Thanjavur
About the city
Thanjavur to Pondicherry
The Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary has wide saltflats that attract many estuarine and sea birds from November to January. There is said to be a good beach, and deep-sea fishing may be possible. Tranquebar (which sounds like a brand of whisky) was a Danish colony from 1616 until 1845 when they sold it to the East India Company. The castle, the Dansborg, and several fine churches survive. This was the site of the first Protestant mission in India in 1706. Georgina Harding's Tranquebar: A season in South India is fascinating. Good beach, limited accommodation. Access by bus from Thanjavur or rail. Tamil Nadu has the highest concentration of magnificent temples in all India. Tourist officials and locals will encourage you to visit these, but always check before venturing into the sanctum.Thanjavur, the small town amidst the fertile Kaveri delta was the capital of the powerfil chola king. This grand show case of chola temple architecture was also an important seat of Tamil learning and culture. A distinctive art style developed here which is usually a combination of raised and painted surfaces. Lord Krishna is the most favourite theme of the famous Thanjavur school of art. Thanjvur is also the home of Carnatic music, musical instruments, dance and traditional handicrafts.
Thanjai also means refuge in Tamil. Rich harvests, a lush countryside and a divine river made for a contented people who had the leisure and the inclination for engaging in all the fine things of life: culture, religion, architecture and literature. Even the character of succe's'sive conquerors seemed to change once they had assumed power. They became gentler and more responsible rulers, visionary builders and patrons of the arts. Thanjai did that to people. The tragedy of Thanjavur is the drying up of the Cauvery, whose waters are now the subject of an unresolved dispute with the upper riparian state of Karnataka. The Cauvery is not just a river, it is an inherent element in the lives of the delta people. The late novelist T. Janakiraman wrote, 'the river rose in flood, and hissed, like a serpent turning over; like an elephant advancing; yet his father made him bathe in the Cauvery, and he rose up from the water, his lips shivering, and saw a kingfisher dive like an arrow into the crest of a wave. But now the river, the subject of much lyrical writing, is mostly dry. Many of the villages that once resounded with the strains of the nadaswaram (wind instrument) and the jathis (rhythmic footwork) of Bharatanatyam dancers, have turned into ghost hamlets. But when it rains, like it did this year, the sparkling waters of the Cauvery seem to breathe life into Chola Nadu's magnificent past.
Thanjavur (Tanjore) was an important centre during the Chola era from the tenth to the 14th century, and the great Temple of Brihadiswara dates from this time. The tower over the sanctuary rises to 65m and is topped with a carved block of stone reckoned toweigh 89 tonnes. The ramp along which this was inched into place was 6 km long. It is usual for Shiva temple to have a statue of Nandi, the bull, facing the entrance and this one is huge. The cloisters that surround the enclosure have many, many lingams and interesting murals. This monumental granite temple is the finest example of Chola architecture. Built by rajaraja Cola l in 1010 AD it was dedicated to Shiva. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old palace buildings house a museum and library; the tower of the former gives a good view over the town. Danes will be interested in the Schwartz Church nearby. At Manora (65 km) a 30m tower put up by a local raja commemorates the British victory at Waterloo.
Towards the end of the first millennium the Chola dynasty became a great power in South India. In three places mainly they built huge temples: Thanjavur (King Raj-raj, 985-1012), Gangaikonda-cholapuram (King Rajendra, 1012-1044) and Darasuram (Kings Vir-Rajendra, 1063-1069 and Raj-raj II, 1150-1173). King Rajendra built a powerful fleet and extended his influence to Burma, Malaisia, Java and Sumtra. In India he campaigned as far as the Ganges in North India and to celebrate this triumph he founded a new capital, named Gangai-konda-chola-puram or ‘The city of the Chola king who brought the Ganges'. On the inauguration day the vassals were requested only to bring Ganges water all the way to the city and fill a tank with it. The ambitious King Rajendra also built a big temple for Shiva there. The Cholas made good use of the architectural achievements of their predecessors. With the huge capital they had ‘gathered' they attracted artisans and stone-cutters from other regions and with a creative genius they contributed much to the development of architecture. With the Pallavs the central shrine of the temple was small: the Cholas made the spire above the shrine a gigantic structure. With the Pallavs the gopuram (gate-house) was rather small. In Chola temple compounds the gopuram is sometimes even bigger than the central spire. The Dvarpals, important figures in the Pallav temples, have two arms and look gentle. In the Chola temples they have form arms and look fierce. Around 1239 the Cholas suffered a defeat in a battle against the Pandyas of Madurai, who took superiority in the region.
The Brihadeshvar temple (of Shiva ‘the Great Lord') was completed in 1010, with the fitting of an 80 ton monolith on top of the spire which is 60.96 meters high. In numerous inscriptions in the temple compound we can read which noble person gave what donation to help in the construction of the temple. Many of these treasures have since disappeared.
If you find a quiet corner somewhere, sit down and dream about the days, in the 12th c., when worship in this temple attracted huge crowds (as in Madurai today). For most of them this was the tallest building on earth. There wasdancing, singing and music. Loads of flowers were distributed or sold. The musicians, drummers, dancing-girls and instructors were given donations by royal patrons. Stone cutters, sculptors and wood-carvers, painters and poets, cooks, security people and, last but not least, persons in charge of collecting the money: all were part of this temple. They joined for a temporary assignment or had a ‘tenure' job. If you can go back to those days, the Thanjavur temple is not just an architectural monument: it is a happening, an inspiration gone but still testifying to the greatness of the dynastic power and of the devotion of the people. It is good not to remember that much of the rice production and of the military loot were required for this construction.
Granite, dragged to this place on bullockcarts is the basic material of the Brihadeshvar temple. Like a fortress, the compound is surrounded by a tall wall, and on one side flows the Kaveri River. Some of the fortifying structures were built by the French in 1777, with blocks taken from temples in the neighbourhood
Going through the big gate (east), you arrive at a second, smaller gopuram (gate-house) where two impressive Dvarpals (door guardians) testify to the greatness of the Cholas. On the walls we can see beautiful friezes, depicting episodes in the life of Shiva: the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, Shiva protecting Markandey, Arujn acquiring the Pashupat bow. In a pavilion on the main square inside is a seated Bull Nandi, cut from a granite monolith and blackened with ritual oil.
The viman or spire has a repetition of ‘storeys' with domes and gutters. Ganesh, Vishnu with consort, Bhu-devi (the Earth), Lakshmi, giant Dvarpals with four arms,Vishnu-anugrah (Vishnu worshipping Shiva). Shiva Bhikshatan (Shiva as mendicant after chopping off one of Brahma,s heads), Shiva Vir-bhadra (destroying the ritual of his father-in-law Daksha), Dvarpals, Shiva Dakshina Murti, Kalantak and Shiva Natraj. On the west-side there are niches with Harihar (Vishnu and Shiva), Ardh-narishvar (Shiva andParvati), Dvarpals and two Chandra-shekhar. On the north-side there are images of Ardh-narishvar (Shiva and Parvati), Shiva Ganga-dhar (‘receiving the river Ganges in his hair), Dvarpals, Virbhadra (Shiva ruining the ritual of his father-in-law Daksha), Alingan-Chandrashekhar (Shiva ‘embracing'), Dvarpals, Sarasvati (consort of Brahma), Mahish-asur-mardini Durga, Bhairav (Shiva the terrifying). In the upper storeys most images are representations of Shiva Tripur-antak (destroying the demons of the three cities).
In the corridor around the compound there are 1000 Lingams, of different sizes, and some (recent) wall-paintings. In some of these paintings we can see interesting combinations of a personified Shiva in the Lingam. The shrine of the temple is close to non-Hindus but inside there are interesting images of Shiva, in 108 different dancing poses. The Subrahmanya temple near the image of Nandi is of the 17th century. Thegroundplan is simple but the temple gives an artistic impression because of the beautiful sculptures.
Scenically one of the most enchanting districts in the state- Thanjavur lies to the east of Trichy and has the reputation as the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu. It is not surprising that the great Cholas chose Thanjavur as the location of some of their most magnificent creations, since this now small city once occupied the proud position as their capital and most treasured territory. Though the history of Thanjavur is far older than the Chola period itself, it is during their reign between the 10th and 14th centuries that the city rose to dizzying heights, becoming the centre of Tamil learning and culture. The Tamil University, set up recently is situated here and is devoted to the growth of Tamil literature and language. Today, what reminds of its glorious legacy are the temples of the Cholas, not less than 74 of which are around Thanjavur itself.
One of the best temples in South India, the Brahadeeshwarar temple or the Big Temple built by the greatest Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola, is that dynasty's finest contribution to Dravidan temple architecture. What makes the construction so unique is the diversion from the usual temple building norms of having a tall gopuram (gateway) and a smaller vimanam (the tower over the sanctum). At the Big temple the vimanam soars high while the gopuram remains stunted. The 64.8 mtr tall, 14 tiered pyramid shaped vimanam rises from a square base and is topped by huge monolithic cupolas carved out from an 81.3 tonne block of granite that was installed with the aid of a 6km long inclined plane. The tower is a testimony to the engineering skills of the Chola architects who planned its construction in such a way that the shadow of the cupola never falls on the ground.
In keeping with the physical stature of the temple is the gigantic Mahalingam (A symbol of Lord Shiva) in the shrine and the massive Nandi (Lord Shiva's Bull) at the portals. Measuring 6m in length, 2.6m in breath and 3.7m in height, it is the second largest monolithic Nandi in the country.
Not far from the temple is the Palace, which was built by the Nayakas and renovated by the Marathas. It dates back to the 1550s and houses an art gallery, a library and a hall of music.
The Raja Chola Art Gallery has some fine pieces of stone and bronze sculptures from the 9th and 12th centuries. Over 30,000 Indian and European manuscripts written on palm leaf and paper are preserved in the Saraswathi Mahal Library. The Sangeetha Mahal is an acoustically perfect musical hall that testifies to the skill of its boundaries. East of the palace is the Schwartz Church which was built in 1779 by Raja Serfoji in honour of Revered Schwartz of Denmark.
Festivals
Saint Thyagaraja Aradhana Musical Festival - Thiruvaiyaru - January.Pongal (Tourist) Festival - Thanjavur - 14th to 16th January.
Mahamaham Festival at Kumbakonam - February & March once in 12 years. Last held in 1992.
Annai Velankanni Festival - August-September.
Arulmigu Thyagarajaswamy Car Festival - Thiruvarur - March and April.
Muthupallakku Thiruvizha - Tiruvarur - May.
Rajaraja Chola's Birthday - Sathaya Thiruvizha - October every year at Thanjavur.