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)
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 th e
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.
Th e
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. Tourist taxis are also available.
WHERE TO STAY
Accommodation is available at the
moderate class hotels, dharmasalas and lodges in Thanjavur. Hotels
in Thanjavur
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