Brihadeshwara Shiva Temple, Periya Kovil of Thanjavur

Brihadeshwara Shiva Temple is also known as Periya Kovil and is a dedication to Lord Shiva. Brihadeshwara Temple is situated at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu It is one of the largest temples in India built by Raja Raja Chola I in 1010 AD.  The temple was built, like a fortress on the shores of a river, by the king to grace the Chola Empire. 

The temple tower or Gopuram is 216 Feet Height.  Built using over 130,000 tons of granite. The surprising fact is that there is neither a mountain or rock hill for 60 Kms around Thanjavur.  Surprising to understand how did these heavy rocks come here ?  It is said that 3000 elephants were used to bring these stones from far away. 

This fabulous structure is based on interlock method or puzzle and one stone is placed on another to lock it.  Even after 1000 years the temple stands straight. This flamboyant tower can be seen by anyone entering the city from afar. Another breathtaking thing that will sure stupefy the visitor is the magnificent Nandi statue built at the temple; it is about two meters in height, six meters in length and two-and-half meters in width and weighs around a whopping 20 tons for a statue built from a single stone. 

Various postures of the famous classical dance, Bharathanatyam, are carved carefully on the exterior walls of the upper story of the temple.  The other specialty of the temple is that it was built without digging the land. There are several shrines added to the temple by most of the following rulers such as the Pandyas, the Vijayanagara rulers and the Marathas, too. The temple architecture marvels at housing a myriad of surprises for everyone taking a look at this great temple.

Another important architectural feature of the temple is that the shadow of the temple never falls on the ground at noon. The architecture of the temple is done so cleverly that the temple casts no shadow on the ground when the sun is at its peak. This is a phenomenon that attracts thousands of tourists and architectural enthusiasts from across the world to unravel the architectural mystery of the temple.
Brihadeshwara Temple is also the first all-granite temple in the world. 

The topmost structure of the temple, called Vimana, weighs around 80 tons, and it is a mystery how the builders got it up there. The kumbam is carved out in a single stone.  There were no cranes or power machinery to lift the stone to such a height.  Its surprisingly to know how they managed this single stone to top of the Gopuram.  It is understood that they made a ramp of around 6 kilometers long.  Elephants,  Horses, Bulls and Labourers together carried the stone and time taken was 6 years.  There are several musical pillars, which make different sounds when taped, at the temple. Upon visiting, anyone can understand that the temple is a brilliant testimonial of the opulence of grand South Indian architecture.

It is one of the largest South Indian temples and an exemplary example of a fully realized Dravidian architecture.  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. 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, Varahi and others. The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu.

The fact that Brihadeshwara temple has managed to stand the test of time for more than a thousand years proves the superior accomplishment of Chola architecture and the patron’s incomparable devotion for Shiva.

Summarizing the Key Interesting Facts about this temple :

•          Temple is built with Granites and no Mud or Sand used.
•          Big Nandhi situated on the entrance of the Thanjavoor Periya Kovil is not the one which was created during the Raja Raja I’s reign.
•          Nandi was a gift to the temple from the Maratha rulers during the Maratha’s reign
•          It is said to be the Nandi which keeps growing in the size
•          in order to control the growth, they have bolted or nailed it to the ground on the legs of the sculpture. 
•          These rock carvings look like mere decoration, but if you look closely, there are very small holes cut into them
•          The temple walls are completely made of granite, one of the hardest materials on earth
•          This temple was not only a religious place but was also designed as defensive fort to withstand any attack.
•          Periya Koil  have many secret hidden passages leading into the temple from various other parts of the city.
•          The vimana has not developed a crack or tilted even a few centimeters in all these years despite six earthquakes
•          The height of Lord Shiva in the form of Lingam inside the temple is 12 feet 

Athi Varadhar Temple - Sri Varadharaja Perumal temple

Athivaradhar is a deity of Sri Varadharaja Perumal Temple,  in Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.  It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108 temples of Vishnu.  Among the Divya Desams, Varadaraja Perumal temple is known as ‘Perumal Koil’. This is one of the most sacred places for Vaishnavites. 

Athivaradhar is actually a nine-feet long idol, made out of the divine fig tree.  This Idol is kept safely inside the Ananta Sarovar – Templ Pushkarini of Varadaraja Temple.  The Deity is brought out of the Pushkarini once in 40 years and Lord gives darshan for 48 days.

 According to legend, Goddess Saraswathi had a misunderstanding with her husband Brahma and in a fit of anger took away his divine wand to retrieve.  Bramha wanted to perform the Aswamedha yagna in the Athi forest.  Since Goddess Saraswati did not accompany,  lord Brahma took help of Goddess Gayathri and Lakshmi Devi.  Aided by the Asuras, the demons, Sarawati runs as the Vegavathi river ( Palar river ) and tries to interrupt the Yagna.  Lord Vishnu, was happy with Brahma Yagna and  emerges from the holy fire as Athivaradhar.  The temple deity, Vishnu laid himself flat to stay the flow and the yagna was successfully performed. Vishnu emerged with brilliance of thousand Suns as Devarajaswamy and stayed here permanently.  Saraswati is pacified and Viswakarma carves out a body for Athivaradar using a fig tree and He then agrees to stay in Kanchipuram atop the Elephant Hill.

The temple covers an area of 23-acre (93,000 m²) complex and shows the architectural skills of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis in temple architecture and is famous for its holiness and ancient history. The temple has three outer prakarams namely Azhwar Prakaram, Madai Palli Prakaram and Thiru Malai Prakaram. There are 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls (most having the lion type yali sculpture) and sacred tanks some of which located outside the complex. The temple tank is called Anantha Theertham.

The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130 feet tall, 7-tiered rajagopuram  (main gateway tower). The hill, called Hastagiri, is 360 m (1,180 ft) long by 240 metres (790 ft).

 The eastern gopuram is taller than the western gopuram, which is contrasting to large temples where the rajagopuram is the tallest one. One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone

Athi Varadharaja is one among the 4 Brahma Kararchita Varadaja moorthies , carved by Vishwakarma in Kritha Yuga. This moorthi was the main deity (Moola Moorthi) in the Grabhagraha, i.e inside PunyaKooti Vimana, until  early 16th century.

For nearly 40 long years, the temple had no moorthies in the grabhagraha and no pooja was being performed in the temple. The two brothers in Dhatacharya lineage,who were the Dharamakartha of the temple at that time and under whose authority the hiding of moorthy took place, passed away. Their two sons, after more than 40 years, tried vigorously to bring the moorthies back to the temple, to start the pooja again. With the help of a Madwa , the Utsava moorthies were brought back from Udayar Palayam forest and found their place inside the temple. 

    Unable to find the Athi Varadha, the authorities decided to  place a Vigraha made of stone from the near by place.

Various reasons why Athi Varadhar was kept under water.

1.      1.       Around 1709  due to some reasons (which is unknown till the date) the Pushkarani was emptied and the Athi Varadharaja was  seen lying inside. Then Authorities decided that this moorthi has to be taken out every 40 years for pooja for 48 days and again to be immersed in the kalyani for another 40 years and so on.

2.       Athi Varadar was originally worshiped by Lord Brahma in Satya-yuga, by Gajendra in Treta-yuga, by Sage Brihaspathi in Dwapara-yuga and by Ananta Shesha in Kali-yuga.

Once while Brahma was performing a yagna (fire sacrifice), in Kanchipuram, the fire touched the wooden Deity of Sri Athi Varadar. Brahma asked the Lord for a remedial measure to worship the Deity; the Lord instructed him to keep the Deity in the lake surrounded by the replicas of Ananta Shesha. Hence the Deity is till date in the temple pond.

While Brahma worshiped the Deity alone, Lord Vishnu tells Brahma,”You are worshiping Me constantly. You should also give an opportunity to others for worship as well”.

To this Lord Brahma agreed to allow the Lord’s worship only for a few nano seconds. Similarly, when Gajendra and Brihaspathi were worshiping, they allowed the worship during their period only for a few minutes on Lord Vishnu’s request.

In the similar manner, when Ananta Shesha worships, he allows the worship to be offered by others for 48 days i.e, once in 40 years only. After this period of 1 mandala, the Lord is immersed back in the Ananta Sarovar to be worshiped by Ananta Shesha for next 40 years. Ananta Sarovar is the sannidhanam of Lord Ananta Shesha.

3.       Considering the prevailing political situation then,  there was a threat from Arcot Nawab,  the other side was the British and French Ruling situation. There is also another theory that the idol would have been damaged and hence kept under water.

“For those who refuse to believe in the culture and traditions of the soil, Athivaradar might just be a wooden idol lying beneath the water which is taken out every forty years for worship. It is all just so simple at face value but looking at the sensation his emergence is causing, one can realise Athivaradar’s incredible power to make us nostalgic for earlier eras we never grew up in. Of course, the works of Azhwars and Acharyas of Sri Vaishnavism are great about Athivaradhar,

Athi Varadar – the Deity who gives darshan once in 40 years only, has been giving His darshan from July 01 till Aug 18, 2019. Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu is buzzing with millions of devotees from all over the world for the darshan of Sri Athi Varadar – the Deity who gives darshan once in 40 years only.

 The next darshan would be in 2059. Do not miss the opportunity of darshan of Lord Athi Varadar.  Let us all take the blessings of Lord Athi Varadhar.

You Tube Channel  :  https://youtu.be/kVQVLwWTvM8

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