Brihadeeswara Temple Essay

arrangement The Brihadeeswara is located in Tanjavur district in Tamilnadu, India. The synagogue was strengthened on the banks of River Cauvery with its water turned to the moat. The temple, constructed entirely of granite, stands amidst fortified jettys. There was no lean fleshation around this area. It is believed that the rocks would have been brought from a place at to the lowest degree 50kms away. History The temple had its foundations laid out by the Tamil emperor butterfly Arulmozhivarman, popularly call(a)ed Raja raja Chola I, in 1002 CE, as the first of the great Tamil Chola wee-wee projects.It was built to grace the throne of the Chola pudding tilt in compliance of a command given to him in his dream. The scale and grandeur is in the Chola tradition. An axile and symmetrical geometry rules the temple layout. tabernacles from this period and the following two centuries are an scene of the Chola wealth, power and artistic expertise. The emergence of such featu res as the multifaceted columns with intercommunicate square capitals signals the arrival of the new Chola style. The Brihadeeswara Temple was built to be the purplish temple to display the emperors vision of his power and his race to the universal order.The temple was the site of the major royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor and linking him with its deity, Shiva, and the daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by those of the king. It is an architectural mannikin showcasing the pure form of the Dravida type of temple architecture and representative of the Chola Empire ideology and the Tamil civilization in Southern India. The temple testifies to the vivid achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting. ConstructionThe wish to build a mammoth temple like this is said to have occurred to Rajaraja while he stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor. This temple is the first construct fully built by granite and finished inside 5 years 1004 AD 1009AD. The solid meanspirited of the temple raises well-nigh 5 metres (16 feet), above which orchestra pit deities and representatives of Shiva trip the light fantastic. The colossal kalasam or Vimanam ( confidential information portion of the inclose) is believed to weigh 81. 28 tonnes and was raised to its present eyeshade by dragging on an inclined plane of 6. 44 km. The risky Nandi ( bulls eye), weighing about 20 tonnes is made of a wholeness stone and is about 2 m in height, 6 m in length and 2. m in width.The presiding deity of lingam is 3. 7m tall. The prakaram ( out precincts of the temple) measures 240m by 125m. The outer groin of the upper storey is carved with 81 dance karanas postures of Bharathanatyam, the classical dance of Tamils. The shrine of Goddess is added by Pandyas during the 13th century Subramanya Shrine was renovated by Vijayanagara rulers and the Vinayaka shrine was renovated by Maratha rulers. Architecture The gopuram of the main entrance i s 30 m high, so smaller than the vimana. It is unusual in the Dravidian architecture where the gopurams are generally the main prevails and taller than the vimana.A first rectangular surrounding wall, 270 m by one hundred forty m, marks the outer boundary. The main temple is in the center of the grand quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi made of a single stone, a pillared hall and an assembly hall (mandapas), and many sub-shrines. The approximately important part of the temple is the intimate mandapa which is surrounded by spacious walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. separately side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasizing the principle craze icons.The karuvarai, a Tamil word meaning the interior of the sanctum sanctorum, is the inner most sanctum and focus of the temple where an image of the primary deity, Shiva, resides. inside(a) is a huge stone lingam. The word Karuvarai means womb sleeping ac commodation from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most bedchamber. In the Dravida style, the Karuvarai takes the form of a miniature vimana with other features exclusive to southern Indian temple architecture such as the inner wall together with the outer wall creating a pradakshina around the garbhagriha for circumambulation (pradakshina).The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber housing the image of the god is the sanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha. The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total correspondence and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the universe. In the center is move the image of the deity. The royal bathing-hall where Rajaraja the great gave gifts is to the east of the hall of Irumudi-Soran. The circumambulation winds around the massive lingam in the garbhagriha and is repeated in an upper story, presenting the idea that Chola Empire freely offered access to the gods.The inner mandapa leads out to a rectangular mandapa and then to a twenty-columned porch with three staircases leading down. Sharing the same stone plinth is a small open mandapa dedicated to Nandi, Shivas sacred bull mount. Surrounding the main temple are two walled enclosures. The outer wall is high, defining the temple complex area. Here is the massive gopuram or doorway mentioned above. Within this a portico, a barrel vaulted gorpuram with all over four hundred pillars, is enclosed by a high wall interspersed with huge gopurams axially lined up to the main temple.Legends After the death of the patron, Rajaraja Chola I, his son Rajendra I who was a great military leader succeeded him in 1014. During his reign, he extensive the territory of already vast Chola Empire up to the banks of the river Ganges in the north and across the ocean. He shifted the capital of the Chola kingdom to Gangaikondacholapuram, about 60km away, and started building a new temple the re, as he wanted to build a bigger interpreting of The Big Temple. Rajaraja Chola I donated a big amount of money for the maintenance of the Brihadeeswara.But, Rajendra I had diverted all the money for the construction of his new temple. His decision deprived the Big Temple of royal patronage. However, Rajendra was able to build only a smaller version of the Big Temple, eventually. Furthermore, the Cholas built hundreds of temples along the banks of the River Cauvery, changing its landscape forever. None of the forts and palaces built by the Cholas survives today. But the temples remain and they stand testimony to their achievements. They are excessively a major tourist attraction for both local and contrasted visitors.Myths The 60-metre tall Vimana is the tallest in South India. A European-like figure which is carved on the Vimana is believed to be an ancient warning of the arrival of the Europeans. Later investigations by archaeologists proposed that this deal may be a hoax. F eatures Another widely held tone is that the quarter of the gopuram (pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never locomote on the ground. . The temple is said to be made up of about 130,000 tons of granite.The Kumbam itself, a 60 ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. The prevailing belief is that a mud-slope, which starts at about three miles from the temple site, from Thirukoilore (birthplace of Raja rajas mother) near Sri Virateshvara swamy temple. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope. This was claimed to be the only part of the gopuram, which does not cast a shadow that fall on the ground, at least not within the temple premises.Millennium celebrations Built in the year 1010ce by Rajaraja Chola in Thanjavur, Brihadeeswara Temple popularly known as the Big Temple turned 1000 years old in Septe mber 2010. To celebrate the thousandth year of the grand structure, the state government and the town held many ethnic events. It was to recall the 275th day of his 25th regal year (1010 CE) when Rajaraja Chola (9851014 CE) handed over a gold-plated kalasam (copper pot or finial) for the final consecration to crown the vimana, the 59. 82-metre tall tower above the sanctum. Latest NewsDuring the consecration (Kumbhabhishekham) of 1997, 48 people were killed in a apprize accident and 86 others injured. The incident occurred hours before the Mahakumbabishekam ceremony. It is believed a fire cracker lit near the temple fell on the yagasala a temporary structure built to accommodate the ritual ceremonies, and sparked the fire that penetrate to the thatched roofs. A stampede resulted when the panic-stricken devotees rushed the only entrance to the temple on the eastern side. However, another version claimed the fire was caused by a spark from the electric generator.Most of the deaths w ere reported be caused by the breathing in of carbon monoxide and a few due to burn injuries. The Tamil Nadu judicature announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the families of the deceased and the injured were paid from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 each. government of India, Mumbai Mint issued Rs. 1000/- coin to commemorate the 1000th year of the temple. And at last the Brihadeeswara is an unbelievable, extraordinary master piece of architectureactually intentional not by Rajaraja, but by Somavarma the temple architect