Thanjavur Brhadīsvara Temple

TANJAVUR BṚHADĪŚVARA TEMPLE

View documentary on Making of Interactive Multimedia DVD on Bṛhadīśvara temple (by Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan). Film boradcaseted on DD National and DD Bharti (on 12th April 2014)

Brochure

Hindi | English

Walkthrough

001 | 002 | 003 | 004

Image Collection

Books published

Tanjavur Bṛhadīśvara : An Architectural Study

Bṛhadīśvara Temple: Form and Meaning

The Iconography of The Bṛhadīśvara Temple

Exhibition titled “Bṛhadīśvara: The Monument and the Living Tradition” at

New Delhi (6 Dec. 2013 – 5 Jan. 2014)
Chennai (19 – 31 March 2014)
Bengaluru (13 – 22 June 2014)
Valladolid, Spain (13th Nov. – 13th Dec. 2014)
Coimbatore 15th – 23rd November 2014)
Varanasi (25th – 29th December 2014)
Varanasi (1st – 31st January 2015)
Chennai (19th – 24th January 2015)

Feedback / Comments of Visitors received in Exhibitions

The Bṛhadīśvara temple built by Rājarāja Cōḷa in 1010 CE, is acclaimed as the finest achievement of Cōḷa art and architecture. On account of its distinct form and beauty it has been inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Monument. 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. The inscriptions on the walls of the temple provide a vast corpus of information at the level of economic, social, cultural, organizational and administrative patterns and structures. The temple has attracted the attention of archaeologists, epigraphists, literary critics, musicians, dancers, craft specialists, sociologists and anthropologists. Despite this interest and excellent work done by the individual scholars and institutions, most of the studies have so far been unidimensional, focusing attention on one particular fragment or part and not the whole.

The Centre presents the Bṛhadīśvara temple as a monument but more as a living tradition. The symbiosis of experts from the subjects extending from the archaeology, architecture, epigraphy, Sanskrit, temple rituals, photography and computer science on one platform, was the greatest challenge of the project. This DVD presents the content exploration systems on the Bṛhadīśvara temple to intensify cultural learning and visualisation.

Through this DVD users can access the sections of the architectural layout, both horizontally and vertically with respective images and little description about each section. The temple of Bṛhadīśvara includes a great number of iconographic representations. The most important icon in the temple is the huge Liṅga, the main symbolic object of worship. Distribution of sculptures on the ground and upper floors of the Vimāna with description of each of these icons, their reference in the text(s) (through Dhyāna śloka) and voiceover of the Dhyāna śloka in some cases has been integrated for a better understanding. On the upper floor of the Central sanctum, sculptures are carved on the outside of the inner wall of the Vimāna in a clock-wise direction. They represent the dance-karaṇās as described in the Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. 108 stone blocks were left to carve all the dance-karaṇās as per the text but, the work stopped after the 81st dance-karaṇā. These images can be explored in the DVD with relevant śloka in the Nāṭyaśāstra.

The paintings in the passageway of the garbhagṛha of the temple are the only remaining examples of Cōḷa paintings that we have today. Panels of the Cōḷa paintings are linked through the storyline, to understand these paintings in their context. They are also grouped in different sections for easy navigation by users.

On the base of the main tower, the front great hall, the subsidiary shrines and the enclosure are remarkable documents that record several aspects of the temple: its construction, maintenance and management, land grants. These have been integrated linking their location on the temple plan with translation published by ASI, for easy navigation by users. The light these records throw on the rituals and festivals conducted in the Bṛhadīśvara Temple is also significant. Daily and periodical worships (including kumbhābhiṣekam) has been documented by the IGNCA and is integrated in this DVD. We have attempted to capture the change in the attitude towards the temple – through the interviews of the hereditary Trustee Babaji Raja Bhonsle and Kittappa Pillai, an eminent musician and Naṭṭuvanār belonged to the 8th generation of lineage of artists at Tanjavur, in this DVD.

Several alterations and additions in structures, do reflect the growth, with time, and this has been shown with the timeline in this DVD. Recent techniques and tools have been utilized to integrate the information available in different art forms in an interactive manner for easy navigation by the users. 360 degree panoramic views of the temple from selected locations, are provided for the users.

Finally, this is the first time, such a project has been conceptualised and fulfilled, to make the ancient knowledge and achievements accessible through a sophisticated multimedia platform, for the understanding of our past.

Release of Interactive Multimedia DVD by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon’ble Union Minister for Rural Development,

on 6th December 2013

This project couldn’t have been conceived by anyone else except for a scholar like Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, who is known internationally for her multi-disciplinary work through her writings, organization of exhibitions and others. Over these decades she has coordinated and supervised the execution of this project with meticulous care and commitment. Path breaking exhibitions were held in India and abroad, not to speak of first at IGNCA i.e. Concept of Space, Concept of Time, Ākāra and others.

Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu is the Chief Coordinator of the Bṛhadīśvara documentation project. He is recognized today as the most outstanding scholar of Tamil architecture, epigraphy, sculptures (specially Cōḷa Bronzes), paintings, dance, besides masterly command related to textual sources. He is known for richness of content and also his mode of communication.

Exhibition titled “Bṛhadīśvara: The Monument and the Living Tradition” at New Delhi

SPECIAL Lecture titled “Making of Interactive Multimedia DVD on Tanjavur Brhadisvara Temple” by Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Department of Archaeology, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and Former Vice-Chancellor, Kancheepuram University. The Lecture chaired by Dr. (Mrs.) Kapila Vatsyayan, Trustee, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Trust on 6th December 2013

View Special Lecture (video)

Exhibition titled “Bṛhadīśvara: The Monument and the Living Tradition” was organized by IGNCA from   7th December 2013 to 5th January 2014

View

Inauguration & Release of DVD (video)

Exhibition (video)

Special Lecture (video)

Brochure (pdf)

Photographs

Invitation of Inauguration | Lecture | Poster | Details on Facebook

Ms. Dipali Khanna, Member secretary, IGNCA, felicitating Hon’ble Minister of Culture Ms. Chandresh Kumari Katoch.

View Photographs @ Facebook

PRESS CLIPPING

Not just another temple view JPG   /  PDF (published in The Hindu – December 13, 2013 (Friday Review) Page 3)

Thanjavur’s Bṛhadīśvara Temple in photographs, view JPG   /  PDF  (published in Deccan Herald on Monday 16 December 2013 )

Exhibition titled “Bṛhadīśvara: The Monument and the Living Tradition” at Chennai

“Bṛhadīśvara:The Monument and the Living Tradition inauguration of exhibition by Shri N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India

19th March 2014, at: 6:30PM

View Photographs of Inauguration of Exhibition

View Photographs of Exhibition

Venue: Dr. Preetha Reddy Auditorium, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 18, 20, East Mada Street, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004

Exhibition was open for public from 20 -31 March 2014

10:00AM to 07:00PM

One day seminar covering various aspects of Brhadisvara Temple is scheduled on 20th March 2014 between 10:00AM – 04:30PM

View Photographs of Seminar

View Invitation

A 11-day exhibition will have on display over 200 photographs of paintings, sculptures and sketches

touching upon the finer aspects of the world-renowned temple. Photo: R. Ragu The Hindu

Exhibition was open for public from 20 -31 March 2014

10:00AM to 07:00PM

NEWS:

This month, explore the Big Temple | JPG (The Hindu, Chennai, March 20, 2014)

This month, explore the Big Temple – SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (The Hindu, Chennai, March 20, 2014)

Big Temple – up close – DR. CHITHRA MADHAVAN (The Hindu, Chennai, March 27, 2014)

Dinamalar (Tamil) March 20, 2014

Unravelling Big Temple’s history (Indian Express, March 22, 2014)

Exhibition titled “Bṛhadīśvara: The Monument and the Living Tradition”

“from 13th – 22nd June 2014

Venue: Bengaluru

Exhibition titled ‘Tanjavur Bṛhadīśvara: the Monument and the Living Tradition’

13th November – 13th December 2014

Venue: Valladolid, Spain

Report on AR&PA 2014 and India’s Participation in it as Guest Country

Photographs

News Update

Selection of News Coverage by Local Media about India’s Participation in AR&PA 2014