(Anu Venugopal)
Brihadeeshwara Temple (Peruvudaiyar Kovil) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The Peruvudaiyar Temple, located in the city of Thanjavur, about 350 km (220 mi) southwest of Chennai, is well connected by all modes of transport – road, rail, and airways.It is also known as Periya Kovil, RajaRajeswara Temple and Rajarajesvaram. It is one of the largest temples in the country and is an example of Dravidian architecture during the Chola period. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD, the temple turned 1000 years old in 2010. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “Great Living Chola Temples”, with the other two being the Brihadeeswarar Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Airavatesvara Temple. The temple stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The vimana (temple tower) is 216 ft (66 m) high and is the tallest in the world. The Kumbam (the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and weighs around 80 tons.There is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock measuring about 16 ft (4.9 m) long and 13 ft (4.0 m) high at the entrance. The entire temple structure is made out of granite, the nearest sources of which are about 60 km to the west of the temple. The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu.Arulmozhivarman, a Tamil emperor who was popular as Rajaraja Chola I laid out the foundations of Brihadeeswarar Temple during 1002 CE. It was the first among other great building projects by Tamil Chola. Asymmetrical and axial geometry rules the layout of this temple. Temples from the same period and two following centuries are expressions of Tamils Chola’s power, artistic expertise, and wealth. The emergence of these types of features, such as multifaceted columns along with projecting signals of square capitals signifies the arrival of the Chola style, which was new at that time.
It is one architectural exemplar, which showcases the true form of Dravida kind of architecture in temples and is a representative of the ideology of the Chola Empire and Southern India’s Tamil civilization. Brihadeeswarar Temple “testifies to Chola’s brilliant achievements in architecture, painting, bronze casting, and sculpture.”The Peruvudaiyar temple’s plan and development utilize the axial and symmetrical geometry rules. It is classified as Perunkoil (also called Madakkoil), a big temple built on a higher platform of a natural or man-made mound. The temple complex is a rectangle that is almost two stacked squares, covering 240.79 meters (790.0 ft) east to west, and 121.92 meters (400.0 ft) north to south. In this space are five main sections: the sanctum with the towering superstructure (Sri Vimana), the Nandi hall in front (Nandi-mandapam), and in between these the main community hall (Mukhamandapam), the great gathering hall (Mahamandapam) and the pavilion that connects the great hall with the sanctum (Antrala).
The temple faces east, and once had a water moat around it. This has been filled up. The fortified wall now runs around this moat. The two walls have ornate gateways called gopurams. These are made from stone and display entablature. The main gateways are on the east side. The first one is called the Keralantakan Tiruvasal, which means the “sacred gate of the Keralantakan”. The word Keralantakan was the surname of king Rajaraja who built it. About 100 meters (330 ft) ahead is the inner courtyard gopuram called the Rajarajan Tiruvasal.This is more decorated than the Keralantakan Tiruvasal, such as with its Adhishthanam relief work narrating scenes from the Puranas and other Hindu texts. The inner eastern gopuram leads to a vast courtyard, in which the shrines are all signed to east–west, and north-west cardinal directions.
The complex can be entered either on one axis through a five-story gopuram or with second access directly to the huge main quadrangle through a smaller free-standing gopuram.The gopuram of the main entrance is 30 m high, smaller than the vimana. The main temple-related monuments and the great tower is in the middle of this courtyard. Around the main temple that is dedicated to Shiva, are smaller shrines, most of which are aligned axially. These are dedicated to his consort Parvati, his sons Murugan and Ganesha, Nandi, Varahi, Karuvur deva (the guru of Rajaraja Chola), Chandeshvara, and Nataraja. The Nandi mandapam has a monolithic seated bull facing the sanctum. In between them are stairs leading to a columned porch and community gathering hall, then an inner mandapa connecting to the Pradakshina Patha, or circumambulation path. The Nandi (bull) facing the much-mandapam weighs about 25 tonnes. It is made of a single stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length, and 2.5 m in width. The image of Nandi is a monolithic one and is one of the largest in the country.
