Nearly a thousand years ago, around the 11th century, Thanjavur was the capital of the powerful Chola dynasty, whose empire extended beyond South India and Sri Lanka to the kingdoms of South-East Asia. The Chola kings used their wealth to encourage the growth of arts and built innumerable temples and shrines to ornament their lands. Thanjavur today has 93 temples, and not all were built during the Chola period. The splendid Brahadeeswarar temple dedicated to Shiva bears witness to the glory of the Cholan kingdom, in its architecture, sculptures and paintings.

The magnificent granite Srivimana or pyramidal tower over the main sanctum is  66.5 metres tall and is even today awe-inspiring. The monolithic granite block that tops the tower weighs 81.3 tons and was installed by means of a ramp that started at a village 6 km away. Guarding the temple is an enormous figure of Nandi, the bull mount of Shiva, carved out of a monolithic block of black granite, 6 m long. Within the temple and along its gateways and shrines are other superb examples of stone carving. Beautifully sculpted panels with mythological scenes, like Parvathi's wedding, decorate the walls. Fine figures carved with skill, decorate the outer structure.

Along the vestibule surrounding the sanctum are panels of carved dancers, displaying 81 Bharatanatyam poses, the first known representation of South Indian classical dance. Below these panels are marvellous Chola frescoes executed in the elegant Ajanta style that have been discovered and uncovered only in recent times, as murals of a later period obscured them. This temple is unique in more ways than one. Inscribed on its walls, there is a complete record of how the temple was built, gifts donated by the royal family, detailed arrangements for its maintenance, even  the amount granted to specific shepherds to enable them to provide clarified butter for the temple lamps. 

The palace is a fascinating place with its immense corridors, an acoustically perfect hall of music, palace towers and armoury. The Saraswati Mahal library instituted by the Maratha king, Serfoji, is also located in the palace with its collection of over 30,000 manuscripts in palm leaf and paper, in Indian and European languages. Thanjavur still retains its interest in the arts, and in houses that line the maze of little lanes of the old town, live artisans who painstakingly work on elegant veena's, Thanjavur plates of brass, inlaid with copper and silver, and beautiful paintings of Gods and Goddesses, often done on glass and decorated with semi-precious stones and gold foil.

The home town of the musical trinity Thiagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshithar and Shyama Sastri is Thiruvarur, 67 km away. A music festival is conducted every year in January at Thiruvaiyaru in honour of Saint Thiagaraja whose samadhi is located here.

Season to Visit:

October to March.

How to get there:
The nearest airport is Trichy. Indian Airlines has direct daily flights to Chennai, Madurai, Trivandrum and Colombo. It is also connected by road to other towns in the state. Trichy is 
54 km. from Thanjavur).