Click here for Day 2 morning: Karaikudi

Day 2 continued: After an exciting morning in Karaikudi we drove to Thanjavur in the hope of seeing both the Thanjavur Palace and the Brihadeeswara Temple. On the south bank of the Cauvery, Thanjavur was the capital of the Mutharayars and Cholas when they were at the peak of their power. Thanjavur is a center of cultural activities. The Thyagaraja Aradhana is a festival held every year near Thanjavur where musicians from all over the country assemble to sing. Thanjavur is also an important site for the annual Natyanjali dance festival. The district of Thanjavur is also known as the Rice Bowl of India producing more tonnes of rice than any other district in India. The arts and crafts from this region are also hugely popular, bronze sculptures and Tanjore paintings. Thanjavur is about 3 hours from Madurai and an hour and a half from Trichy.

We headed to the Thanjavur Palace first. As famous as it is, it is also dilapidated. The state of this palace is pathetic and made us wonder why nothing has been done to renovate and protect the great collection of historic parchments and paintings in the palace. The Palace, on the east main street is a series of large and rambling buildings of fine masonry, built partly by the Nayaks around 1550 AD, and partly by the Marathas. On the southern side of the third quadrangle is a vimana like eight-storey building, 190 feet high called the Goodagopuram. This was the palace watch tower and also the armoury of the Thanjavur Kings till 1855 A.D. The two Durbar Halls of the Nayaks and the Marathas and the Raja Sarafoji Sarasvati Mahal Library are the chief sights of the Palace. The Saraswathi Mahal Library has remorkable collection of about 30,433 Sanskrit and other vernacular palm leaf manuscripts and 6,426 printed volumes, besides a large number of journals. The library is the effort of the three hundred years of collecting by the Nayak and Maratha kings and it is sad to see all of this displayed in dull and unimpressive environments. Madamaligai is the six storey tower which rises from the palace roof beyond the Goodagopuram.

This Brihadeeswara Temple is one of India's most prized architectural sites. The building that carries the main sanctum is known as the 'Periya Kovil'. Completed in early 11th century by Rajaraja Chola I the temple also known as Rajarajesvaram and is remarkable for its stupendous proportions yet simple designs. It is for this reason that the temple along with the other Chola temples in the area has been inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and a huge idol 23 feet in diameter and 9 feet in height is present inside. The 'Vimana' of the temple is about 70 meters and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. It is also built such that at no time does the shadow of the vimana fall outside itself. The 'Shikharam' (crown) of Brihadeeswara temple is itself very large and heavy (81.25 tons) and has been carved out of a single stone and it is believed that the stones were lifted onto the tower by using an incline that inched up from 6 km away. The temple occupies an area of 800' by 400'.

The Nandi (the divine vehicle of Lord Shiva) is a monolith measuring 12 feet in height, 19.5 feet in length and 18.25 feet in width, it weighs about 25 tons. The Nandi is seated in an ornately sculpted mandapam called the Nayak Mandapam. According to legend, the Nandhi was growing in size and people fearing that it might grow out of the mandapam, stuck a nail at its back to stunt the growth. On the ceiling of the Nandi Mantapam, are colorful frescos that are over 1000 years old and still maintain their magnificence. There are also a lot of sub-shrines like the Goddess Sri Brihannayagi shrine built by a later Pandya King in the 13th century. The shrine of Lord Ganesha is said to belong to the time of King Sarfoji II, the legendary Maratha King. This temple has Ganesha statues in seven poses. The Nataraja shrine, and Saint Karuvurar's Shrine was built in honour of the Saint Karuvar who helped Raja Raja Chola consecrate the Mahalinga. There is also a shrine for Sri Chandeeswara.

Thanjavur is a historic city and one that requires days to explore. One evening wasn't enough for us and we made sure we returned the next day.

Click here for Day 3: Kumbakonam