The Brihadeeswarar Temple is located in the city of Thanjavur, about 350 kilometres (220 mi) southwest of Chennai.
Statue of Rajaraja Chola I who sponsored the temple's construction over 1003-1010 CE. The main temple along with its gopurams are from the early 11th century. The temple also saw additions, renovations, and repairs over the next 1,000 years.
One of biggest mysteries of this temple. How did 80 tones of stone placed on top?..
It is widely known that there were no heavy machines, cranes or any high end equipments used to lift the stone up and place it at the top of the temple. The only thing that can help achieve, the almost impossible feat, were the fleet of elephants. A massive triangular podium of half-pyramidal shaped structure was constructed that was erected adjacent yet to the opposite side of the massive temple. The mammoth task was carried over by intelligent Vedic architects while performing Yagna to take blessings of Bhagwan Shiv, under guidance of Brahmans, Hindu Sages and RajaRaja Chola. The figure below represents the construction site, explains how it was done. Massive straircase of rollers were constructed on the base of to pull 80 tons stone by fleets of elephants and men.
