The living wonder of Bharatha Kandha…
-THE BRIHADESHWARA TEMPLE, Thanjavur
Imagine standing in front of a ramp or an inclined plane of nearly one and a half kilometers in length carrying an 80-tonne magnificently carved granite stone to a height of nearly 200 feet using hundreds of elephants, thousands of men, and several architects and craftsmen. This would probably be the scenario in front of you if you can travel back to a period around 1000 AD when one of the ‘Greatest living Chola Temples’ — the Brihadeshwara temple was being constructed under the reign of the beloved Rajaraja Chola-1 a.k.a Arulmoli Varman.
Standing 217 feet tall in the mesmerizing temple city of Thanjavur built in the Dravidian style of architecture Brihadeshwara Temple stands as an icon of grandeur of the Chola dynasty and the rich culture of South India. It is truly mind boggling to know that such a huge engineering marvel was built 1000 years ago without using cement or any other binding material but just by interlocking the stones and withstanding many major earthquakes even without an underground foundation. The temple is enormously huge such that it is visible from any point in Thanjavur.
It is built in such a way that it creates the illusion that the shadow of the Gopuram never falls on the ground. Some surveys say that there is no granite quarry for about 50 km around the temple but enormous granite stones were used in the construction. The fact that Chola architects chiseled granite — one of the hardest stones, completely with primitive tools, 1000 years back, to build this massive temple, is really astonishing. Their hard work, planning, accuracy, and intelligence are far beyond our imagination. This shows the deep and authentic knowledge of our ancestors in the fields of geometry, vibrations, material science, and architecture purely obtained from the Shastras and Vedas. In recognition of its incredible architecture, UNESCO has declared the temple as a World Heritage Monument.
The temple complex consists of five main sections: the sanctum with the towering superstructure (Sri vimana), the Nandi Hall in front of the sanctum (Nandi-Mandapam), and in between these lies the main community hall (Mukhamandapam), the great gathering hall (Mahamandapam) and the pavilion with the sanctum (Ardhamandapam). Sri Vimana has 13 floors and atop lies the granite capstone weighing about 80 tonne in mass and its placement there is a geotechnical mystery till date. Another intricate detail is that the Sri Vimana is completely hollow on the inner side and it is said that the chanting of the mantra “OM” creates a divine vibration echoing through the hollow Vimana.
The murals and paintings on the walls of the temple are also noteworthy since they are drawn using naturally obtained dyes and colors from flowers, spices, and leaves, but even after 1000 years they are elegant with vibrant colors. A remarkable aspect about these murals is that, unlike today’s paintings in art museums, no chemicals or special arrangements were made to protect their hue and colour.
A temple is not just a building built out of rocks, but it is actually a center for immense knowledge, wealth, positive energy, culture, traditions, beliefs, and lifestyle. One can only know the true essence of a temple by paying attention to the minute details and keep an open mind to consider the possibilities of the messages that our forefathers were attempting to convey through the details. In the case of the Brihadeshwara temple one such detail can be observed in the selection of the heights and distances of the construction i.e., the total height of the complete temple (216 ft) is equal to the number of the consonant vowels in Tamil, the distance between Lingam and Nandi (247 feet) is equal to the number of letters in Tamil, the height of the Lingam (12 ft) is equal to the number of vowels in Tamil, the height of the lingam pedestal (18 ft) is equal to the number of consonants. This represents the significance that had been given to our language and literature in that era.
Other significant details that can be observed in the temple are the elaborate inscriptions written on the walls by many rulers, which provide many insights into the culture, lifestyle, socio-economic aspects and other accurate details of the rituals performed in the temple. Rajaraja Chola is said to have been appointed as the Mula-Ratna-Bhandarattar or the chief treasurer of the temple, to keep proper account of jewelry, valuable stones, offerings and other grants given to the temple and all these details were precisely mentioned on the wall inscriptions. These inscriptions are indeed a proof of India’s enormous wealth, glory, and prominence during the Chola rule.
One of the inscriptions is translated as…
“One hundred and sixty-five sacred gold flowers (tirupporpu) consisting of eight hundred and twenty-five karanju of gold, — each sacred gold flower consisting of five karanju (4.5 grams) of gold” were offered to the Goddess Umaparamesvari, the consort of our lord Adavallar Dakshina-Meru-Vitankar”
And that is nearly 4 kg of gold carved as flowers!
Other inscriptions also mention multiple varieties of rubies or Maanikkam, large quantities of gemstones, and many kinds of diamonds, pearls or Muthu and they number in thousands. Detailed study of these inscriptions gives us a glimpse into the wealth of the Cholas, the abundant resources, and the meticulous detailing of the temple affairs which they successfully maintained.
Brihadeshwara temple, as a whole, not only represents the ideologies of the Tamil civilization and Chola empire, but also speaks clearly for the supremacy of India’s ancient knowledge and understanding of science, which have presently been deeply buried under Western influence. I hope we soon realize what India actually was and can be!
This article is a mere effort to convey my reverence to the great sages, scholars, philosophers and the glorious Cholas for patronizing and nurturing Indian culture and knowledge, for their marvelous and authentic architecture and for their captivating excellence in science.
AUTHOR: Ujwala Desu, EC22B1126: I am a great admirer of Indian culture and temple architecture. The knowledge of our forefathers in the fields of science and geometry always amaze me and I love to gather information about myths, stories and legends about our temples and rituals. I find a great sense of self-satisfaction in decoding the messages and secrets hidden in them.