Thanjavur Big Temple – Nandi Bull
Thanjavur big temple Nandi (bull)
Big temple tower and nandi mantap, Thanjavur
Above image: In the above image, the entrance tower of the temple (foreground), Nandi (bull) mantapam and the shrine (tall tower) containing the sanctum (garbagriha /srikovil) all fall in the same straight axis. This is true of both Shiva and Vishnu temples in the southern states. In the latter, Garuda – God Vishnu’s mount (eagle) is facing the shrine of God Vishnu.
Above image: India 2010 Indian Postal stamp of Sri Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur, TN in connection with completion of 1000 years – 1000th Anniversary………………
A UNESCO recognized heritage site, the Brihadeeswara temple at Thanjavur city, Tamil Nadu built in 1010 AD by the great Chola ruler Raja Rajan II, an ardent devotee of God Shiva is a famous destination for foreign tourists, in particular. It is an architectural wonder constructed 1008 years ago with solid hard rock – mostly granite and granite related rocks and gneisses.
Above image: Two and a half foot tall stone sculpted image of King Raja Raja cholan (1935)………………………….
Rajaraja Chola I (reign: c. 985 – c. 1014 CE) of the Chola Dynasty in South India has the unique honor of being the first ruler to have built the world’s first temple (structure) entirely made of granite in the 11th century AD. No other ruler anywhere in the world had done this great feat. The massive Cupola over the tower (ornate gopuram upper section of shrine) right above the garbagriha (sanctum) weighs 25 tons and is set on a massive monolith granite block of around 80 tons. It was the tallest temple in south India long time ago. The unique feature of this temple is it is built of interlocking stones with well-ground lime mortar as binding material.
The huge stone bull (Nandi) in the elaborately Nayak built mantapam right before the entrance to Lord Shiva’s main shrine, is big and massive, measuring about 19 feet long and 12 feet high and 8 1/2 feet wide made of granite stone and is monolithic – made from a single block of hard stone. Visitors to this heritage site can’t miss the the big nandi in the open mantap. In all Shiva’s temples, it is a tradition to place the Nandi in front of the main shrine, facing the presiding deity; temple entrance, the bull, the flagstaff (Dwajasthambam) and the idol in the sanctum fall in the same straight axis. Here, the huge stone bull directly faces a large lingam that measures 3.7m tall (one of the largest lingams in India). The Nandi itself weighs 25 tons and the hardstone was mined from the gneissic bed in the Pachamali area near Perambalur. Yet another version has it the stone for the Nandi was brought from Narmada in the north; this version is debatable.
With respect to the size of Nandi, there has been a legend that the Nandi was of medium size initially and with the passage of time it had begun to grow in all directions, particularly, in the vertical direction. At one stage, it was feared, the mantap was not good enough for it and the nandi might outgrow the mantap. To stop further growth, a big nail was driven in the back of nandi and since then the size had remained same. No more growth.
Yet another version goes like this: The nandi grew to the present size due to the presence of a live toad inside the massive rock. By driving a hole into the back of nandi, the critter was removed to a sacred pond near-by called Manduga Theertham. That spot is fully covered and rebuilt in the form of a well on the north side of Prakara near the Sabhapathi mantap. Even today one can see the cracks in the back of nandi, purportedly the spot from which the toad was removed. How could a live toad inside the rock make it grow in size? There is no scientific explanation for this available as of today and this may compel us to set it aside as a matter of conjecture . On the pillars of the nandi mantap one can see two stone carved images. Those are Nayak ruler Sevvappa, first ruler and his son Achyutappa nayak.
The stone bull at Thanjavur is the largest one in India, next to the stone bull in Veerabhadra temple at Lepakshi, in the Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh, India, 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Hindupur.
Tit-bits:
Above image: January, 2015: In the mantapam in front of the Sri Brahadeeswarar Shrine, Thanjavur on the Mattu Pongal day pujas were also offered to a herd of 108 cows on the occasion. The nandi was decorated with fruits and vegetables, including sweets offered by the devotees on Pongal Day. The bull was decorated by priests with special prayers as a mark of thanksgiving to the nandi. Later the ‘deeparathanai’ was witnessed by thousands of devotees, including hundreds of foreign tourists. The offerings would be cooked and distributed to the devotees on the following day. It is said that more than five tons of fruits and vegetables were used in the special alankaram for the nandi. A herd of 108 cows was aligned around the Nandi Mandapam for which people and priests offered ”Gou” puja.
Above image: The 11th century CE bronze idols that were stolen about 60 years ago from the big temple, Thanjavur were recovered by the IDOL wing of the police, Tamil Nadu Government in May 2018. The investigative team was led by IG Pon Manickavel, a duty-bound cop of great repute. The idol of Raja Raja Chola I measuring two and a half feet in height was valued at more than Rs 100 crore and the two-foot tall idol of his queen, Logama Deviyar, was valued at Rs 50 crore. After several legal and correct identification bottlenecks, the team got down to the bottom of the idol-theft case and found out the idols were stolen by one-time temple officials. Later they were sold to Gautam Sarabhai in Chennai by Rao Bahadur Srinivasa Gopalachari of Sarukkai village in Thanjavur former Dewan of Travancore who owned the idols.
