The Brihadisvara Temple Thanjavur (World Heritage Series)

This guide to the Brihadisvara temple, Thanjavur, is a part of the world heritage Series published by the Archaeological Survey of India. Although a guide book, on The Great Chola Temples, has been published, the need to have an exclusive book on the brihadisvara temple was long felt both by the scholars and the tourists.

This book on the brihadisvara temple. Thanjavur, Published in commemoration of the Millennium of the constriction of the temple, is dedicated to both its creative and versatile builder Chola Rajaraja I and to the temple itself which has withstood the vicissitudes of Time in its pristine from.

The volume on the thajavur temple provides an introduction to the history of Thanjavur, the construction of the temple, the sculptures and the paintings together with detailed plans and exceptional photographs.

The Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur or the Big temple as it is commonly referred to, is an awe inspiring structure creaed through the patronage of the mighty Chola ruler Rajaraja I and marks the climax of Chola architecture. This was the dream project of the great king after his extensive and victorious military campaigns and his significant contribution to Saivism in the retrieval of the nearly lost sacred hymns of the three Saiva saints Appar, Gnanansambandar and Sundarar collectively known as the Tirumurai. Planned in perfect proportions, this temple was built on a monumental scale of which there is neither precedence nor succession. He envisaged the temple as a place of worship, a social institution, a centre of learning and a treasure house of arts and crafts. Towards this Endeavour the ensured that the temple was endowed with grants and facilities for performance of elaborate worship and ritual. As the 1000th year commemorating the construction of this temple is being celebrated, one can rightly state that the dream and vision of Rajaraja has been fulfilled.