Thanjavur and Around – Where Time stood still as Dynasties passed
Intriguing Mysteries, Engineering marvels, baffling facts about our Architectural construction, The Intricate carving that never fails to awe any visitors, the Beauty adorned with usage of all natural resources, like flowers, herbs, fruits add to its allure, is what our Ancestors have built for us and have stayed further down while generations have come and gone.
As a part of Gaia Trips, I am responsible to ensure that our heritage marvels keep attracting people from World over & keep us Indians proud of our Rich Heritage and Culture and so should be the conscious efforts from all of us to well preserve it. All our Heritage Monuments deserve the honour and respect,
I particularly want to share about the Big temple or The Brihadeeswara temple or Periya Kovil known Locally is a Shiva Temple, one of the largest Temples in India, built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I, well supported by his Son Rajendra .
While my first trip to this place was a very quick one , Then an article caught my attention that said Celebrating 1000 years of this temple, It set me on a quest to know more of it and I began my journey to explore the place and let me tell you every inch of me is beaming with pride , honour and respect for our Heritage and the marvels that have been created yester years, Yester centuries and are still standing tall defying all laws of existence displaying the Efforts, Commitment and the discipline the Work force then had showed to build these Marvels.
The temple tower, called as Vimanam is 216 ft (66 m) high and is the tallest in the world. The Kumbam (the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and weighs around 80 tons, that set me ( and you too if you see it) thinking how has this 80 Tons Single round stone reached 216 ft high, without a Ladder or a crane, yes we are talking of this work 1015 years back where we did not have any engineering tools or equipment’s. In fact, the entire structure keeps you in awe and wonder… with no answers… Without binding, Cement or Concrete… how did this Structure stand this Tall …. Some Mysteries still unravelled.
One more interesting fact, If we go by the legend, sambar was first made during the Maratha rule in Thanjavur, when Shahuji ruled. 1684–1712) stating that during a visit of Yuvaraj Sambhaji, his royal chef substituted Kokum with tamarind in the traditional amti (lentil soup), and added some vegetables to it the resulting curry & The Prince liked it and thus was named sambar or sambhar after his name.
In my recent trip, as recent as 6 months back, I also explored the Saraswathi Mahal Library located in Thanjavur Palace Complex. It is one of the oldest subsisting libraries in Asia. After capturing Thanjavur, the Maratha Kings Serfoji II (1798–1832) who was an eminent scholar in many branches of learning and the arts had studied under the various Contemporary Scholars and learned many languages including English, French, Italian and Latin. He enthusiastically took special interest in the enrichment of the library, employing many Learned ones to collect, buy and copy a vast number of works from all renowned Centres of Sanskrit learning in Northern India and other far-flung areas.
It has a collection of over 49,000 volumes and preserves literature from the medieval period, including Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Marathi, and English texts. It contains manuscripts and transcripts related to Swami Samarth Ramdas. Specifically, the library holds 3,076 transcripts in Marathi, which include information about the hierarchy of saints in Maharashtra, including those of Sri Ramadas and Dattatreya Mutts. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “Great Living Chola Temples”, along with Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Airavatesvara temple. So, if you are here, it’s strongly recommended to cover, Kumbhakonam, Trichy and cover the important landmark in these places.
At Gaia Trips we are fascinated with places that have such interesting stories. To further add on about the Temple, The Chola King was worried as to How long will the Temple Stand and when questioned to the Chief Architect, he responded, “Don’t worry dear King, even its shadow will not fall” and true to statement, the attribution of Optical Illusion to its design and the pattern and arrangement of stones prevent formation of shadow.
Let’s assist you in crafting one of your journeys to witness such Marvels in Stones which has many stories to unfold.
