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“Apparently the largest, highest and most ambitious production of its kind hitherto undertaken by Indian builders, it is a landmark in the evolution of building art in southern India.” - Percy Brown, Art Historian.

If there is a beauty contest for temples, the Brihadeshwara temple in Tanjavur will win it hands-down. Believed to be the first granite temple in the world and the grandest project undertaken by any Indian ruler, the temple was constructed by great Chola king Rajaraja Chola in 1010 AD.

It is a perfect blend of “beauty with brains”. While there is a amazing simplicity about the various parts of the temple : square vertical base, tall tapering body, and over it all the graceful vimana which is believed to be tallest in the world, it also has many dazzling architectural feat to its credit. For instance, it’s vimana (it is said) never casts a shadow at noon at any time of the year.

At the entrance of the temple sits a huge stone bull (Nandi) which is considered the largest among the world. The walls of the temple are covered with beautiful sculptures of gods and goddesses and its top is capped by a massive monolithic cupola. The most dominating feature of the temple is the “vimana”, which is the tallest structure in the temple. This makes Brihadeshwara somewhat unusual , since the tallest structure in most Indian temples is the “gopuram”.

There is a sense of solidity about Brihadeshwara. The grace and form of the structure is amazing. It has been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site under the “Great Living Chola Temples” list.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 1:06 am and is filed under Indian Art & Culture, Wonders of India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.