Brihadisvara temple

1000 years Old Thanjavur Brihadeeshwara Temple View at Sunrise.

English: The Brihadishwara Temple locally known as Rajarajeswaram Temple, is 11th-century AD Hindu temple complex built in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of a Chola- style Tamil architecture, and was built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples"

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Main temple and its features

Site plan

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  View from main entrance
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  Entrance of Brihadesvara temple.
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  Expansive inner courtyard
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  Dwajasthambam
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  Distant view

Vimana

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  View of the Śrī Vimāna of the Thanjavur Temple
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  Corner view
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  A view of tower
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  A close up
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  Side view
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  A view of kalasa on tower

Statues and shrines in the Temple complex

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  Shivalinga
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Nandi Mandapam

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  Location of Nandi Manpadapam compared to main shrine
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  Nandi Mandapam
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  Nandi, built by Rajaraja I
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  Scale of the Nandi statue
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  Nandi decorated with fruits of festive ocassion.
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  Abhishekam pooja at Nandi shrine
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  Anointed Nandi
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  Daily ritual Aarti
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  Iluuminated Nandi Mandapam
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  Temple dance performance with Nandi Mandapam as backdrop

Vijaynagar Shrine

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  Vijaynagar Shrine
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Illuminated temple

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  Illuminated Vimana of the Brihadisvara Temple.
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  Back view

Gopurams

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  The granite gopuram (tower) of the Thanjavur Temple
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  Gopuram
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  Temple at Thanjavur
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  Temple entrance gopurams at Thanjavur

The Colonnade

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  Colonnade elevation
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  Corridor outside the main shrine hosts mandapa for schools and other activities
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  A minor shrine
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  Nandi in the colonnade
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Reliefs and sculptures

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  An elephant relief on the Thanjavur temple
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  Deity with musical instrument
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  Dvarpalas (The gatekeepers)
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  A deity
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Architectural details

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  Carved figures.
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  Carving details
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  Temple side wall elevation
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  Details at Vimana
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  details of Gopuram
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  Temple Plinth
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  Entrance
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Murals

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  A mural of Rajaraja I and his guru
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  Nayaka era ceiling mural in the Nandi shrine
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  Murals in the ceiling of Nandi mandapa, Brihadeeswara Temple

Inscriptions

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  Tamil written on the Thanjavur Temple
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  The Brihadishwara Temple has Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions from the 11th century.
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Historical images of Brihadisvara Temple

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  1809
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  Brihadishvara temple complex at Thanjavur, 1869
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  Nandi in Brihadishvara temple complex at Thanjavur in India - Around 1870.
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  ca 1870
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  1880s-1890s
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  1884
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  1913

Commemorations

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  India, 1000-Rupee note: 1949-1957, reverse.
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  Dancers gathered at Brihadishwara Temple to commemorate it

This place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as Great Living Chola Temples.