Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur: A Photo blog

Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur is perhaps the most popular of the 3 great Chola temples. All these temples have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Nandi sits facing Shiva

The temple was built by Raja Raja Chola I in 1010 AD. The construction took 7 years. The tower above the sanctum was perhaps the tallest building in the world at the time of construction. The dome on top of the temple is a monolith that weighs nearly 25 tone. To place this on top of the tower, a temporary ramp several kilometres long was constructed. Elephants were then used to push the massive stone in place.

Brihadisvara Temple is dedicated to Shiva. He is worshipped in the in the form of a huge lingam, The 2 story high Shiva Lingam is one of the largest monolithic lingam sculptures in India. Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside the sanctum. As with all Shiva temples of that era, a Nandi sits facing the main sanctum. The massive Nandi is a monolith that weighs almost 25 tons. 

The carvings on the temple walls are exquisite. The artisans have even managed to give texture to the stone carvings. In the carving of the elephant mauling a person, (see below) the chains actually have the texture of metal chains. There is another sculpture of a horse where the ropes on the horse feels like a real fibre rope! Amazing!

Touch the chain of the elephant to feel the "texture carving"

This is the most popular of the 3 great Chola temples, hence the most crowded. I arrived there by 6:30 in the morning before the madding crowd. There are professional guides that explain the temple in detail. I strongly recommend their services.

Click here for photo blogs of the other 2 UNESCO's World Heritage Site temples

• Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple 

• Airavateshwara Temple at Kumbhakonam

The temple has many magnificent frescoes. This one is above the Nandi Mandapam

A smaller Nandi sits facing a row of Shiva Lingams at the rear of the temple.

The Nandi in the last picture is facing these Lingams

Lord Shiva depicted as Artha Nareeshwaran (Half man & half female)

This leads to main sanctum with the huge Shiva Lingam/ Photography is not permitted beyond this point.

The detail of the carvings are amazing

There are carved inscriptions all over the temple

The offerings of ghee, milk, etc made in the sanctum drain into this tank. Common folk are not allowed to touch the Gods in the sanctum. But they can take the offerings that have been touched by the Gods!

Entrance to the temple

This picture shows the only foreigner in depicted in all the carvings. He stands out due to his beard and attire. The identity of this person is unknown.

One of the many priests of the temple