecture would be
modern, giving it a date not earlier than
600 AD and is popularly believed to be of
the Nayak period.
The shrine consist of a tower 55 feet high,
raced on a base 45-sq-feet, covered with
delicately carved figured, pillars and
pilasters and carried on along a corridor 50
feet long, communicating with another
Mandapam 50 feet sq. to the east. Flights of
steps lead up to either side of the shrine
but the principal entrance is to the east.
The walls of the pillared Manadapam are
decorated with the portraits of the Mahratta
rulers.
The Shrine Of Goddess Brihanayaki
The Shrine of Goddess Brihanayaki is a later
addition, constructed in the second year of
a konerinmaikondan-probably a later Pandya
of the 13th century. It is said that the
original shrine of the Goddess, was located
in the adjoining Shivaganga gardens and was
later removed to main courtyard of the
temple by the one of the Nayaks.
The Shrine Of Ganapati
The Shrine of Ganapati is in the
southwestern corner of the court and is of
the time of Sarfoji II. Seven images of
Ganapati are said to have been set up by
Rajaraha Chola, 2 in the dancing posture, 3
seated comfortably, and the remaining 2
standing.
The Shrine Of Chandeeswara
The shrine on the north central court is the
only one put up contemporaneously with the
main temple. Chandeeswara is one of the 63
Saiva saints and is considered to have been
made the chief of Saiva devotees by Lord
Shiva. He is assigned a shrine and a
honoured place in every Shiva temple. He was
looked upon as the manager of the temple.
Any worshipper visiting a Shiva temple has
to appear at the Chandeeswara shrine before
leaving the temple premises and clap his
hands evidently to satisfy the God that he
is not taking away any temple property with
him.
Sri Dakshinamurti Shrine
Sri Dakshinamurti sanctum, with image as
originally enshrined in one of the niches of
the Vimanam, abutting the south wall of the
main temple and approached by a steep flight
of 21 stone steps is distinctly a later
addition.
The Great Nandi
The Nandi within an elaborately worked Nayak
Mandapam is massive and striking. The Nandi
is 12 feet high, 19.5 feet long and 18.25
feet wide. The Nandi is a monolith weighing
about 25 tons and the stone is said to have
come from a bed of Gneiss at the foot of
Pachaimalai near Perambalur. Another version
is that the stone was brought over from the
bed of the River Narmada in the north.
There is a tradition that the Nandhi is
growing in size with the progress of time.
It was feared it might become too large for
the Mandapam erected over it and a nail was
driven into the back of it, and since, its
size has remained stationery. Two portraits
statuesque on the front pillars of the Nandi
Mandapam are pointed out as those of
Sevappanayakan (the first Nayak ruler) and
of his son Achyutappa Nayak.
Saint Karuvurar's Shrine
Behind the main temple and under the shade
of a Neem and a Mandarai is a modern looking
shrine, dedicated to a great Siddha, Karuvur
Devar, popularly known as "Karuvurar". The
Karur Stalapurana narrates how the saint
helped Rajaraja Chola in the installation of
the great Brihadeeswara Shivalingam in the
sanctum sanctorum at the time of the
consecration of the temple. A place appears
to have been assigned to him for this
reason, in the temple court. Thursdays are
held sacred for his worship and shrine
attracts large crowd of devotees.
Temple Timings
The temple is kept open from 5:30 in the
morning to 12:00 in the noon. The temple
usually remains closed during the noon
hours, and reopens in the evening at 4:00
p.m. The temple closes in the night after
the last pujas are performed by 8:00 p.m.
Festivities
Every month, the day on which the ruling
star is Satabhishag is treated as a festival
as that was the ruling star at the time of
Rajaraja's birth. The other festival is
Krittika day in the month of Karttika (also
spelt as Kartik).
The annual festival for 9 days is celebrated
in the month of 'Visaka' (May-June), during
which the drama of Raja Rajeswara is also
enacted. The deity is daily bathed with
fragrant water in which the buds of big
Champaka flowers have been soaked. Ghee is
used in place of oil for keeping the temple
lamps burning. On festival days, the
offering consists of eight varieties of
cooked rice (mixed with tamarind, coconut,
lime, juice, jaggery, gingelly, curd, etc.).
Other items include cake made with Dal,
rice, pepper and mustard; vegetable dishes,
fried vegetables, sugar, plantain fruits,
tamarind, curd and ghee, and other items.
Regular Puja Services
Every day, regular pujas are performed to
the deities in the holy shrine. Pujas
include Archana, Abhishekam (also spelt as
Abhishek) and Prasad o ffering. The daily
offering to the deity consists of cooked
rice (rice hulled from paddy stocked for not
less than four months should be used for
cooking purposes), vegetable dishes, ghee,
Dal, rice boiled in milk, and Pansupari.
HOW TO GET THERE
Air: The nearest airport is at Trichy
(65-km).
Rail: There is a railway junction in
Thanjavur. It is well connected with Trichy,
Chennai, Madurai and Nagore.
Road: Thanjavur is well connected by road
with all the major towns and cities in Tamil
Nadu and also with Kochi , Ernakulam , and
Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Bangalore
in Karnataka . There are regular bus
services for visiting all places of interest
in and around Thanjavur.
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India
Travel Guide / States / Tamil Nadu / Cities / Thanjavur Travel
