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Tamil Nadu
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Brihadisvara The most enduring aspect of the four-century rule of the Cholas (AD 850- AD 1280) was the extensive temple-building they undertook, creating a sacred circuit of 108 Shiva temples in the Kaveri delta. Under Rajakesari Rajaraja who came to the throne in AD 985, and his son Rajendra I, the Cholas expanded their territories to cover the entire peninsula. As they went further, conquering the Maldive Islands, Sri Lanka, parts of Malaysia, and moving upwards to touch the river Ganga, their kingdom prospered. A devout Shiva bhakta, Rajaraja - as also his son - gave thanks to the Lord by erecting grand temples. Soon, the landscapes of Tamil Nadu was punctuated with lofty spires or shikharas and magnificent temple gateways or gopurams. The Rajarajesvaramudayar At the heart of the Chola power structure, in the wondrous city of Thanjavur, Rajaraja erected his magnum opus, the Rajarajesvaramudayar. It was built as a tribute to his patron deity Shiva and also in expiation for the bloodshed he had caused in numerous wars. The many names of the Temple The temple was consecrated in AD 1010, on the 275th day of the 25th reignal year of Rajaraja's reign, and it lives on, with all rituals and festivals duly conducted. The only thing that has changed is its name: during the rule of the Nayakas, who succeeded the Cholas, it was called Periya Udayar Koil, whose Sanskritised version is Brihadisvara. Today the locals call it just Periya Koil or the Big Temple. Work on Brihadisvara began in AD 1003. The area around Thanjavur is fertile flatlands. The nearest rocky areas are around Thiruchirapalli, many miles away, from where the granite for the massive temple was probably quarried. Slowly, the temple rose to tower over the countryside. Seven years later, the shikhara was ready, awaiting only the uttamavimana. Legend has it that a ramp of packed earth was constructed, beginning 6.4 kms away in the village of Sarapallam. The incline spanned the distance to reach the temple and elephants pulled the 81-tonne granite block mounted on logs to the top of the shikhara. The showpiece of Chola architecture The two elaborately carved gopurams, widely separated from each other, lead the devotee to the huge 152 metres by 76 metres inner courtyard. Just ahead stands the monolithic granite statue of Nandi, Shiva's vehicle, ensconced under a painted canopy of the later Nayaka period. The courtyard itself is encircled by a massive granite wall, which has 1008 Nandi statues on it. There are cloisters on three sides of this vast courtyard and the ones to the left house 108 Shiva lingas of different shapes and sizes. Beyond is the central shrine, whose garbhagriha enshrines a massive 3.6 metre-high linga, striking in its simplicity. The huge black granite linga is also called the adavallan or One-who-dances-well. The garbhagriha has a sandhara nali or circumambultory path between its inner and outer walls, allowing devotees to circle the shrine in a clockwise direction. The passage round the garbhagriha is closed to the public and special permission from the Archaeological Survey of India is needed to enter it to view the few original Chola murals that survive. Unfortunately, most were painted over by the later rulers. Worth viewing is a line drawing showing Rajaraja and his mentor, the Shaivite saint Karuvur Devar. The Bharatnatyam Gallery There is a another circumambulatory gallery on the first floor which is popular called the Bharatnatyam Gallery because it contains statues of Shiva in the various dance poses described in the ancient dance treatise, the Natyashastra. Some 108 figures were planned, but only 79 were completed - in fact the 80th figure is left half-done -because the then king, Rajendra I, acquired a new centre of attention, the other Brihadisvara temple in his new captil Gangaikondacholapuram. The Srivimana - the greatest attraction of the Thanjavur temple This rises to a height of 66.8 metres from the base and is divided into 13 talas or storeys. The square chamber of the garbhagriha gives way to an octagonal hollow half-way up the spire for maximum load leverage. It is crowned by an 81-tonne block of granite called the uttamavimana, on which rests a gold-covered kalasha or finial, 3.6 metres high. What makes this vimana unique is the almost microscopic adherence to measurements - and this in an age when precision tools were unknown. The viman is exactly eight times the width of the garbhagriha so that the load could be properly distributed. And the main Shiva linga, Nandi and the uttamavimana are all exactly 3.6 metres high. |
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