The Brihadeeswara Temple of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva is an extraordinary feat of ancient Indian engineering and architecture, built over 1,000 years ago during the reign of Rajaraja Chola I. Including the tall tower and the cupola atop (weighing 80 tons) the shikara is made entirely of precambrian granitic rocks. Being in a Cauvery Delta region, the rock outcrops are about 35 to 40 km away in the Pudukkottai district or in Tiruchirappalli district. It was a herculean task for the builders to quarry and cut the rocks into desired sizes and then transport them to Thanjavur more than 1000 years ago. How did they complete the temple in grand style baffles our mind. The temple has one of the largest monolithic Nandi (bull) in sitting posture facing the main shrine. Nandi is the vahana of God Shiva weighing about 25 tons of hard rock.
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| Brihadeeswara Temple of Thanjavur .shutterstock.com |
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| Brihadeeswara Temple of Thanjavur naturepicstock.com |
One of its most fascinating features of this Unesco recognized world heritage site of Great Living Chola Temples (including two more temples) is the claim that the shadow of its massive vimana, or pyramidal shaped tower, does not fall on the ground at noon. This claim is not shrouded in mystery, in reality this unique claim is the result of brilliant architectural planning and precise execution.
The temple’s vimana in Dravidian style of design stands at about 216 feet (66 meters) high above the Garbhagriha and was designed using the principles of Dravidian architecture, with a steep, pyramidal structure (in a cascading manner on the outer sides) made entirely of interlocking granite blocks to avoid vertical stress or over-burden. The tower tapers sharply towards the top, and its shape, combined with its orientation and the position of the sun at different times of the year, results in the shadow falling within the base of the downward structure producing the illusion that the tower casts no shadow at all.
The careful cascading of stones without mortar and the symmetrical design play a key role in this optical effect a perfect alignment with solar movements during the day. This precision in design reflects the deep understanding of astronomy, geometry, and structural dynamics that Chola architects possessed. There’s a legend that when Rajaraja Chola asked the architect whether the temple would ever fall, the reply was that “even its shadow will not fall on the king.” This statement symbolizes its divine and eternal nature.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/250
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