The Big Temple of Thanjavur is one of the popular tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu. This UNESCO World Heritage Lord Shiva Temple has several amazing facts. Built around 1000 A.D. by the Great Raja Raja Choza, still this temple is the standing testimony of the towering achievements of the immortal Chozha Kingdom. Kindly have a look at these mesmerizing facts.
Till the building of ‘Eiffel Tower’ Thanjavur Big Temple is the tallest man-made structure ever created on Earth.
The present nandi (also one of the tallest) is not installed during Rajaraja I (the original builder of this temple). The old Nandi was removed at some point. Later, the Maratha rulers during 18th century or 19th century installed this New Nandi.
The temple contains the complete documentation in the form of stone carvings within the premises about how the work had been progressing on a daily basis. Even some of the modern day skyscrapers of 21st century don’t have that kind of record.
Nearly five kilometer long sand ramp was built to bring the huge stone to the top of the temple.
The temple carries many popular myths that exist even today. One such myth is the shadow won’t fall on the floor. That’s not true.
Through the stone carvings, we can come to know various kinds of poojas performed for the Linga, the details about jewellery, flowers, sartorial ornamentation associated with the deity. There is no such wealth of information available in any other temple in the world. Everything is properly documented and even available today for the archeologists to explore.
The temple was built on black granite. Approximately, 130000 tons granite stones had been used to create this massive structure.
The temple in its heyday, had nearly 1000 members, which includes priests are associated with this temple.
It’s widely believed, the temple had more than hundred underground passes that connect various parts of Thanjavur City.
The Vimana of Sanctum Santorum has 80-tonne stone cap (one of the heaviest) in the world. This is another engineering marvel.
by
Srini
