A thread on Brihadeeswarar temple

हर हर महादेव

#templesofindia (1/16)

HISTORY :

Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur Tamil Nadu, oldest among the Group of Chola Temples, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built in 1010AD. Raja Raja I of Chola empire (985 – 1014 A.D.) dedicated this magnificent temple to Lord Shiva, as Nataraja. (2/16)

The meaning of this Sanskrit composite word Brihadeeswarar (Brihat + Iswara) is large or vast + Lord. Thus vast lord is referenced to Lord Shiva who is the supreme being. (3/16)

Brihadeeswarar temple was built between 1003AD and 1010AD by the Chola King Raja Raja. Inscriptions found at the temple state the architect and engineer of the temple as Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Rama Perunthachan. (4/16)

ARCHITECTURE :

The shadow of the Vimana (Top most stone) does not fall on the ground at noon due to the very big basement and it was part of the architecture.

There have been several additions to this complex in the next 10 centuries. (5/16)

Series of wars between Muslim invaders and Hindu rulers caused damage to temple. The Hindu dynasties that ruled the land after this phase repaired the temple and added several shrines to the main temple. The significant shrines of Kartikeya (Murugan), (6/16)

Parvati (Amman) and Nandi are from the 16th and 17th century, during the rule of Nayaka era. The Dakshinamurti shrine was added much later.

With more than hundred underground passages, leading to various spots, (7/16)

the Tanjore temple stands as an exemplary symbol of a capital of the Chola dynasty. These secret passages make way to the king’s palace, other temples, important places near Tanjore and many other regions. (8/16)

The most mysterious about these tunnels is some paths lead to dangerous spots and since the map of the tunnel is unknown, all of them are sealed. The historians consider it as a safety trap of Raja Raja Chola. (9/16)

The top most part of the Raja Gopuram of Brihadeeswarar temple is a single stone, weighing 80 tons. Which is almost impossible to do without modern machines like cranes. But it was achieved 1011 years ago from now. (10/16)

The 216 ft hollow tower, without any binding material, has an ideal equilibrium and balance, despite all the natural disasters in its 1000 years stand and continues. Further, there is a small staircase above the primary deity that leads to the upper part of the tower. (11/16)

If mantra OM is recited inside the hollow area, the divine vibration creates an immortal experience. Tanjore is a fertile red soil area, where there is no trace of granite stones, yet the temple had been completely built with the strongest granites in the world. (12/16)

Just to be clear strongest granites means it is very difficult to carve on them as well. The sculpture designs and holes on the stones are so intricate to create with copper or iron chisels, which were used during those periods. (13/16)

The extremely high quality paintings in the Tanjore big temple explicitly indicate the artistic excellence of the Chola kingdom in the Raja Raja Chola period. The colours of the paintings are still bright and healthy, even after 1000 years. (14/16)

The Nandhi statue, sculptured during the Raja Raja Cholan period, kept growing in the size. It could be even because of the unique weather condition and to control its growth, it was kept aside and nailed to the grounds. (15/16)

However, the current statue before Lord Shiva is a single stone statue and was gifted by the Maratha rulers in the 17th-19thcentury. (16/16)

cc : @LostTemple7