Panorama of the temple
Temple Deities
Shiva Lingam at the temple
The "moolavar" or prime deity of the
Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva. All deities, particularly those placed in the
niches of the outer wall (Koshta Moorthigal) like Dakshinamurthy, Surya,
Chandra are of huge size. The Brihadiswarar temple is one of the rare temples
which has idols for "Ashta-dikpaalakas" (Guardians of the directions)
– Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera, Īśāna – each of whom was
originally represented by a life-sized statue, approximately 6 feet tall,
enshrined in a separate temple located in the respective direction. (Only Agni,
Varuṇa, Vāyu and Īśāna are preserved in situ.)
Adjoining structures
Shrine of Ganapathy
Surrounding the main temple are two walled enclosures. The
outer wall is high, defining the temple complex area. Here is the massive
gopuram or gateway mentioned above. Within this a portico, a barrel vaulted
gorpuram with over 400 pillars, is enclosed by a high wall interspersed with
huge gopurams axially lined up to the main temple.
Features
Another widely held belief is that the shadow of the gopuram
(pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never falls on the
ground. . The temple is said to be made up of about 130,000 tons of granite.
The Kumbam itself, a 60 ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the
main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined
slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. The prevailing belief is
that a mud-slope, which starts at about three miles from the temple site, from
Thirukoilore (birthplace of Raja raja's mother) near Sri Virateshvara swamy
temple. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope. This was
claimed to be the only part of the gopuram, which does not cast a shadow that
fall on the ground, at least not within the temple premises.
Murals
Rajaraja mural-2
Mural at Brihadeeswarar temple,Tanjavur. This is painting
style that evolved in the town.
Painting on the roof of brihadeeswarar temple, Tanjavur
The temple has Chola frescoes on the walls around the
sanctum sanctorum potryaing Shiva in action, destroying demonic forts, dancing
and sending a white elephant to transport a devotee to heaven. These
frescoes were discovered in the 1940s and portray the mythological episodes of
the journey of Saint Sundarar and the Chera King to heaven, the battle scene of
Tripurantaka (Lord Siva) with Asuras (demons). The Chola artists have
proved their mettle by portraying even the Asura women with a sense of
beauty. Some of the paintings in the sanctum sanctorum and the walls in the
passage had been damaged because of the soot that had deposited on them. Owing
to the continuous exposure to smoke and soot from the lamps and burning of
camphor in the sanctum sanctorum over a period of centuries certain parts of
the Chola paintings on the circumambulatory passage walls had been badly
damaged. The Tanjore Nayak kings replaced them with a few paintings of
their own, about 400 years ago.The Archaeological Survey of India, for the
first time in the world, used its unique de-stucco process to restore 16 Nayak
paintings, which were superimposed on 1000-year-old Chola frescoes. These
400-year-old paintings have been mounted on fibre glass boards, displayed at a
separate pavilion.
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