The Brihadeesvarar Temple

The Brihadeesvarar Temple

  The Brihadeesvarar Temple or Big Temple or commonly known as Periya Kovil by its natives was built by Raja Raja Cholan 1 in 1010(11^th century) stands for 1000 years is the symbol of excellence of ancient architecture of South India. The temple comes under UNESCO Heritage Site

Brihadeesvarar Temple

The temple basement is covered with inscriptions that give details of Cholas administration, valuable historical information. The minute works on statues show the craftsmanship of Cholas. Many statues there are monolithic, made upon one large stone. The size of deities show the affection of Cholas towards God. The temple occupies an area of 750 feet by 400 feet. But it is really a wonder that how could they had designed such a magnificent structure and make it out without any modern contrivances. The temple is unbeatable because of its perfect geometry and architecture. The carvings on the walls make the temple delight for historian purposes. The languages used in these murals are Tamil, Thai and some other Southeast Asian languages. The murals on the walls of the temple narrates the Shiva’s might. The temple has vimanam, the top of the seat of the deity is built up with stones with bonding. The topmost stone which weighs 80 tons had been carefully placed at a height of 66 metres is a great wonder till now.

Nandhi Carved out of one stone

The wish to build a marvellous temple like this is said to have occurred to Raja Raja Cholan- I while he stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor. The esteemed architect and engineer of the temple was Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan as stated in inscriptions found at the temple. The temple was built per ancient texts called Vaastu Shastras and Agamas.The huge 8.7 m height Lord Shiva linga in karuvarai and Nandhi statue reflect the munificence of Cholas