Thanjavur Temple
¤ Bragatheeswarar Temple, The
Big Temple
The Bragatheeswarar temple was built by the great Chola king,
Rajajraja Cholan. This grand temple is also known as the Big Temple.
¤ Composition of The Temple
Its founder named the temple as Rajarajeswaram. The temple fills a
large portion of the small fort (Sivaganga Fort), surrounded by moat
on the east and west. The Grand Anaicut Channel (Putharu) is on the
south, and by the Sivaganga Garden. The entrance of the temple is
through a dominating gateway on the east, on either side of which
stand two small shrines dedicated to Ganapathi and Mrurgan. Further,
one can enter through another Gopuram, which is almost 90 feet high.
This way leads into an outer court. There is another magnificent
Gopuram leading further to the main court in which the temple is
built. The inner court is about 500 feet long and 250 feet broad. It
is well paved with brick and stone. There is a cloister that encircles
the court. There are Shivalingams consecrated on the western and
northern wings. The paintings over these walls depict sixty-four
Nayanmars, sacred sport of Siva. The outer measurements of the temple
are 793 feet by 397 feet.
¤ Main Shrine
The main shrine of the temple has three divisions named Keralantakan,
Rasarasan and Thiru-Anukkan. These divisions are regarded as
Dwarapalikas or the guardians of the gate. They are in huge shape and
size and are skillfully carved. There are several sets of these in the
temple; seven of them are of a measurement of 18 feet by 8 feet. All
of them are enormous in size, but they are exquisite pieces of art.
On your temple tour to Thanjavur, visit Sivalinga in the Sri
Brihadisvara temple. This image was originally called Adavallan (the
one who is good in Dance). Another name was Dakshina-Meru Vitanken.
Both the names are found in the thiruvisaipa as the names of the deity
at Chidambaram. This is a possible indication that shiva creed derived
its support at the time mainly from Chidambaram. Rajaraja Cholan calls
the image Rajarajeswaramudaiyar, - The Lord of Rajarajeswaram. There
is a tower over the shrine, named Dakshina-Meru after the abode of
Lord Shiva at Kailasam, the Uttara-Meru.
The great Vimana of this temple is of the Dravidian style of
architecture. It has a height of about 216 feet, a tower of fourteen
storeys. It is beautifully decorated with pilasters, niches and images
of gods of the Hindu religion. The basement of the structure, which
supports the tower, is 96 feet square. The sikhara or cupolic dome is
octagonal in shape and covers the Vimana. The gilded Kalasa or finial,
over it is 12.5 feet high. The dome rests on a single block of
granite, 25.5 feet square. Two Nandis, each measuring 6.5 feet by 5.5
feet beautify each corner of the stone, which is estimated to weigh
about 80 tons.
It is believed that it was placed on the top of the tower by means of
an inclined plane commencing from Sarapallam (scaffold-hollow), four
miles northeast of the city.
¤ Sub Shrines
There are many sub-shrines present in the temple. Some of them are,
Shrine of Sri Subramanya in the northwest corner, Shrine of Goddess
Sri Brihannayagi, Sri Chandeeswara Shrine, Shrine of Ganapathy and the
Shrine of Nataraja in the northeastern corner. There is also a
monolithic figure of Nandhi, the sacred bull, in the central courtyard
and the Shrine of Karuvurar.
¤ The Frescos
Mr.S.K.Govindasamy of Annamalai University discovered the Chola wall
paintings in 1931. It was found within the circumambulatory corridor
Aradhana Mandapam. They are the first Chola specimen's discovered. The
corridor' s passage is dark and one can find paintings on either side
of the walls, painted from floor to ceiling. There are two layers of
paintings on the walls, the upper layer are of the Nayak period. The
paintings underneath it are the Chola frescos.
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