The 1010 year old Sri Brihadeewara temple, Thanjavur city, TN dedicated to God Shiva (his consort Parvati is known as Periyanayaki Amman) is a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Monument of exceptional beauty and grandeur. Built by the famous Chola ruler Sri Rajaraja I, this huge temple is often referred to as the Dhakshina Meru (Meru of south). In this temple the sanctum is a tall one with a hollow space above it. The tower/gopuram was built ingeniously using interlocking system that considerably reduces the weight of the overlying structure.
The sanctum sanctorum or Garbagriha (in Sanskrit, garbha meaning womb and griha meaning house ) is traditionally the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples and it is where the presiding deity in idol form (mostly carved out of stone) is reverentially enshrined as per Agama Sastras. Often referred to as Karauvarai or moolasthanam in Tamil (in Jain temple: the Mulnayaka) literally the word means "womb chamber", Generally, in most places across India only qualified 'priests' (pujaris) are allowed to enter this chamber and nobody is allowed inside. Women priests are rare, and there are some exceptions. At Haripad Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple, Kerala, the priest is an old woman from the Namboodri family. Sanctum, the most sacred and sanctified part on the temple premises, is built with single entrance relative to the size of deity that is placed at the center, and mostly East facing to be accessed by the Sun rays. Normally, it is devoid of a window.
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| Thanjavur Brihadeeswara temple, TN. en.wikipedia.org |
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| Brihadeeswara temple,Thanjavur, tall linga in the 2- story sanctum.shunya.net |
The two-story Sanctum and the overlying tall tower has the following distinctive features:
04. The ground floor level sanctum walls have the following sculptures:
East wall: Lingodbhava - Shiva in standing posture, Pashupata-murti, plus two dvarapalas flanking the pathway from ardha-mandapam.
South wall: Bhikshatana - various murtis such as Virabhadra, Dakshinamurti, Kalantaka, Nataraja plus two dvarapalas.
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| Sentinels, Dwarapalakas, Brihadeeswara temple, Thanjavur, TN twitter.com |
West wall: Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu) - Lingodbhava - Chandrashekhara without prabhavali, Chandrashekhara with prabhavali, plus two dvarapalas.
North wall: Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva, half Parvati) - Gangadhara without Parvati, Pashupata-murti, Shiva-alingana-murti, plus two dvarapalas.
05.. The various forms of God Shiva in this sanctuary imply that he embodies other Trinity Gods as well like Vishnu and is all pervading. In his domain, ''the woman shares equality on par with the man.; hence he is Arthanarisvarar - half man and half woman.''
06. Normally, in all Dravida styled temples, the sanctum takes the form of a miniature vimana.
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| Cupola atop the tower above the sanctum, Big temple, Thanjavur. /realindia.in/ |
with a provision for covered Prethakshana path around the sanctum from the outer wall of the sanctum to the end wall of the structure. Example: Srirangam Ranganather temple, Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple, etc. But, at Brihadeeswara temple, the sri-vimana rises up to 13 floors (total height from the ground is 216 feet).and the uncovered prathkshana path goes around the entire structure comprising the sanctum, 2 halls on the east side, etc.
07. One can see the hollow space of the tower (gopuram) up to a much higher level from the bottom. of the sanctum. In most temples you can not see the shikara from inside the sanctum and it is a solid structure..
08. It has been a traction to enshrine the main deity in a manner that the center point of the murti and the center point of the cupola atop the tower lie in the same vertical axis.
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| sanctum at the bottom , Thanjavur big temple, TN slideshare.neti n |
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| above sanctum, hollow space in the tower, Big temple. Thanjavur.haribhakt.com |
10.. Above the center of this granite block rises the griva, the sikhara and the finial (stupi), distinctive features of Dravidian Hindu temple architecture. The height of stupi is 3.81 metres (12.5 ft) and originally it was covered with gold (removed long ago). The cupola-shaped -sikhara at the top weighs whooping 20 tons (total weight of cupola and the platform: 80 ton . Each story of this tower is decorated with kutas and salas.
11. The shrinking squares tower architecture of this temple is unique and the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram. built by Rajendra Chola, son of Sri Rajaraja differs from this style.
12. Yet another fascinating feature of the Sanctum- Shikara is the fine stone carvings of Dance Karanas 81 of the 108 postures of Natya Sastra. They are found on the upper story corridor wall of the aditala. The Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamil Nadu and the various postures are based on the postures on display on the upper story corridor. The various intriguing postures carved suggest the significance and the growth of this classical Indian dance form by early 11th century during the Chola period.
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| simple entrance to the temple. fortified side walls thrillingtravel.in |
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| Fortified wall with a moat, big temple thanjavur.ndianvagabond.com |
https://haribhakt.com/secrets-of-the-tanjore-thanjavur-big-temple-built-by-raja-chola/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadisvara_Temple,_Thanjavur
https://thrillingtravel.in/brihadeeswarar-temple-thanjavur-tanjore.html
https://indianvagabond.com/2016/11/02/brihadeeswarar-temple-thanjavur/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brihadisvara_Temple,_Thanjavur
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