Tanjore: An epitome of glorious Indian history

Brihadeeswara Temple, Tanjore

From my initial days with photography I was obsessed with old and historic sites, mostly temples which are available in plenty through out the country. They are as varied and as beautiful as our country and its rich history. Our ancestors had great knowledge of engineering, medicine, science, arts some of which which found their way to various parts of the world.

These ancient temples are perfect blends of engineering, science and arts. They bear the testimonials of life style, beliefs, rituals and values of common people of those days. Under the patronage of ruling emperors, the engineers made wonders and artists carved their beautiful pieces and made these temples, the epitome of our glorious history.

One of the oldest and great Indian temple lies at a distance of 350kms South of Chennai at Thanjavur or Tanjore. This carries the unique mark in the history for the world's first complete granite temple which is a brilliant example of the glory of Chola kingdom reigned in the region more than 1000 years ago.

Devi Durga and the little squirrel

With my very limited knowledge in Tamil and lot of enthusiasm to witness the glorious past of India, I ventured out for Tanjore on a weekend. I accumulated some details from Google, collected few more from my friends and finally reached Tanjore on a Saturday morning by a night bus from Chennai.

The first glance of the city from the congested market place where the bus dropped me, failed to deliver any impression of its long and illustrious history. The name Thanjavur is derived from "Tanjan", a legendary asura in Hindu mythology. Thanjavur is one of the oldest cities in India and has a long and varied history dating back to Sangam period. Thanjavur, or Tanjapuri as it was called in the ancient times was chosen by the Mutharayar king and later conquered by Vijayalaya Chola.

Like every time, I didn't waste much time in finding the best place in the town. So I quickly checked in a small dingy hotel bang on the bus terminus, freshened up and set off for the Big temple. A small walk of 7-10 minutes and I was in the temple. The sheer appearance of the temple complex was overwhelming. This magnificient Brihadeeswara Temple was built by Rajaraja Chola I and was completed around 1010 AD & remained the centre of the Chola administration for many years. According to an epigraph, 640 selected dancers performed in the temple during the King's period. Today this temple is the most famous amongst the Great living Chola Temples figuring in UNESCO World Heritage Monuments.

The entrance

Little could be made out of this temple from the pictures and descriptions. One has to see it to believe it and enjoy the beauty of this architectural wonder. The temple complex sits on the banks of a river that was channeled to make a moat around the complex's outer walls, the walls being built like a fortress. The temple occupies an area measuring about seven-hundred and fifty feet by four hundred feet. The towering 200ft Vimanam (the tower that crowns the innermost sanctum of a South Indian Temple in Dravidian style architecture) also referred to as Dakshina Meru is built up with stones with bonding and notching, without the use of mortar. The complex is made up of many structures that are aligned axially. The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram (the entrance of the temple) or with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram. The massive size of the main sikhara (the rising roof of a Hindu Temple), is 63 meters in height.

An water outlet... or a  beautiful piece of art

The octagonal Shikharam rests on a single block of granite weighing 81 tons. It is believed that this block was carried up a specially built ramp by elephants, built from a site 6 km. away from here. Huge Nandis dot the corners of the Shikharam, and the Kalasam on top by itself is about 3.8 mt. 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 temple is made up of 130,000 tons of granite. And the most important feature of the building is that its believed, at no time of the 

Sculpture of a guard 

day the shadow of the gopuram will fall on the ground. However this has been proven to be a wrong notion.

Once inside the temple complex, I was awestruck by its size and the sculptures so minutely and beautifully done. There are several stories told by the carvings; the sequences are so well built that there can be no chance of misinterpretation. I learnt it from my friends in Chennai some of whom have done years of research on this temple. I spent the first day in trying to get into the mood and take some good frames.

The next day was also spent similarly in the temple. In between I had a short visit to the nearby museum where the famous bronze sculpture are kept along with some stone works from Darasuram Temple, another famous Cholan temple some few kilometres away from Tanjore.

The main shrine

During these two days, I have seen people from all corners of India and also from various other countries inside the complex. Although this temple is now more than 1000 years old, the main temple as well as the Murugan (lord Karthik) temple have regular Puja and hundreds of people gather to worship.

Rajaraja-I named this temple as Rajarajesvaram and the deity Shiva in Linga form as Peruvudaiyar, the temple is also known in the deity's name as Peruvudaiyarkovil (in Tamil language). In later period when the Sanskrit language was more popular during the Maratha rule the temple was named in Sanskrit as Brihadisvaram and the deity as Brihadisvara. Now-a-days it is called as Thanjai Periyakovil (Tanjore Big temple).

After Rajaraja Chola I built the Brihadeswara temple various additions were made in the temple subsequently. The most prominent ones among these was the addition of a copper pot over the tower by King Rajaraja Chola II. Sevappa Nayak, the first of his dynasty who ruled Tanjavur built the shrine for Murugan (Subrahamanya) as an integral part of the temple. Facing this shrine one can also see a “mandapam” which houses a Maratha period portrait gallery. Done as mural paintings but in the style now known as “Tanjore painting” with gold leaf embossing, the portraits of Serfoji, his queen and other royals are a feast of colour.

Nandhi in his seat

The long prakaram (extensive corridor surrounding the sanctum) surrounds the great temple (500 feet/250 feet), and the walls of the prakaram again go back to Raja Raja Cholan's period. The Periya Nayaki temple within the temple is a later addition from the Pandya period.

The Nandi (the Bull on which Lord Shiva rides), dating 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.

The influence of Thanjavur began to diminish when Rajendra Chola I built a new city named Gangaikonda Cholapuram and moved his capital there. After the Cholas the Pandyas conquered the Chola country. Madurai was the Pandya capital and Thanjavur remained in the background, as a province of Vijayanagara empire.

A beautifully carved pillar

In October 1799, the district was ceded to the British East India Company in absolute sovereignty by Raja Serfoji II. The raja retained only the capital and a small tract of surrounding country. He died in 1833 and was succeeded by his son Sivaji, on whose death in 1855 without an heir the house became extinct.

Apart from having the jewel of great Cholan Architecture, Tanjore is well known for bronze sculptures and its unique painting style called Tanjore Painting, a percussion instrument called the Thavil, a divine classical string instrument Veenai and the Bobblehead Thanjavur Dolls.

The city of Tanjore boasts of its St. Peter’s School, established by Rev. C. F. Schwartz in 1784 which is the first school in India where English was taught to Indians.
 

My Tanjore trip ended with a strange mix of feelings; I have seen some of the great works of ancient India but time and knowledge did not support me to understand and enjoy this to the full extent. Later I understood that no one had ever been able to get satisfied with such a short trip to Tanjore and many of them had gone back a number of times to fulfill their quest.

May be I will come back one day more knowledgeable, to enjoy the work of our forgotten artists in more details. India has such a vast history that one life is not enough to see them, leave apart understanding them. My Indian journey continues and I hope one day it brings me here once again to fulfill my unsatisfied soul.