Great Temple of Thanjavur - An Architectural Masterpiece of Chola Rule in South India
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Cholas and Temple Architecture
Thanjavur was the capital of Chola Kingdom during 9th to 13 centuries in Tamilnadu. As the kingdom became powerful the kings patronised arhitects and artisans. This period was one of the important phases in the evolution of Dravidian Architecture. Many temples were built. Mainly Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajaendra Chola, the most powreful kings of the dynasty built two magnificient temples. The Great Temple of Thanjavur is one of them, the other is the temple at Kangaikonda Cholapuram.
This temple is an example for not only for Chola Architecture, but also for sculpture and painting of the period.
The Great Temple of Thanjavur
The Great Temple of Thanjavur was the largest of its time and occupies a site, 800 feet long and 400 feet wide. The compound within its inner wall measures about 500 feet x 250 feet. The Temple is approached by two gateways with towers known as Gopurams. These towers stand on a rectangular base and tapering towards the top. The structure is seen at the middle in Fig. 3. The outer gate tower is a five-tiered construction and the inner one is of three tiers.
Inside the compound the main features of the Temple building are the sanctum sanctorum and the tall tower that stand on it. This tower known as Vimana is the tallest structure in the Temple and rise up to 116 feet from the ground. Sanctum sanctorum is square in shape and the tower above is uniformly tapered towards the top. This can be noticed in the Figures 1 and 2. In front of the sanctum sanctorum there is a long rectangular hall with number of columns supporting the roof.
The Great Temple of Thanjavur
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Read More about Thanjavur Temple
- Bragatheeswarar Temple, The Big Temple
Find more details. - Tanjore temple - a grandeur in Architecture
Tanjore is visited by most of the foreigners who come to India to learn about its culture. - Thanjavur - Brihadeeshwara Temple
For the Cholas, temple building was not merely an outpouring of artistic talent but also away of life, for the entire fabric of the society was woven round the temple.
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Comments
I think this temple is one of the biggest buildings built during that period in India. I visited only once. It is one of my favourite buildings.
It reminds me of 'Vat' type of construction, though.
Having visited The Great Temple last March, I enjoyed the videos very much. Although they are not professional videos, they do give a sense of the size of the Temple grounds and the background sounds certainly brought the experience back.
difficult to make it's model . wonder how it was constucted
Me to
i visited there last year &i realy enjoyed the building was fantastically made. And on seing the building only we can guess how much effort every workers have given for making this building.
i visited there last year &i realy enjoyed the building was fantastically made. And on seing the building only we can guess how much effort every workers have given for making this building.
SunSeven says:
2 years ago
In my opinion Thanjavur can be considered as a city of marvellous temple architecture. Great photo!