Brihadeeswarar Temple: More than 1000 years of Heritage

It is one of India’s most precious architectural sites. It’s temple tower is among the tallest of its kind in the world. It is a part of the Great Living Chola Temples, an UNESCO World Heritage site. It is known by many names, the Peruvudaiyar Kovil, Raja Rajeswara Temple, RajaRajeshwaram and Big Temple, but it is etched in the books as Brihadeeswarar Temple, named after Lord Brihadeeswara, the main deity of the temple.


This Hindu temple was built in the early 11th century under the supervision of Raja Raja Chola I of the Chola kingdom of the Tamil Nadu. It is located in Thanjavur, the rice belt of Tamil Nadu and at one point in history, the headquarters of the Chola kingdom.


The Brihadeeswara Temple was built to be the royal temple to display the emperor’s vision of his power and his relationship to the universal order. This temple made out of granite is the largest one out of the three Great Living Chola Temples. The other ones being Airavateeswarar Temple at Darasuram and the Gangaikondacholisvaram Temple.


Even to this day, this temple is fully operational and people throng to the temple to offer their prayers and seek blessings from the moolavar, Lord Shiva. It is said that during Shivaratri, during the month of February, the temple overflows with pilgrims and devotees. This temple is also one of those rare temples, which as statues for ‘Ashta-dikpaalakas’ – Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera and Isana.


Even though the temple is open from sunrise to about 8 in the evening, the Karuvarai or the inner sanctum is only open for half of those hours. If you want to see the main deity, the best option is to visit the temple during the early morning hours for abhishekam and deevaram or during the evening hours for the maha manglarti.


One can visit this temple either as a devotee or as a tourist. Typically, people try and visit all the 3 Great Living Chola Temples in one go along with may be a short visit to the Tanjore Palace and the museums. The best time to visit the temples is during the winter months when the weather in Thanjavur and around is pleasant. If you cannot visit these temples in winter, try to accommodate your trips around the sunrise and sunset times when the weather is more bearable. The midday sun can be pretty strong here and is best avoided.


To reach Thanjavur by air, the nearest airport is Trichy and you can check GoAir, Air India and other low cost or fully loaded airlines to book your flight tickets. Thanjavur is also well connected by train and road with the rest of the country. It should be fairly straightforward to book a ticket from any big city in India.

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Airavateeswara Temple: The best of the Great Living Chola Temples

The Great Living Chola Temples are really special. For all those who don’t know about the Great Living Chola Temples, there are 3 of them, Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholisvaram Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the Airavateeswara Temple at Darasuram. All 3 of these Great Living Chola Temples together carry the UNESCO World Heritage tag.


While, the Brihadeeswarar Temple is the largest temple out of the three, the Gangaikondacholisvaram boasts of the largest Shiva Linga. But, the one that will appeal to you the most is the Airavateeswarar Temple with its intricate architecture, heavily ornamented pillars and richly sculpted walls that is housed in a very small compound.


The Airavateswara Temple was built in the 12th century by Rajaraja Chola II and it is located at Darasuram, a small town about 3 kms from Kumbakonam. One can easily visit this place as a day trip from Thanjavur or Trichy. You can easily find cheap flights to Trichy from all over the country. The rail and road network to these places is also great.


This temple of Dravidian architecture is dedicated to Lord Shiva, who is known here as Airavateeswara, because he was worshipped at this temple by Lord Indra who is also known as Airavata. The main deity’s consort is Periya Nayaki Amman and her shrine is located adjacent to the Airavateeswara temple.


This temple is a storehouse of art and architecture. The front mandapam, which is in the form of a huge chariot drawn by horses is one of its main sights. This stone chariot closely resembles the chariot at Konark’s Sun Temple and Hampi’s Vittala Temple. I am guessing that Rajaraja Chola wanted that class to be reflected in his temple. Generally, kings used their temples to show their class and I am assuming that this was no different.


Hence if you walk around the temple, you will see this class in Chola art and architecture in multiple forms. For example, you will see an advanced water flow system, you will see stone carvings of Indian epics, yoga poses, mythological creatures, shapes and forms, the circle of life and many more.


You will find a lot of interesting stories from our history and culture as you walk the temple courtyard. At lots of places, you will come across the sculpture of yaali, a mythological creature. You will also see the tryst between Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva where all 3 of them together make up one body. Imaginations have also been well portrayed here. For example, you can see a lion and elephant tussle carved in stone.


The sight of the abhishekham water coming from a gargoyle’s mouth is very innovative. In fact, most of the temple’s water drains from a gargoyle’s mouth. This shows great skill and imagination. I totally loved this piece of the architecture and I am sure a lot of you will too.


Each pillar in the temple has a story to tell. Whether it is the Shiva Parvathi wedding story or any other mythological story, each wall or pillar depicts the story very well to the tourist. To keep you company are also interesting gods that you would rarely see in other temples like Agastyar Muni, Naradar, Saraswati and more.

 
Overall, the temple is a fantastic package if you love history, are spiritually inclined, love rich architecture and/or wish to soak in rare sights. The ‘Great Living Chola Temples’ as a whole is fabulous and within it, the small courtyard housing the Airavateeswara Temple is the best.


To reach Airavateeswara temple, you can either make your base at Kumbakonam, Thanjavur or Trichy. Each city is well connected by road. If you seek luxurious facilities, make Trichy your base as it is well connected by an international airport and you can make your airline bookings to here easily.

 
Go on and enjoy the beauty of the carvings at Airavateeswara Temple.

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Tanjore Palace: Rich history is preserved here

In Thanjavur, it is the great living chola temples that attract the most attention, but amidst these temples, the Tanjore Palace or the Thanjavur Maratha Palace has managed to stand its ground and has managed to attract its share of visitors.


The Tanjore Palace, which is built in both Nayak and Maratha style architecture is famous for its library that contains archaic documents, a museum that contains artifacts from the yester era, rich designs and a bird’s eye view of the Brihadeeswara temple and the rest of the Thanjavur town.


This palace was first built during the rule of the Thanjavur Nayaks and then maintained and enhanced by the Thanjavur Marathas.Today, this Aranmanai, as it is known locally exists partly as the Bhonsle family residence and partly as a tourist spot.


After buying the entrance tickets for self and camera, one crosses a small temple and enters a large quadrangular courtyard. This large courtyard leads to a pillared hall and a small courtyard. It is here that the main zones are.


The popular sights here are the two Durbar halls of the Nayaks and the Marathas, the Saraswathi Mahal Library and the Madamaligai tower. Out of these, the tourists are not allowed to enter the Madamaligai tower as it was damaged in a lightning strike. But, the tourists can get a good aerial view from one of the vimana like buildings in the southern side.


The Tanjore palace is definitely a place that will give you a good idea about Thanjavur’s rich history coz everything is so well preserved here.

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The Chariot at Airavateeswara Temple, Darasuram

If you are interested in temples and history, then I am sure you know the 2 temples that are famous for their chariots. One of them is the Sun temple at Konark and the other one is the Vittala temple in Hampi. But, there is an unknown third one that has carved a niche for itself in one of the Great Living Chola Temples in the plains of the Cauvery in the South.


This temple is the small, but intricately carved Airavateeswara Temple at Darasuram, the third of the Great Living Chola Temples that was built by Raja Raja Chola, the third. The chariot in this temple may not be as exhaustive as the ones in the Vittala and the Sun temple, but it has a lot of similarities even in its miniature state. Do remember to check it out while in and around Thanjavur. This small temple campus packs quite a punch with its creativity.

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The Famous Tanjore Paintings

Tanjore paintings, as we all know is a classical form of South Indian painting native to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. A lot of South Indian households would have at least one of them in their houses either from their grandparent days or as a recent acquisition from an art shop. These paintings are pretty ornate and are vivid in colour composition. The popular themes of these paintings are either Hindu gods and goddesses or episodes from Hindu history. This art form dates back to about 1600 AD, a period when the Nayakas of Thanjavur promoted art across their empire.

 
The Tanjore paintings can be seen pretty much in all art galleries across India, but if you wish to see where it is made, then you have to head to the South side of the Brihadeeshwara Temple in Thanjavur. It is here that this dwindling art form is still practised in the small households where it has been passed on in the family through generations. I made such a visit during my last trip to Thanjavur. A chat with the locals around the temple about Tanjore paintings will lead you to these traditional Brahmin households where the artist or his family would take you to the workshop or their own small gallery.

 
If you are lucky, you can actually see parts of the painting development process: making of the preliminary sketch of the image on a cloth pasted on a wooden base, use of chalk powder and a mild abrasive to make it smoother, decoration of the art with jewellery like Jaipur semi precious stones, pasting of gold foils and finally the usage of colour dyes. One can also buy these Tanjore paintings straight from the artist, though sometimes, the finish of the end product (framing, quality of glass, etc.) is not up to the mark. Though, I would recommend you buy just the painting and frame it elsewhere to the quality levels that you wish.

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