The Brihadeeswarar Temple — known locally as the Big Temple or Periya Kovil — was built by the Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in the early eleventh century. More than a thousand years later, it remains an active place of worship.
Significance
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva as Brihadeeswarar, and houses one of the largest lingams in South India. Its soaring granite vimana (the tower above the sanctum) was an extraordinary engineering achievement for its time, and a huge monolithic Nandi faces the sanctum from its own mandapam.
Together with the temples at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Great Living Chola Temples.
Visiting
Thanjavur is the centrepiece of our Thanjavur temple tour, and pairs well with the Kumbakonam temple tour.
