Brihadeeswarar Temple

Arulmozhivarman, a Tamil emperor who was popular as Rajaraja Chola I laid out the foundations of Brihadeeswarar Temple during 1002 CE. It was first among other great building projects by Tamil Chola. Main purpose of building this temple was to grace throne of Chola Empire with compliance of one command Rajaraja Chola I receive in a dream. Grandeur and scale is in Chola tradition. A symmetrical and axial geometry rules layout of this temple. Temples from same period and two following centuries are expressions of Tamils Chola power, artistic expertise and wealth. Emergence of these types of features, such as multifaceted columns along with projecting signals of square capitals signifies arrival of Chola style, which was new at that time. Brihadeeswarar Temple’s build was like one royal temple for displaying emperor’s vision for relationship and power to universal order.

This temple was one site of primary royal ceremonies, such as anointing emperor and to link emperor with Shiva, its deity and deity’s daily rituals was a mirror of those by king. It is one architectural exemplar, which showcases true form of Dravida kind of architecture in temples and is a representative of ideology of Chola Empire and Southern India’s Tamil civilization. Brihadeeswarar Temple “testifies to Chola’s brilliant achievements in architecture, painting, bronze casting and sculpture.”

A wish for establishing such a huge temple as per saying of people occurred to then king Raja Raja, who was staying as one emperor in Sri Lanka. Brihadeeswarar Temple is first among all buildings, which make use of granite fully and it finished within five years from 1004 AD to 1009 AD.

A first rectangular surrounding wall, 270 m by 140 m, marks the outer boundary. The main temple is in the center of the spacious quadrangle composed of a sanctuary, a Nandi, a pillared hall and an assembly hall (mandapas), and many sub-shrines. The most important part of the temple is the inner mandapa which is surrounded by massive walls that are divided into levels by sharply cut sculptures and pilasters providing deep bays and recesses. Each side of the sanctuary has a bay emphasising the principle cult 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 is a huge stone linga. The word Karuvarai means “womb chamber” from Tamil word karu for foetus. Only priests are allowed to enter this inner-most chamber.

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 forcircumambulation (pradakshina). The entrance is highly decorated. The inside chamber housing the image of the god is thesanctum sanctorum, the garbhagriha. The garbhagriha is square and sits on a plinth, its location calculated to be a point of total equilibrium and harmony as it is representative of a microcosm of the universe. In the center is placed 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 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, Shiva’s sacred bull mount.