This is one of the MUST VISIT temple in India apart from
Belur/Halebid in Karnataka. I would say this is also one of the Wonders in World for its architecture. This is again a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Wov... Wov... and Wov are the only words that came from my mouth... Yes, every details is so surprising... ! So intricate carvings and sculpures, beautiful sculptures on towers. I have visited this temple earlier thrice, but this time it was very interesting as I had a good camera to capture the details. I could not reduce the number of photos in this post and ended up adding most of them.
I am sure after reading this post and checking the photos below, you will plan to visit this temple for sure.
Distance and Route Details
- From Kumbakonam - 41Kms
- This is in the Thanjavur city.
- Kumbakonam to Thanjavur road is in very bad condition (as of Jan 2015)
- From Trichy this is 58 Kms and the road is good (NH).
Temple Timings
Opening hours: 6AM till 12:30PM and 4PM till 8:30PM
Note: Only the main deity and the inner sanctum will be closed in noon between 12:30 to 4PM, The temple is open always till 8:30 night and one can get inside and see all the sculptures, paintings and details full day.
History, Details and the Structure
Built by Rajaraja Chola-I during 1003 to 1010AD. The top portion of the temple tower - "Kalasam" or "Vimanam" weighs 81 tonnes, made on eight pieces of big stones and was raised to that height by many elephants.
ReferWiki for lots of other details. To raise this so huge Kalasam to the top of the main tower, inclined plane of 7Km starting Sarappallam (village near Thanjavur) is been constructed it seems. And multiple elephants pulled this up to the top. Amazing isn't it ?
The main sanctum is a square and measures close to 46 sq.m. The main vimana on top is built through corbelling system or locally known as "Kadalikakarna" in Tamil (
கதலிககர்ணம்).
Note: Please ask for guide who can explain the history and stories behind the sculptures in detail. Charges approx. 200 to 300/=. Ask for guide in temple office or the priest.
Main Tower and Nandi (Big Bull)
The entrance is facing east. The main tower is built in such a way that, the shadow never falls on the ground at anytime of the day. This is so amazing and check my photos of the tower taken from all different directions.
The Nandhi statue is 2 meter in height and weighs over 20 tonnes. Made on single stone. The lingam (main deity) is 3.7 meter tall. The height of the main tower is close to 61 meters. The dhoti that is worn by the main deity is of 35+ meter in length.
The dwarapalaka statues are of more than 16 feet high, again they are so amazing.
Shrines
Main shrine is Peruvudaiyar, the main lingam which is of 3.7 meter high. Five other subshrines are
- Chandikesvara
- Periyanayaki Amman and Varahi Amman
- Subramanya Or Murugan
- Ganesha
- Karuvur Devar or Karuvur Siddar
Apart from Kasi, the Varahi Amman is found only here in India it seems.
The Cloisture Mandapa
This cloisture mandapa runs around the temple complex. This was constructed by Rajaraja's military commander Krishnan Raman. In this structure are 36 subshrines for the subsidiary deities like the ashtadikpalas, the parivara devatas etc. The well known inscriptions providing information on the dancers and their places of living are inscribed on the exterior wall near norther doorway. The Maratha ruler Sarabhoji installed 108 lingas in this mandapa. The lengthiest Marathi inscriptions of Sarabhoji is found on the inner wall on the south western portion of this mandapa. Mural paintings are seen.
Sthala Virutcham
Vanni tree (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopis_cineraria) is the sthala-virutcham (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sthala_Vriksha) of this temple.
Stay and Food options
There are plenty of options in Kumbakonam and Thanjavur. Refer the review sites to check for best options. You can also stay in Trichy which is just 60 kms from here.
Nearby Temples (Click the link to read the blog post)
1. Darasuram
2. Gangaikonda Cholapuram Peruvudaiyar Temple
3. Thiruvaiyaru
4. Poondi Madha Basilica - Catholic pilgrimage centre near Thiruvaiyaru
5. Patteeswaram
6. Kumbakonam Temples
7. Trichy Rockfort Temple, Srirangam and Thiruvanaikaval ...etc
8. Chidambaram and Nearby Places
9. Mannargudi Thiruvarur Nachiarkoil Oothukadu and Nearby places
10. Thirukkadaiyur or Thirukadavur Amirtaghateswarar Abirami Temple
Note: Incase if you want to add Chidambaram to your list, you may want to stay one additional day or two and visit even Nataraja Temple and Mangrove forests in Chidambaram. Chidambaram is 110 kms from Thanjavur.
Trip Planning
This temple can be combined along with all the temples listed above in 2 days by one night stay in Kumbakonam or Thanjavur or in Trichy.
Now lets move onto the photos
Note: All the images are copyrighted. Click on the image to zoom and see details. Contact me for bigger size images.
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Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Full View from inside
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple View |
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| Shiva Bhikshatana |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Entrance Tower View |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Entrance |
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| Big Nandi Mantap Roof Paintings, done on 16th / 17th Century |
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| Big Nandi View of the Temple |
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| View of Big Nandi and Roof paintings, this mantap was built during 16th/17th century |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Cloister Mantap or Mandap |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Ganesha |
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| Nataraja, Notice the colors |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Corner Tower View |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Dwarapalaka |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Dwarapalaka |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Dwarapalaka |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Dwarapalaka |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Dwarapalaka |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Faun |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Ganesha Intricate Carvings |
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| Zoomed the top portion of the above Ganesha sculptures, notice the details .... Wov !! |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Golden hour shine |
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| Are they doing Hi-Five ? :-) |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Horse |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Historical Information Board |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Inner Murugan Temple |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Chandikesvara Inner Tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Inner View of the Tower |
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| Intricate carvings, you can insert a match stick between the floral structure and the stone on back |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Cloisture Mandap Lingams and Colorful paintings |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Information Board |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Plan |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Moat |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Murugan Temple Tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Murugan or Subramanya |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Paintings on Cloisture Mandapa |
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| Varahi Amman |
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| Still the green, yellow and red colors are seen after centuries... !! |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Varahi Amman |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Karuvur Siddar |
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| Murugan or Subramanya |
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| Spout, Isnt it so beautiful ? |
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| Another Spout, Isnt it so beautiful ? |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Old Tamil Inscriptions |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Entrance Tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Entrance Tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower closeup |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower Arthanareswarar |
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| Another corner view of the main tower |
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| Murugan or Subramanya with Valli and Deivanai |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower sculptures |
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| Dwarapalaka on the temple tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower sculptures Narasimha |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower sculptures Brahma |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower sculptures Narasimha |
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| Subramanya or Murugan |
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| You can never see the shade on falling on the ground. Capture of the tower from another angle. |
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| Golden sun shine on the entrance tower |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Tower Closeup.., Wov... Wov..... and Wov !!! Amazing isn't it ? |
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| Moon in Middle and two towers and the Golden sun shine.... Wov !!! |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple Vahana |
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswarar Temple View |
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