Tanjavur Brhadisvara

by Pierre Pichard

The Brhadisvara temple also know as the Rajarajesvara temple built by Raja Raja I in 1010 A.D. has been acclaimed as the finest achievement of Chola art. The perfection of its architectural plan, its impeccable balance, the sculptural reliefs and murals and the bronzes have been commented upon by art historians.Its artistic excellence lies in the perfect balance of the parts and the whole, the architecture, sculpture, painting, the stone and the bronze images, the idols within, the reliefs without. Each of these facets emerge from an integral vision where each part is related to the whole. In its totality, it is not a mere architectural monument, instead it is a living bio-organism which has served as centre of social, economic and political life in many succeeding centuries.