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Tanjore
In the 9th century Ad, the Chola dynasty defeated the last of the weakened
Pallavas. They took over as the major ruling force in South India and one of
their accomplishments was to elaborate upon the Pallava style of architecure.
Tanjore, a rich temple town and the capitla of the Chola kingdom located 218 miles
south-west of Chennai, possess the best mounment to the skill of its architects - the
Brihadishwara temple.
According to legend, in this ancient town, also ruled by the local Nayaka and the
invading Marahta, lived a rakshasa (giant) called Tanjan, who was killed in battle by
Nilamegaperumal, a form of Vishnu. As Tanjan lay dying, he begged that his home be
named after him and so it was. This largely Saivite centre, renowned for its
gold-work paintings and brass handicrafts, has over 50 minor temples but none th quality
of the Brihandishwara.
The Cholas developed a style not only understated, utilizing plain exteriors but one that
relied, unlike the Pallavas, on architectural detal. The lion emblem vanished, the
use of pillars was refined, and bronze statuary incorporated to adorn shrines.
Indeed today there are more examples of intricate and finely worked Chola metal figures to
be found than those of their architecture, the only other important architectural sites
being Darasuram. Gangaikondacholapuram, and Tribhuvanam. The Chola temples, with
their semi-erotic sculptures, at Kumbahakonam, are also worth visiting.
Brihdishwara
T his exquisite temple labours under
the misfortune of not being considered sacred in south India. The custom of only
allowing high caste individuals into a shrine backfired on it. Legend has it
that the respected Saivite saint, Appar, was, for some obscure reason, not allowed to
enter the shrine. He did not rant or rave in the manner peculiar to sages but walked
calmly away, taking his revenge for the insult through silence. In his hymns, and
therefore in the hymns of his followers, absolutely no mention was made of
Brihadishwara. Ignored by the intelligentsia, it was bound not to receive acceptance
by the common man.
So it stands, rejected and slightly forlorn, incongruously cheerful in colour, in a corner
of a small fort in Tanjore. In the centre of a rectangular, walled enclosure
measuring 500 feet by 250 feet is the Siva shrine, testimony to the wealth and power of
the Chola monarch Rajaraja (the King of Kings) the Great. He reigned from 985-1018
AD and spent the last decade of his rule preoccupied with the construction of the temple.
It is surrounded by a number of shrines built to subramania (Skanda), Parvati, and
Thachanamurthy (or Dakshina Murthy - the god/idol who always faces south), at the cardinal
points and protected by colonnades. The sanctum also has a series of halls - the
ardhamandapa or vestibule; the mahamandapa; and the Nandimandapa, a pavilion dedicated to
the Nandi bull.
The huge Nandi or Swayambhu (the self created one), in this hall is carved from a solid
rock of 'hornblenic gneiss'. It has been polished over the centuries into a deep,
glossy black by gingelly oil, which is also used in local cuisine.
According to a local myth, a live frog resides within the Nandi. When the temple was
first built, the bull apparently miraculously appeared from the ground and was of a
relatively small size. However, he went on expanding, until the great king, worried
that Nandi would dwarf his temple, ordered the frog within to be killed. The image
was broken at the back and a sword put in to kill the offending creature. But
he was hardy and though he stopped expanding, he is thought to be alive still for his
blood supposedly continues to seep out from the crack in the stone.
The monumental entrance to the temple is between two shrines to Siva's sons, Ganesh
and Subramania (or Skanda as he is known in the north) above which rises up the 40 foot,
five storey gopuram, white washed in customary fashion and embellished with coloured
plaster figures and delicate fans, the archetype of the south Indian shrine. Two
large and grotesque dwarapala-s guard the approach to the shrine. Depicted with four
hands each, they tell the pilgrim, with the upraised forefinger of the lower right hand,
'Sinners may not enter here'. The open palm of the upper right hand warns, 'I
smite those who disobey my order'.
Behind this entryway is a three storey, inner gopuram opening onto a clear courtyard,
enclosed by a thick wall. This is topped with 1,008 Nandis. There are three
subsidiary gates to the west, north and south, aligned with the centre of the sanctum.
The open court leading to the main shrine is paved with brick and provides the
space required to stand and appreciate the imposing building. Towards the back of
the estate are a well and platform where dancing girls perofrmed every April during
the temple festival. The temple is not set in the exact centre of the yard but
slightly back near the west wall. It faces the dawn and possessed a gold tipped
dome, hewn from a single block of granite supposedly weighing 80 tons.
The simplicity of the Chola style of temple building is evident in the flat, dressed
stones of the sanctum overlaid judiciously with decorative detail. Rising up from a
high plinth and reached by way of stone steps, the shrine is built upwards in tiers, with
the molding on each level accentuated by a simple, miniature horse-shoe pattern. Its
recesses hold many statues of dancers, warriors and the ashtadikpala-s. As the
hollow 16 storey high shikhara, also layered, begins to stretch towards the sky, it is
beautifully adorned at equal intervals with the fan-like stone work of the Brihadishwara's
gopuram, perhaps representing the vehicle of Subramania, the peacock.Go to Top
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