Brihadishvara Temple, also known as Rajarajesvaram, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu , India, on the south bank of the Kaveri River. It is one of the largest temples in South India, and an excellent example of a fully realized Dravidian architecture.[4] It is named as Dhakshina Meru (South Meru). Built between 1003 and 1010 AD by Tamil king Raja Raja Chola I, the temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples," along with the Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temples of the Chola Dynasty and the Airavatesvara Temples, about 70 kilometers (43 mi) and 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast.
This 11th Century temple 's original monuments were constructed around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures predominantly associated with Shaivism, but also with Hindu traditions of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. During its history the temple was destroyed and some artwork is now missing. In the ensuing centuries additional mandapams and monuments were added. Now the temple stands amid fortified walls built after the 16th century.
Built of granite, the vimana tower above the sanctum is one of the tallest in South India. At the time of its construction it was probably one of the tallest structures in the world. The temple has a massive colonnaded prakara (corridor) and one of India's largest Shiva lingas. It is also famous for the quality of its sculpture and the location that commissioned Nataraja brass – Shiva as the lord of dance in the 11th century. The complex includes sanctuaries for Nandi, Parvati, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara, Varahi and others. The temple is one of Tamil Nadu's most visited tourist attractions.
From the 5th to the 9th century a spectrum of Hindu temple styles continued to develop over the rule of the Chalukya era as evidenced in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, and then with the Pallava era as witnessed at Mamallapuram and other monuments. Thereafter Cholas emerged as the dominant dynasty between 850 and 1280 CE. The early Chola era saw more emphasis on protecting their territorial borders and less architectural focus.In the 10th century, features such as the multifaceted columns with planned square capitals appeared within the Chola empire. This, George Michell says, marked the beginning of the new style of Chola. This South Indian style is most thoroughly realized in both scale and detail in the Brihadeshvara temple designed by the Chola king Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010.
The plan and development of the temple at Brihadeshvara uses the rules of axial and symmetrical geometry. It is classified as Perunkoil, a large temple built on a higher platform of natural or man-made mounds. The temple complex is a rectangle that is nearly two stacked squares, covering east to west 240.79 meters (790.0 ft) and north to south 121.92 meters (400.0 ft). There are five main parts in this space: the sanctuary with the towering superstructure (sri vimana), the Nandi hall in front (Nandi-mandapam) and the central community hall (mukhamandapam), the large gathering hall (mahamandapam) and the pavilion connecting the large hall to the sanctum.
The temple complex incorporates in its spacious courtyard a large pillared and covered veranda (prakara), with a perimeter of about 450 meters (1.480 ft) for circumambulation. There are two walls of enclosure outside this pillared veranda, the outer one being defensive and added in 1777 CE by the French colonial forces with gun-holes with the temple serving as an arsenal. They made the outer wall high and insulated the complex area of the temple. The original principal gopuram or gateway, which is vaulted barrel, is on its east end. It is less than half the size of the vimana of the principal temple.After the 11th century, additional structures were added to the original temple, such as a mandapa at its northeastern corner and additional gopurams (gateways) at its perimeters to allow people to enter and leave from multiple locations. Some of the shrines and structures were added before the beginning of the colonial era during the Pandya, Nayaka, Vijayanagara, and Maratha era and these builders respected the original plans and rules of symmetry. Inside the original temple courtyard, there are two major shrines, one for Kartikeya and one for Parvati, along with the main sanctum and the Nandi-mandapam. There are additional smaller shrines at the complex.
The temple of Brihadisvara continued South India 's Hindu temple practices by adopting architectural and decorative elements but its size greatly surpassed the temples built before the 11th century. Architects and craftsmen of the Chola era innovated the expertise to scale up and build, especially with heavy stone and to achieve the towering vimana of 63.4 meters (208 ft ) high.
The temple faces east, and was once surrounded by a water moat. That was filled in up. Now the fortified wall runs around that moat. The two walls have embellished gateways called gopurams. These are made from a stone entablature and display. The east side of the main gateways is. The first is called the Keralantakan tiruvasal which means the Keralantakan's "sacred gate." The word Keralantakan was king Rajaraja's surname which built it. The inner courtyard gopuram called Rajarajan tiruvasal is about 100 meters (330 ft) ahead.This is more decorated than the Keralantakan tiruvasal, for example with its adhishthanam relief work narrating scenes from the Puranas and other Hindu texts.[28] The inner eastern gopuram leads to a vast courtyard, in which the shrines are all signed in cardinal directions east-west and north-west. The complex can be entered either through a five-story gopuram on one axis or through a smaller freestanding gopuram with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle. The main entrance gopuram is 30 m taller, smaller than the vimana.
In the center of this courtyard is the main temple-related monuments and the great tower. There are smaller shrines around the main temple which is dedicated to Shiva, most of which are axially aligned. These are dedicated to his consort Parvati, his sons Subrahmanya and Ganesha, Nandi, Varahi, Karuvur deva (Rajaraja Chola's guru), Chandeshvara, and Nataraja. The Nandi mandapam has a monolithic sitting bull facing the sanctum. Between them there are stairs leading to a columned porch and a gathering hall for the community, then an inner mandapa connecting to the pradakshina patha, or circumambulation.The Nandi (bull) weighs about 25 tonnes, facing the mukh-mandapam. It is made of a single stone and is about 2 m tall, 6 m long and 2.5 m wide. Nandi 's image is monolithic, and is one of the country's largest.
This 11th Century temple 's original monuments were constructed around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures predominantly associated with Shaivism, but also with Hindu traditions of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. During its history the temple was destroyed and some artwork is now missing. In the ensuing centuries additional mandapams and monuments were added. Now the temple stands amid fortified walls built after the 16th century.
Built of granite, the vimana tower above the sanctum is one of the tallest in South India. At the time of its construction it was probably one of the tallest structures in the world. The temple has a massive colonnaded prakara (corridor) and one of India's largest Shiva lingas. It is also famous for the quality of its sculpture and the location that commissioned Nataraja brass – Shiva as the lord of dance in the 11th century. The complex includes sanctuaries for Nandi, Parvati, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara, Varahi and others. The temple is one of Tamil Nadu's most visited tourist attractions.
From the 5th to the 9th century a spectrum of Hindu temple styles continued to develop over the rule of the Chalukya era as evidenced in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal, and then with the Pallava era as witnessed at Mamallapuram and other monuments. Thereafter Cholas emerged as the dominant dynasty between 850 and 1280 CE. The early Chola era saw more emphasis on protecting their territorial borders and less architectural focus.In the 10th century, features such as the multifaceted columns with planned square capitals appeared within the Chola empire. This, George Michell says, marked the beginning of the new style of Chola. This South Indian style is most thoroughly realized in both scale and detail in the Brihadeshvara temple designed by the Chola king Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010.
The plan and development of the temple at Brihadeshvara uses the rules of axial and symmetrical geometry. It is classified as Perunkoil, a large temple built on a higher platform of natural or man-made mounds. The temple complex is a rectangle that is nearly two stacked squares, covering east to west 240.79 meters (790.0 ft) and north to south 121.92 meters (400.0 ft). There are five main parts in this space: the sanctuary with the towering superstructure (sri vimana), the Nandi hall in front (Nandi-mandapam) and the central community hall (mukhamandapam), the large gathering hall (mahamandapam) and the pavilion connecting the large hall to the sanctum.
The temple complex incorporates in its spacious courtyard a large pillared and covered veranda (prakara), with a perimeter of about 450 meters (1.480 ft) for circumambulation. There are two walls of enclosure outside this pillared veranda, the outer one being defensive and added in 1777 CE by the French colonial forces with gun-holes with the temple serving as an arsenal. They made the outer wall high and insulated the complex area of the temple. The original principal gopuram or gateway, which is vaulted barrel, is on its east end. It is less than half the size of the vimana of the principal temple.After the 11th century, additional structures were added to the original temple, such as a mandapa at its northeastern corner and additional gopurams (gateways) at its perimeters to allow people to enter and leave from multiple locations. Some of the shrines and structures were added before the beginning of the colonial era during the Pandya, Nayaka, Vijayanagara, and Maratha era and these builders respected the original plans and rules of symmetry. Inside the original temple courtyard, there are two major shrines, one for Kartikeya and one for Parvati, along with the main sanctum and the Nandi-mandapam. There are additional smaller shrines at the complex.
The temple of Brihadisvara continued South India 's Hindu temple practices by adopting architectural and decorative elements but its size greatly surpassed the temples built before the 11th century. Architects and craftsmen of the Chola era innovated the expertise to scale up and build, especially with heavy stone and to achieve the towering vimana of 63.4 meters (208 ft ) high.
The temple faces east, and was once surrounded by a water moat. That was filled in up. Now the fortified wall runs around that moat. The two walls have embellished gateways called gopurams. These are made from a stone entablature and display. The east side of the main gateways is. The first is called the Keralantakan tiruvasal which means the Keralantakan's "sacred gate." The word Keralantakan was king Rajaraja's surname which built it. The inner courtyard gopuram called Rajarajan tiruvasal is about 100 meters (330 ft) ahead.This is more decorated than the Keralantakan tiruvasal, for example with its adhishthanam relief work narrating scenes from the Puranas and other Hindu texts.[28] The inner eastern gopuram leads to a vast courtyard, in which the shrines are all signed in cardinal directions east-west and north-west. The complex can be entered either through a five-story gopuram on one axis or through a smaller freestanding gopuram with a second access directly to the huge main quadrangle. The main entrance gopuram is 30 m taller, smaller than the vimana.
In the center of this courtyard is the main temple-related monuments and the great tower. There are smaller shrines around the main temple which is dedicated to Shiva, most of which are axially aligned. These are dedicated to his consort Parvati, his sons Subrahmanya and Ganesha, Nandi, Varahi, Karuvur deva (Rajaraja Chola's guru), Chandeshvara, and Nataraja. The Nandi mandapam has a monolithic sitting bull facing the sanctum. Between them there are stairs leading to a columned porch and a gathering hall for the community, then an inner mandapa connecting to the pradakshina patha, or circumambulation.The Nandi (bull) weighs about 25 tonnes, facing the mukh-mandapam. It is made of a single stone and is about 2 m tall, 6 m long and 2.5 m wide. Nandi 's image is monolithic, and is one of the country's largest.