Preview

Brihadeeswara Temple

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1592 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Brihadeeswara Temple
Location:
The Brihadeeswara is located in Tanjavur district in Tamilnadu, India. The temple was built on the banks of River Cauvery with its water turned to the moat. The temple, constructed entirely of granite, stands amidst fortified walls. There was no rock formation around this area. It is believed that the rocks would have been brought from a place at least 50kms away.
History:
The temple had its foundations laid out by the Tamil emperor Arulmozhivarman, popularly called Rajaraja Chola I, in 1002 CE, as the first of the great Tamil Chola building projects. It was built to grace the throne of the Chola Empire in compliance of a command given to him in his dream. The scale and grandeur is in the Chola tradition. An axial and symmetrical geometry rules the temple layout. Temples from this period and the following two centuries are an expression of the Chola wealth, power and artistic expertise. The emergence of such features as the multifaceted columns with projecting square capitals signals the arrival of the new Chola style. The Brihadeeswara Temple was built to be the royal temple to display the emperor's vision of his power and his relationship to the universal order. The temple was the site of the major royal ceremonies such as anointing the emperor and linking him with its deity, Shiva, and the daily rituals of the deities were mirrored by those of the king. It is an architectural exemplar showcasing the pure form of the Dravida type of temple architecture and representative of the Chola Empire ideology and the Tamil civilization in Southern India. The temple “testifies to the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting."
Construction:
The wish to build a mammoth temple like this is said to have occurred to Rajaraja while he stayed at Sri Lanka as an emperor.
This temple is the first building fully built by granite and finished within 5 years [1004AD – 1009AD]. The solid base of the temple raises about 5

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Emperor Vespasian initialized the construction of the building in 72 CE after draining the man made lake that was once owned by Emperor Nero. His purpose of building the gigantic structure was an element of a wider program to restore Rome’s glory and position in the world that had dissolved over the civil war. Moreover, it was a way to compensate the people for…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Female Figure Analysis

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Rajarajeshwara temple at Thanjavur , was built by Raja Raja Chola I, in ca 1010 c.e. The massive temple is made out of granite and it’s decorated with multiple carvings. Above this intricate place of worship sits a massive round stone cap. The mast atop this capstone serves as an axis mundi in order to connect the earth to heaven. The Rajarajeshwara temple is another temple dedicated to Shiva. Today the temple still functions as a sacred place for followers of Hindu to worship. Here worshipers gather and “circumambulate around the lingam shrine” (83). This monumental temple also functions as a reminder of the greatness of the powerful king Rajaraja who built…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, monuments have been built to show power, wealth, and even conquest. Depending on a cultures value and tradition, the types of monuments can vary from era to era. However, the construction of sacred monuments has predated from the times of the start of civilization in Mesopotamia to even modern day. People have always created buildings to show their faith, and to honor their gods. In Ashokan India and ancient Greece, the creation of sacred spaces was very common. The creation of the Great Stupa in India and the Parthenon in Greece both were built for the honor and worship for the respective god and goddess for both nation…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hu250 Unit 9 Final Report

    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages

    temple was built a litle small, but that was due to it’s location on a rocky…

    • 2569 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Saint Sophia

    • 363 Words
    • 1 Page

    2. An emperor, such as Justinian, may have wanted to build a structure like this for numerous reasons. 1. As devotion and dedication to God. 2. To establish his own beliefs among the rest of the state/ region, and 3. to convert many foreigners and merchants who passed by and would be awe struck by the massive and elaborate structure…

    • 363 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are around 900 temples that stand in Pagan today. Most of them were built in the 12th century. Most of their insides are covered with layers of fine mud, and also decorated with paintings that show scenes of battle or daily life in the market for the Pagan empire residents. Some also can depict traditional spirit deities, known as nats. Stupas, also known as temples, can range from “one-face” design to a “four-face: design. One-face designs will have one main entrance and four-face have four main entrances. The temples that have been built can be credited with inspiring many other civilizations buildings as they are usually awe inspiring. But how exactly did they built these monsters with no construction equipment that exists today?…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Religion In The 1500s

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A common structure in China was ancestral temples of the royal families, which were viewed as a symbol of state and not religion (The State, the Family, and the Individual, p. 234). In India, Islamic architecture and religious infrastructures were everywhere. All political beautification projects revolved around the creation or demolition of religious structures; the more elaborate and impressive religious structures were, the happier the people were with the rule of the state. Kings in India built magnificent temples and granted large endowments in an effort to keep the people happy and promote the importance of dharma in daily life (Greg Sarafan: Muslim Hindu Religious Interactions in the Mughal Empire). The extreme prevalence of religion stressed the…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Its Construction Started In The Year 1631. It Took Around 22 Years To Build This Monument. It Is Made Completely Out Of White Marble Which At That Time Was Imported In India From Central Asia. It Took Around 20,000 Laborers And Around 800-1000 Elephants. The Expenditure of the Whole Construction Approximately 32 Million Rupees Which Would Probably Be Around 68000 USD. The Construction Was Completed In The Year 1653.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Etruscan Temple Essay

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The walls of the cella are fixed stone combined with engaged columns on the perimeter. The builders were unwilling to sacrifice a Greek colonnade and peristyle or the Etruscan closed-wall construction. This fusion is also paralleled in the directionality of the Temple. The Greeks used a colonnade to create symmetry and openness, while the Etruscans focused mostly on the frontal elevation and built solid walls for the majority of the temple as they neglected symmetry. The design of the ground plan of this temple uses the Etruscan frontal orientation, but also seeks to preserve the pseudo-openness of a Greek temple. Instead, both forms were melded to create a unique ground plan that required Etruscan wall but also included Greek columns.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dendure

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages

    However, the two sphinx-like sculpture, one smaller than the other; and the tilted glass façade breaks the symmetry and generates hierarchy. on the other hand, the modern material compliments the original stone in terms of color and texture. The background, sidewalk and the base were constructed out of different types of granites. The background of the temple has the same block assembling patterns used from the Temple’s grid from its stone assembly. Also, the translucent ceiling and the tilted glass creates grids with white concrete and steel panels. However, the wall opposite to the tilted glass facade has plain and smooth texture and color that compliments the grids. The reflected image of the temple at water component generates a sense of its original site. Besides all the design aspects, the ornamentation of the temple makes it stand out triggering a sense of time and relates the structure with the mythology. The images depict a sense of a social, agricultural, historical and spiritual aspects of the people from the particular era.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Akhenaten:)Personality)Study) Historical)Context) Geography,+topography+and+resources+of+Egypt+and+its+Neighbors+ ! • • • • • • Located!on!the!north!east!coast!of!Africa! Bordered!Libya,!Nubia,!Sinai!and!Mediterranean!sea.!Neighbored!with!Hittites!and!…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Forbidden City

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Taj Mahal is a beautiful white marble structure. It was built in 1632. It took 22 years to complete the marvelous structure. Agra fort is an ancient Indian City. It was built in 1565. The city has several mosques and palaces. Amid Fort is a historic attraction in Amir. The fort has four levels, and each level has a courtyard.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chinese Art

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages

    tells of the wonders of China under the first emperors of the Mongol or Yuan…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Notre Dame Outline

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * 1190-1225 edification of the façade courses and the first two bays in the nave…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. He retained Agrippa's original inscription, which has confused its date of construction.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics