THE BIG TEMPLE : GREAT AND GRAND
(By Subbaram Danda)
The Big Temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India, is an ancient Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, commanding several incredible architectural features not found elsewhere in India or abroad. As the name indicates, every thing about the temple is immense, and the fabulous fare it offers can only be described in the superlative. It is a temple, where active worship has been going on for centuries.
Also called Brihadisvara Temple after a prominent name of the Lord, it was built in 1010 AD by Emperor Rajaraja I of the Chola Dynasty, who is counted among the greatest Tamil rulers. The temple is the magnificent culmination of the multi-faceted achievements of the Chola kings, who generously patronised art, architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze-casting. It is the world’s first complete granite edifice of its kind.
The temple has boldly incorporated new styles and norms of construction courageously deviating from the traditional path. For instance, its vimana (the tower above the sanctum sanctorum) was designed and constructed to be significantly taller than its gopurams (the towers at the entrance).
The Big Temple: The 14-tier vimana
with 81-tonne cupola and 12.5 ft. kalasa on top
Weight of 20 jumbos
Experts point out that the Big Temple’s vimana at over 200 feet is among the tallest structures of their kind in the world – taller than a modern 20-storey skyscraper! It rises from a square base and is shaped like a pyramid soaring high with 14 tiers. The vimana showcases elaborately decorated sculptures highlighting divine anecdotes, mythological events and Tamil legends.
On top of the vimana rests a huge monolithic granite cupola weighing 81 tonnes. It is equivalent to the combined weight of more than 1,100 adult human beings or 20 well-fed elephants! How was such a heavy rock taken to the top of the very tall vimana more than 1,000 years ago, when techniques of modern technology were not available? Hats off to Chola architects and engineers! They did it. The cupola is believed to have been pushed up to its position on a solid ramp laid from a place more than six kilometers (about four miles) away. On top of the cupola is a gold-covered kalasa or finial 12.5 feet high. Interestingly, there is yet another characteristic that one should admire. It is claimed that the shadow of the cupola never falls on the ground!
An ornate gopuram (Photo courtesy:
Archaeological Survey of India)
Archaeological Survey of India)
Colossal Linga
An outstanding feature of the Big Temple is its thoughtfully and spaciously designed sanctum sanctorum. A colossal Shiva Linga, the traditional symbolic representation of the Lord, stands majestically rising to a height of about 12 feet. For priests to carry out their rituals of worship there is comfortable room to move around and a nice flight of steps to gain height. For the devotees also there is sufficient space to remain in front of the shrine and pray.
The passage surrounding the sanctum has some notable large images. The wall space and the ceiling of the passage display several exquisite paintings. In the first floor of the temple on the inner walls of a corridor, not easily accessible, there are brilliant sculptures of 87 dance poses. Known as Karanas portrayed by Shiva himself, they are said to be “invaluable for the Indian dance form of Bharata Natya.”
In the front court facing the main shrine is a huge monolithic bull Nandi, the traditional mount of Shiva, measuring 16 feet in length, 8 feet in breadth and 13 feet in height. There is a canopy above the bull added in later times. The Nandi is the second largest in India, the first being the one at the Lepakshi temple in Andhra Pradesh.
Millennium celebrations
The temple offers many other attractions as well to the visitors with keen and roving eyes. Ornate gopurams, vast open spaces, several smaller shrines, statue-studded niches, numerous inscriptions and large pillared halls do not fail to impress them. It was planned and built not only to be a place of worship but also to serve as a centre for cultural, social and religious activities. This is a temple which has withstood the ravages of time. Its millennium was celebrated on a grand scale in September 2010.
There is another Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram in Tiruchi district nearby built by Rajaraja’s son Rajendra Chola after his victorious march up to the Ganga. It is similar to the Thanjavur shrine but different in details. Yet another Airavateswara temple at Darasuram in Thanjavur district was built by Rajaraja Chola II. These three major Chola temples have together received the World Heritage status from UNESCO.
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