Tanjore is dominated by the enormous gopurams of the Brihadeshwara Temple itself surrounded by fortified walls and a moat and located between the Grand Anicut Canal and the old town. The old town itself, consisting of winding streets and alleys and containing the vast labyrinthine ruins of the palace of the Naicks of Madurai, stands between the Grand Anicut Canal and the Vadavar River. It was at one time surrounded by a fortified wall and moat though most of this has now disappeared.
Brihadeshwara Temple & Fort Built by Raja Raja (985-1014 AD): this is the crowning glory of Chola temple architecture. It's a superb and fascinating monument which you could spend several days exploring and still not feel that you'd seen enough. The dome on top of the apex of the 63 metre (206 ft) high temple, which encloses an enormous Shiva lingam (Hindus only!), is a single piece of granite weighing an estimated 81 tons which was put in place by hauling it along an earthwork ramp six km long in a similar manner to which the Egyptian pyramids were built.
The Palace, Art Gallery & Saraswati Mahal Library: This vast, labyrinthine building of huge corridors, spacious halls, observation towers and shady courtyards in the centre of the old town was built partly by the Naicks of Madurai around 1550 and partly by the Marathas. Some sections of it are now in ruins but a substantial amount remains intact. Housed in this building is the Art Gallery containing granite and bronze statues from the 9th-12th centuries and the Saraswati Mahal library established around 1700 AD.
Gangakondacholapuram: The gopurams of this enormous temple dominate the landscape for miles around. It was built by the Chola emperor Rajendra I in imitation of the style of the Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore, built by his father, and is dedicated to Shiva. There are many beautiful sculptures on the walls of the temple and its enclosures and a huge tank into which vessels containing the water of the River Ganges, brought by vassal kings to the court of the Cholas, were emptied.
Chidambaram: South of Pondicherry, towards Tanjore, is another of Tamil Nadu's gems of Dravidian architecture — the temple complex of Chidambaram with the great temple of Nataraja, the dancing Shiva. The complex is said to be the oldest in the south and covers 13 hectares. There are four gopurams, the north and south ones towering 49 metres high. Two of the gopurams are carved with the 108 classical postures of Nataraja, Shiva in his role as the cosmic dancer.Other notable features of the temple include the 1000-pillared hall, the Nritta Sabha court which is carved out like a gigantic chariot, and the image of Nataraja himself in the central sanctum.
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