History, Importance, Timings, Architecture, Festivals, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
Brihadishvara temple or Brihadeeswarar temple, also well known as RajaRajeswaram or RajaRajeswara or Periya Koil or Big Temple or Peruvudaiyar Kovil dedicated to Shiva is located in South bank of Kaveri River in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. This ancient historical temple is one of the biggest temple of South India and perfect example of architectural excellence of the region. Brihadeeswarar temple was built by Great Chola King Raja Raja Chola I – original name Arulmozhi varman in the year 1010 AD. The Brihadeeswarar temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site along with Airavatesvara temple and Gangaikonda Cholapuram also well known as the ‘Great Living Chola Temple’. Since thousands of year, this temple is center of attraction and major tourist destination where thousands of devotee visits everyday.
Brihadeeswarar temple is the Dravidian architectural marvel, spread across 33000 sq feet, popular for its majesty, beautiful sculptures, intricately carved walls, painting, bronze casting etc. The key attraction of temple is 13 tier, 216-feet-tall tower built above the Sanctum of the temple, one of the tallest in India. The Kumbam placed on top of temple at height of 216 which is carved out of a single rock and weighs of around 80 tons. The excellent example of engineering skill of the Chola Architects, how they placed this on top thousand year ago. Another attraction is giant idol of Nandi, carved out of a single rock of around 25 tons of weight and around 16 ft long and 13 ft high at the entrance of temple which is second largest Nandi in India. The entire temple structure is made out of granite, more than 1,30,000 tons even though there is not source of granite in surrounding 100 km area. There are lots of musical pillars in the temple campus, which make different sounds when tapped. The temple stands amidst fortified walls that were added in the around 16th century. The temple is famous as Dakshina Meru – Meru of South in local. The main shrine of Brihadeeswarar has an amazing structure with a large mandapa followed by an antarala and the sanctum. The outer wall of the upper story is carved with 108 dance postures of Bharathanatyam, classical dance and the inner walls of the temple are surrounded by large corridors where several small shrines were built. The inscriptions and frescoes on the walls of Brihadeeswarar Temple display the rise and fall of the city’s fortunes. The Shivlingam place in main shrine is around 29 ft high, occupying two storeys of the sanctum which is one of the largest lingam in India.
The temple complex comprise of shrines for Nandi, Parvati, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara, Varahi and others deities. Each wall of the temple and the surrounding architecture are filled with carvings and paintings depicting the rich history of art, culture, spirituality.
There are lot of passages found in temple which leads to the Palace of Raja and other places throughout the city. These passage can be used by royal families to visit temple on festival and other key occasion and also to escape in war situation.
As per the inscriptions in the temple, Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perumthachan was the architect of this famous temple. Brihadeeswarar temple is one of the few temples which has idol of Ashta-dikpaalakas or eight deity and guardian of eight direction.After the fall of Chola dynasty in 13th century, temple architecture was changed dramatically and high gopuram – entrance tower were built in four side in place of high Vimanas. The relationship of height between the main shrine and its gates was completely reversed.
The annual festival is held in the month of Visaka, aroud in May for nine days when thousands of devotee and tourist visit and feel the festivity and spirituality. Apart from this, Natyanjali - annual dance festival, Pongal, Navratri, Pradosham – Once in a fortnight, Panchami Abhishekam for Goddess Varaahi – every Panchami in a fortnight, Girivalam – every full moon day are the other festival which are celebrated here in temple.
How to reach Brihadeeswarar Temple, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
As Thanjavur is major tourist attraction, district head quarter and major pilgrim center, it is very well connected to all major cities of Tamil Nadu and India via Road, Rail and Air network. The nearest airport is in Tiruchirappalli at around 61km from where you can get domestic and international flight. Thanjavur has major railway junction which is connected by rail with Tiruchirappalli, Nagaore, Thiruvauru, Tirupathi, Rameswaram, Mannagudi, Madurai, Chennai, Bhuvaneswar, Goa, Mysore, Varanasi etc. Thanjavur is connected with all major cities by road from where you can get regular bus service and private vehicle which connects places of interest in and around Thanjavur.
