Brihadeeswarar Temple History – The world-famous Tanjore ‘Peruvudiyar Temple‘ or the ‘Tanjore Big Temple’ or also known as the ‘Brihadeeswarar Temple‘ is a Lord Shiva temple. Located in Tanjore, Tamil Nadu, India. on the south bank of the Cauvery River.
This temple is one of the largest temples built for Lord Shiva in India. The temple is also one of the World Heritage Sites. The temple is a testament to Tamil architecture and is one of the temples with magnificent architectural features.
State: Tamil Nadu
District: Tanjore
Country: India
Deity: Lord Shiva
The temple was built in the 10th century AD by the world-famous Chozha emperor Rajaraja Chozha I. The temple has stood majestically for over a thousand years.
Brihadeeswarar Temple is a world-famous temple located in Thanjavur. To this day, there are no clear explanations as to how Raja Raja Chola, also known as Arunmozhi Varman, built this temple. Its highlights have surprised many researchers. Researchers say it will take years to build on existing technology.
Pride of Rajaraja Chola I
The inscription not only mentions the name of Raja Raja Chozha who built the temple but also the names of all those who worked to build this temple.
The names of those who helped the architects, such as the laundresses and hairdressers, are also recorded in the inscription, which shows the greatness of Raja Raja Chozha, the love he had for the people, and the love that the people had for Raja Raja Chozha.
Temple Name
This Brihadeeswarar Temple in Tamil Nadu was earlier known as the Rajarajeswarar Temple. The name Brihadeeswarar, as it is now called, was given by the Marathas. They also call the temple the Maha Shiva Temple.
Brihadeeswarar Temple Architecture
After the arrival of King Rajaraja Chozha in Sri Lanka, he saw the large Buddhist statues there and designed this temple with the intention of making large-scale statues and pillars in the Chozha dynasty as well. Let’s see some interesting facts about Brihadeeswarar Temple below:
The Tower is a Miracle
The highlight of this temple is that the shadow of the tower in this temple does not fall down at noon.
As well as the large miracle that the urn-shaped roof stone placed at the top of the tower was made of a single stone weighing about 80 tons. More than that it is amazing how it was taken so high.
The Shiva lingam in the womb is said to emit excessive electromagnetic energy and that energy is reflected and concentrated in these single stone roofs. It is believed that this energy, which is made up of these positive thoughts, gives peace and tranquility to the devotees who come here and makes them mentally and physically fit.
Special of the Temple
The height of the plane in this temple is 216 feet (66 m). The special features of Tamil in this temple are the Tamil preferences of King Rajaraja Chozha I. The height of the Shiva lingam in the temple is 12 feet Tamil vowels 12, the height of the pedestal of the Shiva lingam is 18 feet Tamil consonants 18, the height of the temple tower is 216 ft.
During the period when the temples were built with only two or three floors, Rajaraja erected a stone temple about 60 m high with 15 floors in the Cauvery plain where no stones were available. Such a huge temple is said to have been completed in about 7 years. The Shiva lingam in the sanctum is the largest Shiva lingam in the world.
Shiva lingam, which is 6 feet high, 54 feet in circumference, and 23 and a half feet high, is individually carved out of black stone and attached. The height and width of the huge Nandi statue erected at the entrance of the temple are 13 feet and 16 feet respectively.
Statue of Nandi
Here the large Nandi idol in front of Lord Shiva is carved out of a single stone. It is said that the Nandi idol made by Rajaraja Chozha was altered and there is no clear evidence for this yet.
However, as the Nandi idol established by King Rajaraja Chozha continues to grow day by day, the Marathas were shocked and surprised to remove the Nandi idol and keep the new Nandi idol, the old Nandi still kept in the temple premises.
Brihadeeswarar Temple Construction
According to an inscription found in the temple, the temple was built by the architects ‘Kunjaramallan Rajaraja Perundachan‘ and is still standing in his name through his exquisite works.
It is estimated that 130,000 tons of granite was used in the construction of the temple. Surprisingly, the stones for the temple were brought from far away during the period when there were no mountains nearby and no modern transport facilities.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Tanjore Temple is not just a temple, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its amazing heritage and history and archeology.
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