Brihadeeswara Temple Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu

Brihadeshwara Temple Tamil Nadu.

Can you imagine building a skyscraper today without digging a foundation?

This is the Brihadeshwara temple of Tamil Nadu, it is a temple without foundation. It has been built using interlocking method, no cement, plaster or adhesive material was used between the stones in its construction, despite this it is still in its original form after facing 6 major earthquakes in 1000 years.

This 216 feet high temple was the tallest temple in the world at that time. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, built many years after its construction, is leaning with time due to poor engineering, but the Brihadeshwar Temple, despite being older than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, does not lean even a single degree on its axis…!

1.3 lakh tonnes of granite was used to build the temple which was carried by 3000 elephants from a distance of 60 kilometers. This temple was constructed without digging the earth, that is, this temple is a temple without foundation…!

The weight of the spire situated at the top of the temple tower is 81 tonnes. In today’s time, modern machines would fail to lift a stone weighing 81 tonnes at such a height..!

The level of engineering used to build the Brihadishwar Temple cannot be matched by the technology used to build any of the seven wonders of the world, and looking at today’s technologies, such construction seems impossible even for many centuries in the future..!

Granite stone is quite hard and carving on it is not easy. But there is a temple in India which is made of granite and has beautiful carvings on its walls and roofs. This temple is located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu and its name is Brihadeshwara Temple. About 130,000 tonnes of granite was used to build it. Collecting so much granite at that time for this temple built about a thousand years ago is still a mystery. There is no granite mine within a radius of 100 kilometers of the temple.

This temple has been declared a world heritage by UNESCO. In the year 2010, the completion of one thousand years of this temple was celebrated. The temple was built by Rajaram Chola in 1010 AD. This temple was completed in about seven years. This temple is world famous due to its architecture. The height of Periya Kovil i.e. Big Temple is about 66 meters. It is among the tallest temples in the world.

Murals of various postures of Lord Shiva are painted on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. There is a pyramid like structure above the main entrance of the temples of South India, which is called Gopuram. The Gopuram of this temple is carved from a single stone and weighs 80 tonnes. Another special thing is that its shadow does not fall on the ground.

The statue of Nandi carved out of a single granite stone at the entrance will also surprise you. This statue is 16 feet tall and 13 feet wide. This temple is also known as Peruvudaiyar Kovil, Thanjai Periya Kovil, Rajarajeswaram and Rajarajeshwara Temple.

Temple darshan timings: 6:00 am to 12:00 noon,

4:00 to 8:30 pm