On the 21 June, 2020, my parents and I left for Thanjavur, stopping by Thiruvananthapuram to pick up our family friends. Here, I am going to write about my experience exploring the vibrant city of Thanjavur, one of the great heritage sites of South India. Our journey from Thiruvananthapuram to Thanjavur began early in the morning. It was a really long drive as we zoomed past towns like Madurai, Thruchirapally etc, which are famous for temples like The Madurai Meenakshi Temple and Uchi Pulayar (Trichy). It was a long tedious nine-hour drive and we finally reached Thanjavur around two in the afternoon and checked into our hotel. After taking a quick shower we were on our way to the ‘The Thanjavur Maratha Palace’. The Palace was the official residence of the Bhonsle family who ruled over the Thanjavur region from 1674 to 1855 A.D. It was originally constructed by the rulers of the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom . The palace complex consists of the Sadar Mahal Palace, the queen's courtyard and the Durbar Hall. The Royal Palace Museum contains a splendid collection of Chola bronzes. The Raja Serfoji Memorial Hall and the Royal Palace Museum are situated in the Sadar Mahal Palace. There is also a small bell tower. The Saraswathi Mahal Library is situated with the Thanjavur palace complex. It was a marvelous experience seeing the palace as it was engraved with beautiful paintings and statues and breathtaking architecture, especially that of the palace courtyard. It was filled with colours and the walls were adorned with paintings; truly, it was one of a kind. At the entrance, there were two huge ‘Thalayatti Bommai ’or the ‘dancing dolls’ which is a unique feature of Thanjavur. These dolls are made of clay, wood or plastic.
Next, we were headed to the famous ‘Brihadeeshwarar Temple’ or the ‘Periya Kovil’ which was a sight worth seeing. This temple is dedicated to Shiva located in South bank of Kaveri river. It is one of the largest South Indian temples and an exemplary example of a fully realized Dravidian architecture. It is called as Dhakshina Meru (Meru of south).Built by Tamil king Raja Raja Chola I between 1003 and 1010 AD, the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples", along with the Chola dynasty era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple that are about 70 kilometres and 40 kilometres to its northeast respectively.
The original monuments of this 11th century temple were built around a moat. It included gopura, the main temple, its massive tower, inscriptions, frescoes and sculptures predominantly related to Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism traditions of Hinduism. The temple was damaged in its history and some artwork is now missing. Additional mandapam and monuments were added in centuries that followed. The temple now stands amidst fortified walls that were added after the 16th century.
Built out of granite, the vimana tower above the sanctum is one of the tallest in South India. It was, in all its livelihood, one of the tallest structures in the world at the time of its construction. The temple has a massive colonnaded prakara (corridor) and one of the largest Shiva lingas in India. It is also famed for the quality of its sculpture, as well as being the location that commissioned the brass Nataraja – Shiva as the lord of dance, in 11th century. The complex includes shrines for Nandi, Parvati, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara, Varaha and others. The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu. It stood tall and majestic with its brilliance in architecture. The way this temple was constructed is marvelous. The uniqueness of this temple is that in the afternoon, the shadow of the temple falls on the ‘Gopuram’ or the roof rather than the ground. This is because the basement of the temple is big enough to take in the whole shadow. The temple is so huge that it takes hours to explore the whole compound. The walls of the temple are dotted with ‘Nandis’, the official vahana (vehicle) and accomplice of Lord Shiva. There is also a huge idol of Nandi, which is carved out of a single stone, in front of the main deity. Words are too less to explain the sight as it is something that should be experienced personally.
After the temple visit, we were headed to the bazaar of Thanjavur. It was dotted with silk sari shops and antique shops. There were shops which sold beautiful Thanjavur paintings and also the famous dancing dolls. The people there were really friendly and welcomed us with warm smiles. Mom and her friend looked through the saris while dad and I went to buy the dancing dolls. There were also shops which sold musical instruments like Veena, Tamburu, Violin, etc. Mom explained to me that she brought her Veena from here years back. After shopping, we went to eat some Thanjavur delicacies. We had puli sadam (tamarind rice), thenga sadam (coconut rice), paniyaram (fried dosa batter) and dosai. We ended the meal with kozhikatai filled with jaggery and coconut, and chakara pongal , a thick payasam made of jaggery and rice. Being a Tamilian, it felt great to have the foods from my heritage. Another specialty of Thanjavur is the ‘Musumbi sarbath’. Fresh Musumbi juice is poured in a glass and sugar syrup is added to it, topped with soda and ice. When we drink it we get the freshness of the musumbi with the friziness of the soda. After a hectic yet wonderful day, we retired to our rooms.
The next morning we went to Thirunnageshwaram, it is a kovil for the Rahu God and the Nagas. We went on an auspicious day as it was the day of the Rahu puja . This puja is conducted on every Friday and the milk poured on the Rahu God is said to turn purple indicating the poison coming out which Shiva had swallowed to protect the mankind. There was also an elephant which blessed us if we gave it money. At first I was terrified and didn’t go near it. Later I mustered up the courage to give it money and it slowly touched my head in return. It was a sweet experience, and when we gave it some bananas it lovingly touched our face. After this we went back to the hotel for lunch.
Later that day, we went for a last minute shopping and after coming back we were on our way to the next destination - Kumbakonam. This was my experience of the beautiful town of Thanjavur, it is indeed a travelers’ paradise....
By Pooja Ramesh
II BA. Communicative English
Pic credits: Google Images, Pooja Ramesh