A long standing wish on my bucket list was to visit my ancestral hometown which I could luckily strike off recently when I took a trip to Thanjavur.

Thanjavur, situated on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu was the capital of the Cholas - one of the greatest dynasties of the south. This city is named after the Asura, Tanjan, who was killed by Sri Anandavalli Amman and Lord Vishnu and his last wish was to have a city named after him. Though the history of Thanjavur dates back to the Sangam era, it was during the reign of the Cholas that the city rose to the zenith of popularity becoming the center for Tamil learning and culture. The Cholas were passionate temple builders and Thanjavur bears witness to this with more than 70 temples in and around the city, of which Brihadeeswara temple is world famous. Thanjavur has one of the most fertile lands and is called the ‘Rice bowl of Tamil Nadu’ as it is an important agricultural center in the Cauvery delta.

Brihadeeswara Temple – ‘Periya Kovil’

The moment I first set my eyes on this temple it left me overwhelmed. It is an engineering marvel and artistic jewel that leaves you spell bound and it took me a while to take-in all the beauty around me. I was extremely lucky as the weather was nothing less than heavenly with bright blue skies and a dash of clouds enhanced the beauty of this temple manifold.

I am not well versed with history but I have read a little of this temple’s history as I was visiting it. This temple was built when the Chola Empire was at its peak, by Raja Raja Cholan I and his sister, Kundavai who were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. He and his successors are believed to have moved more stone than the great pyramid of Giza to build temples. The construction of the temple begun in 1003 AD and was finished by 1010 AD, which is an astounding achievement considering the unimaginable attention to detail and intricacies that this temple possesses. There are many interesting facts about the temple which is absolutely fascinating so I will try to share them as I write on.
The entire temple structure is said to be made of 60,000 tonnes of granite that was transported into the city as there is no granite quarry within 50-100 km radius! There are two gopurams at the entrance - the main entrance is called the 'Keralantakam' which leads to another gopuram, the entrance called 'Rasarasan'.

Two Gopurams at the entrance of the temple with skillful carving

This opens into to the massive temple corridor that houses the main shrine and other shrines which were built in various stages of history.

Temple complex with the Sanctum and Nandi

On entering the temple complex the most remarkable feature one notices is the 'Vimaana' (structures over the sanctum sanctorum) which is the biggest in the world, standing at 216 feet (66 meters) with fourteen storeys, each one decorated with complex carvings. Many believed that the structure and architecture was such that the shadow never fell on the ground at noon, though this has been proved false by some scientists.

The Srivimana of Brihadeeswara Temple, the largest of its kind. View from behind (right)

 Carvings on the fourteen storey Srivimana

 An architectural marvel of this structure is the 'Kumbam' at the top of the Vimaana, which is carved from a single stone and weighs 80 tons. It is still a subject of wonder as to how such massive amount of granite was carried to the top of this enormous structure and many believe that there were enormous ramps which were several kilometers long that transported the granite using elephants. This temple is called the Dakshina Meru, analogous to the 'Uttara Meru' of Sri Kailas.

Monolithic ‘Kumbam’- a cupola that weighs 80 tons

There is a gigantic 'Nandi' (bull) about 12 feet high resting underneath a 16 pillared Manadapam which is present right opposite to the main sanctum. This is the second largest monolith of its kind in the country after the one in Lepakshi (Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh). Inside the sanctum sanctorum stands the colossal Shivalingam (also called as Peruvudaiyar, Rajarajeswaramudaiyar) at 12 feet in height and 5 feet in diameter and is surrounded outside by walls with murals and scriptures. These inscriptions are believed to contain details of the temple’s construction, donations, fund utilization, daily rituals to be performed to the Linga etc (for more details see link).

The second largest monolith Nandi with fresco paintings on the ceiling

 Idol carvings and inscriptions in ancient Tamil that surround the walls of the Sanctum

Along the vast temple ground are pillared corridors with many Nandis mounted on them which surround other shrines dedicated to Lord Ganesha, Lord Subramanya and Goddess Brahanayaki (Parvathi). In the inner courtyard there are many Shivlingas and superb fresco paintings that adorn the walls resonant of the cave paintings of Ajanta.

Lord Subramanya Temple with breathtaking attention to detail in the carvings

Nandi that adorn the pillared walls of the temple and the corridor (right)

This temple is a photographer’s paradise and the more you spend time the more new aspects you notice. This temple is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site and has been excellently maintained by the Archeological Survey of India.

Thanjavur Maratha Palace

Popularly called as the “Thanjavur Aranmanai”, this royal palace was built by both the Nayaks and Marathas, serving as the official residence of the Bhonsle family who ruled from 1676 to 1855. This palace is an assortment of ancient ruins, art, paraphernalia etc. and houses many prominent attractions – mainly the Durbar Hall, the art gallery, the Bell Tower, the Saraswathi Mahal manuscript library.

Maratha Durbar Hall: This is a large pavilion embellished with colorful murals and was the place where the Marathas gave audience. This part of the palace hasn’t been maintained well as you can see from the photo; the murals need a lot of attention/restoration without no one guarding the place for vandalism on the walls. It leads into a pillared corridor which has many miscellaneous sculptures, ancient doors, stone windows etc.

 Durbar Hall

Ancient Door, Stone window, sculptures

Arsenal tower and Bell tower: There is a pyramidal structure called as the ‘Koodagopuram’ which was believed to be the Arsenal tower, the top floor being used as a watch tower and the remaining floors being used for storing arms and ammunition. Another interesting building is the seven storey Bell tower which is rectangular in shape and once contained a bell which rang every hour and served in time telling for the locals.

 Arsenal tower (left), Bell tower (right)

Art gallery: There is another durbar hall which houses the art gallery with a collection of sculptures and rare coins dating back to 9^th century AD to 19^th century AD. It is difficult to write in detail about the entire collection but if you are interested click here; it gives some good insights into some of the prominent art collections present in this gallery. This hall that has a statue of Raja Serfoji II at the center, has been well maintained, with many foreigners paying visit to see some award winning bronze sculptures that are showcased here.

 Durbar Hall which hosts various bronze statues, with statue of Raja Serfoji II statue in the center and murals on the ceiling

Saraswathi Mahal Library: This is the Royal library that was used by the kings who ruled Thanjavur. It has a fascinating collection of ancient manuscripts (written in Sanskrit, Devanagiri, Tamil etc), miniature illustrations of the Ramayana, life-size Thanjavur-style paintings, physiognomy charts by Charles Le-Brun, old Atlases of the world and globes used by Rajas. This area is the highlight of the palace as you get an insight into the Thanjavur rulers’ patronage of culture. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in this section.

This city is the home to Thanjavur paintings and a dancing bobble-head doll which are unique to the regions and I myself own them. There is so much more to this place that you will discover only when you keep visiting it frequently and obviously it is hard for me to write about it. Thanjavur has a rich culture and is a must visit place for architecture and history buffs whilst being a photographer’s paradise. I consider myself fortunate to have visited this place and hope to visit it once again.

For high resolution photos and more from my Thanjavur trip please visit my page here