Big temple- thanjavur

Dravidians mainly tamil peoples famously known for their construction work around their ruled place. They construct many beautiful structures like thanjavur big temple , madurai meenaachi amman kovil , many cultural heritage place ,etc. Many heritage build by them were destroyed by the foreigner. One of legend structure stand still today is thanjavur Brihadeeswarar temple. The Peruvudaiyar Koyil
( Tamil peruvuḍaiyār
kōyil ? ), also known as Brihadeeswarar
Temple and Rajarajeswaram , [1] at Thanjavur
in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu , is the world's
first complete granite temple [2] and a brilliant
example of the major heights achieved by
Cholas in Tamil architecture. It is a tribute and a
reflection of the power of its patron RajaRaja
Chola I . It remains India's largest temple [3] and
is one of the greatest glories of Indian
architecture. [4] The temple is part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site "Great Living Chola
Temples ".
This temple is one of India's most prized
architectural sites. The temple stands amidst
fortified walls that were probably added in the
16th century. The vimana — or the temple
tower — is 216 ft (66 m) high[5][6] and is
among the tallest of its kind in the world. The
Kumbam (or Kalash or Chikharam) (apex or the
bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is
not carved out of a single stone as widely
believed. [ citation needed] There is a big statue
of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single
rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet
long and 13 feet high. [7] The entire temple
structure is made out of hard granite stones, a
material sparsely available in Thanjavur area
where the temple is. Built in 1010 AD by Raja
Raja Chola in Thanjavur, Brihadishwara Temple
also popularly known as the ‘Big Temple' turned
1000 years old in 2010.
History
The temple had its foundations laid out by the
Tamil emperor Arulmozhivarman, popularly
called Rajaraja Chola I,( Tamil
Rājarāja Choļan ? ) in 1002 CE, as the
first of the great Tamil Chola building projects.
[8] The temple was built by Rajaraja Chola, one
of the greatest Tamil emperors to grace the
throne of the Chola empire in compliance of a
command given to him in his dream. [9][7] The
scale and grandeur is in the Chola tradition. An
axial and symmetrical geometry rules the
temple layout. [10] Temples from this period
and the following two centuries are an
expression of the Tamils (Chola) wealth, power
and artistic expertise. The emergence of such
features as the multi faceted columns with
projecting square capitals signal the arrival of
the new Chola style. [11]
The Brihadeeswarar Temple was built to be the
royal temple to display the emperor's vision of
his power and his relationship to the universal
order. The temple was the site of the major
royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor
and linking him with its deity, Shiva , and the
daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by
those of the king. The temple maintained a staff
of 600 people in various
capacities. [citation needed ] Besides the Brahmin
priests, these included record-keepers,
musicians, scholars, and craftsman of every
type as well as housekeeping staff. In those days
the temple was a hub of business activities for
the flower, milk, oil, and ghee merchants, all of
whom made a regular supply of their respective
goods for the temple for its poojas and during
festival seasons. Moreover as evidenced by the
inscriptions that found in the compound wall of
this temple, the temple had always been serving
as a platform for the dancers who excelled in the
traditional dance form of Bharatnatyam.It has
been said that the temple's kalasam weighs 50
tons which has since been a mystery on how it
may have been transported to the top.In
addition,much confusion has remained between
arechaeologists due to the fact that the temple
has been built more than 1000 years ago and
has never met consrtuction failure because of
the supposed weight of the kalasam .This
displays the ancient Tamil's excellent knowledge
in craftmenship and construction. Even today,
the Brihadeeswarar Temple remains India's
largest temple. [3]
It is an architectural exemplar showcasing the
pure form of the Dravida type of temple
architecture and representative of the Chola
Empire ideology and the Tamil civilisation in
Southern India . The temples "testify to the
brilliant achievements of the Chola in
architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze
casting." [12]
The temple was consecrated in 1010 CE by Raja
Raja Chola I. Millennial year celebrations
happened in 2010.
Temple complex
[[]]. The massive size of the main sikhara
(although it is hollow on the inside and not
meant to be occupied) is 63 meters high, with
16 severely articulated stories, and dominates
the main quadrangle. Pilaster, piers, and
attached columns are placed rhythmically
covering every surface of the shikhara.
[3] File:Brihadeeswarar Temple 02.jpg|thumb|
Temple gateway]] 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 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 or with a
second access directly to the huge main
quadrangle through a smaller free-standing
[[gopuram
Main temple
The main temple is in the center of the spacious
quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi ,
a pillared hall and an assembly hall ( mandapas ),
and many sub- shrines. The most important part
of the temple is the inner mandapa which is
surrounded by massive walls that are divided
into levels by sharply cut sculptures and
pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each
side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasizing the
principle cult icons. [10] The karuvarai, a Tamil
word meaning the interior of the sanctum
sanctorum, is the inner most sanctum and focus
of the temple where an image of the primary
deity , Shiva, resides. Inside is a huge stone
linga. The word Karuvarai means "womb
chamber" from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only
priests are allowed to enter this inner-most
chamber. [13]
In the Dravida style, the Karuvarai takes the
form of a miniature vimana with other features
exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture
such as the inner wall together with the outer
wall creating a pradakshina around the
garbhagriha for circumambulation
( pradakshina ). The entrance is highly decorated.
The inside chamber housing the image of the
god is the sanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha .
[11] The garbhagriha is square and sits on a
plinth , its location calculated to be a point of
total equilibrium and harmony as it is
representative of a microcosm of the universe.
In the center is placed the image of the deity.
[10] The royal bathing-hall where Rajaraja the
great gave gifts is to the east of the hall of
Irumudi-Soran.
The circumambulation winds around the
massive lingam in the garbhagriha and is
repeated in an upper story, presenting the idea
that Chola Empire freely offered access to the
gods. [3]
The inner mandapa leads out to a rectangular
mandapa and then to a twenty-columned porch
with three staircases leading down. Sharing the
same stone plinth is a small open mandapa
dedicated to Nandi, Shiva's sacred bull
mount.fully stone top to bottem ever saw in the
planet. [10]
Adjoining structures
Shrine of Ganapathy
Surrounding the main temple are two walled
enclosures. The outer wall is high, defining the
temple complex area. Here is the massive
gopuram or gateway mentioned above. Within
this a portico, a barrel vaulted gorpuram with
over 400 pillars , is enclosed by a high wall
interspersed with huge gopurams axially lined
up to the main temple.
Origin of idea
The wish to build a mammoth temple like this is
said to have occurred to Raja Raja while he
stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor.
Other
Not only the temple and the "moolavar", (prime
deity, Shiva) but all other deities (Koshta
Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Suriyan (Sun),
Chandran (Moon) are very huge sized.
Especially, Brahadeeswar temple is one of the
rare temples which has statues for "Ashta dik
paalakas" (Lords of all Eight Directions) — Indra,
Varuna, Agni, Eesana, Vayu, Niruthi, Yama,
Kubera — each of which is a life-like status, i.e.,
approximately 6 feet tall.
Features
The temple is made up of 130,000 tons of
granite. The 60-metre tall vimana is the tallest in
South India. A European-like figure which is
carved on the vimana is believed to be an
ancient warning of the arrival of the British.
Later investigations by archaeologists proposed
that this carving may be a hoax. It is widely
believed that the shadow of the gopuram never
falls on the ground. However, some scholars
have dismissed this as a myth. [14][15][16]
The tons of stone was taken, with the help of
hundreds of elephants, from Thirukoilore (birth
place of Raja raja's mother) near Sri
Virateshvara swamy temple. The kumbam, on
top of the temple was believed to have taken to
the top by creating a slope from the ground to
the 66m gopuram made of soil. Then elephants
would drag the stone to the top of gopuram.
This the only temple whose shadow of the
pillars and the gopuram does not fall on the
ground.
Travel information
Further information: Transport in Thanjavur
Thanjavur can be reached easily by road, rail
and air. Tamil Nadu state government runs
frequent public buses from nearby Trichy,
Chennai, Kumbakonam, Pudukkottai,
Pattukkottai, Tirunelveli, Karur, Nagapattinam,
Coimbatore and many other cities in the state.
From the state capital Chennai, a National
Highway (NH 45-A) linking Chennai with
Chidambaram, Mayavaram, Kumbakonam,
Thanjavur, and Nagappatinam provides
convenient access to tourists who come to visit
Thanjavur and the adjoining towns. There are
also several buses operated by private bus
operators.
Rail services are run by Indian Railways from
many cities across India including Chennai,
Trichy, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Nagore. The
train station is Thanjavur Junction.
Tiruchirapalli Airport is the nearest airport,
located 65 km away.
Millennium celebrations
5 Commemorative postage stamp
issued by India Post in 2010 as part
of the millennium year celebrations
A 5 Special Commemorative coin
released by Reserve Bank of India
to mark the millennium year
celebrations of the famous
Brihadeeswarar Temple built by the
great Chola ruler Raja Raja Chola I
1000 currency note released by
Reserve Bank of India on 01 April,
1954 to honor the historic
Brahadeeswarar Temple, a UNESCO
World heritage site
Built in the year 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola in
Thanjavur, Brihadeeswarar Temple popularly
known as the ‘Big Temple’ turned 1000 years
old in September 2010. To celebrate the 1000th
year of the grand structure, the state
government and the town held many cultural
events. It was to recall the 275th day of his
25th regal year (1010 CE) when Raja Raja Chola
(985–1014 CE) handed over a gold-plated
kalasam (copper pot or finial ) for the final
consecration to crown the vimana , the 59.82
metre tall tower above the sanctum. [17][18]
[19]
Bharathanatyam Yajna
To mark the occasion, the state government
organised a Bharathanatyam Yajna, classical
dance show under noted dancer Padma
Subramaniam . It was jointly organised by the
Association of Bharatanatyam Artistes of India
(ABHAI) and the Brhan Natyanjali Trust,
Thanjavur. To mark the 1000th year anniversary
of the building, 1000 dancers from New Delhi,
Mumbai , Pune , Tamilnadu , Andhra Pradesh ,
Karnataka, Kerala , Singapore, Malaysia and the
U.S. danced in concert to the recorded 11
verses of divine music Thiruvichaippa (ninth of
Thirumurai) composed by Karuvur Thevar (the
guru of Raja Raja Chola) named Tiruvisaippa.
The small town turned into a cultural hub for
two days beginning September 26, 2010 as
street performers and dancers performed
throughout the town. [20][21]
Commemorative stamp and coin
On September 26, 2010 (Big Temple’s fifth day
of millennium celebrations), as a recognition of
Big Temple’s contribution to the country’s
cultural, architectural, epigraphical history, a
special 5 postage stamp featuring the 216-
feet tall giant Raja Gopuram was released by
India Post .
The Reserve Bank of India commemorated the
event by releasing a 5 coin with the model of
temple embossed on it. [22][23] A Raja, Cabinet
Minister of Communications and Information
Technology released the esteemed
Brihadeeswarar Temple special stamp, the first
of which was received by G K Vasan , Cabinet
Minister of Shipping . On April 1, 1954, the
Reserve Bank of India released a 1000
currency note featuring a panoramic view of the
Brihadeeswara Temple marking its cultural
heritage and significance. In 1975, the then
government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
demonetized all 1,000 currency notes in an
effort to curtail black money . These notes are
now popular among collectors. [24]
Tamil Nadu chief minister, M Karunanidhi
renamed Semmai Paddy , a special type of high
productivity paddy variant, as Raja Rajan-1000
to mark the millennial year celebration of the
Big Temple’s builder, Raja Raja Cholan . [25]
Brihadeeswarar Temple in historic
novels
Balakumaran has written a novel Udaiyar
themed on the life of Raja Raja Chola I and
construction of the Brihadeeswarar temple.
Before that Kalki written a famous novel
"Ponniyin Selvan" based on the life of Raja Raja
Chola I

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