Astitva - Search for an Identity: Though the land of Chola's

Thanjavur, called Tanjore during the Raj era, is a city located close to the distributaries of the Kaveri River. Once the capital of the Cholas, Thanjavur is famous for the majestic Chola temple—Brihadeshwara, Tanjavur art, and dolls. Located in the Kaveri delta—the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu—this city rose to prominence with the emergence of the medieval Cholas. Later, the city became the capital of the Chola empire and remained so until they moved the capital to Gangaikonda Cholapuram in 1025. After the decline of the Cholas, Thanjavur was conquered by the Pandyas and later by the Delhi Sultanate under Malik Kafur. The Delhi Sultanate ruled the city directly and later through the short-lived Madurai Sultanate. Sultanate rule vanished with the rise of Vijayanagar.

After the fall of Vijayanagar, sovereignty rested with the Tanjore Nayaks. Sovereignty went to the Madurai Nayaks when they defeated the Tanjavur Nayaks in war, and they ruled Thanjavur for some time. The Nayaks of Madurai, Tanjore, Gingee, and Kalahasthi were originally the provincial governors of the Vijayanagar empire. With the rise of the Maratha Confederacy, the city came under the Marathas. Under the infamous Doctrine of Lapse law, the Company swallowed the kingdom in 1855.

Thanjavur

We left Srirangam in the afternoon and reached Tanjavur in an hour.

Many Indian empires and kingdoms were mostly land-based. Often, this is evident from the way they conducted their affairs. Even now, we don’t understand the full power and potential of great oceans and shipping lanes while ruling from completely landlocked New Delhi. The Cholas were different. Under Rajendra I, the Chola empire reached its zenith and extended or had influence over the littoral states of the Bay of Bengal, the islands of Laccadives and Maldives, Nicobar, Sri Lanka, parts of modern-day Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia, etc. The Cholas' trade links extended as far as Song China in the east and the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa in the west.

Since we reached the city in the afternoon, there wasn't much time left. Our first stop was Thanjavur Palace, Serfoji Sarasvati Mahal Library, and Art Gallery.

Thanjavur Palace

Well, let me start by saying that the palace is not from the Chola era. This was built by the Thanjavur Nayakas and later occupied by the Marathas when they captured the city. The palace consists of Sadar Mahal, the Queen's Courtyard, and the Durbar Hall. Gokul, Deepa, and Divya were very tired but still walked through the nooks and corners of the palace.

Sarasvati Mahal Library

Gokul and Deepa looking at the library

This building is located within the palace complex. You might be wondering why I mention a library as an important place to visit—well, there is a reason. Established by the Tanjavur Nayak kings in the 16th century, this library is one of the oldest working libraries in Asia. The library has more than 49,000 palm leaf manuscripts written in Tamil, Sanskrit, and other South Indian languages. The Marathas, who later captured the city, continued to support the library. Unfortunately, we reached here a little late and were able to see only the outside!

Note: When I say South India, I mean the part of India south of the Vindhya ranges, not just the six states.

If you are in Tanjavur and interested, you can spend around two hours exploring both the palace and library. From here, we went to TTDC Hotel, took some rest, and then went to Brihadeshwara Temple, which is just 1.5 km away by walk from TTDC's Hotel Tamil Nadu.

Brihadeshwara Temple (Thanjai Periya Kovil)

By the time we reached the temple, the sun was in its last leg. I was so sad that I had to wait until tomorrow to see the beautiful temple. However, there was a surprise waiting for us.

We went inside and joined the queue to reach the sanctum. This is a working temple and still has daily poojas in the morning and afternoon. Fortunately, the crowd was small, and we reached the sanctum very fast. After coming out, we went to the front. By then, the administration had turned on the lights, and the temple was flooded with illumination. At night, the reflection of the lights from the granite exterior and the carvings created a mesmerizing view. If you are planning to visit the temple, do visit both during the day and at night.

I found an ideal place to sit and enjoy the majestic view. Gokul and Deepa started walking through the stone pathways and explored the temple. Divya was trying to view the structure from different angles. I was so happy that I was there at night as well. The temple is indeed a poem set in stone.

Spread over an area close to 45 acres, this Shiva temple, with a height of 216 ft, was built using granite stones. The top of the tower/shikhara weighs 25 tons and rests on a single granite piece weighing around 80 tons. It must have been a struggle for workers to bring that piece all the way to the top. Remember, it wasn’t easy to make carvings in granite in those days.

The main temple and its gopurams are from the early 11th century. The temple witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties, wars, raids, repairs, and renovations over the next millennium. Interestingly, French colonial forces also contributed something to the temple. They added one defensive enclosure in 1777 with gun holes. The temple served as an arsenal!

The temple is dedicated to Shiva (the Cholas considered Shiva their family deity) and has a huge lingam—27m high.

There is a massive Nandi in front of the temple on a raised platform. This temple also has a lot of murals and inscriptions (from Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Vikrama Chola, Kulottunga I, etc.) in Tamil and Grantha scripts.

After spending more time looking at different areas of the temple, we came outside and went back to the hotel.

The Next Morning

I am inside the temple

The next morning, I woke up early and walked towards the temple. The roads were wide and initially empty. The crowd was less, and we saw the temple once again, but this time in full sunlight. Outside the temple, a little away from the main gate, there was a person selling Tanjavur dolls. Divya went there and selected a pair.

Next to the TTDC hotel, there was a government-run shop called Poompuhar Handicrafts, which sells paintings, dolls, etc. We bought a couple of items from there and continued our trip to the next destination—Airavateshwara Temple.

Airavateshwara Temple

There was not much traffic on the road, and we reached this temple quickly. The sky was a bit darkened for a while. By the time we started walking towards the temple entrance, the rains had also started.

Built by King Rajaraja Chola II in the 12th century, this Shiva temple is located close to Kumbakonam. The temple got its name from Indra's white elephant, Airavat. The temple has a huge number of stone carvings—wherever you look, you might see something very interesting. The front mandapa (Rajagambhiran tirumandapam) is very unique as it looks like a chariot with wheels.

According to many sources, this temple was much larger than what it is now. It had seven courts and seven streets; however, only one court with the main temple survives today.

In the Great Living Chola Temples list of UNESCO, there is one more temple called Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. We skipped that temple and headed towards our next destination—Chidambaram. If you have time, try to go to Gangaikonda Cholapuram and see the third temple as well.

There was a brief lull in the rain. During that time, we went to the parking area and started our return journey. The rain started gaining strength, and there was hardly anything visible outside. As the sound of heavy raindrops hitting the car body reached my ears, I went one millennium back and imagined the glory days of these areas.

Sajeev