The Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur

Rajaraja I finished this temple around 1010 and it has been in use ever since. Everything is granite, brought some distance because the delta has no stone of its own, and the tower over the sanctuary rises about sixty-six metres in thirteen tapering tiers under a single carved capstone. The scale only registers inside the walled courtyard, which is wide enough to take the whole building in at once, an unusual luxury in South India where later gateways normally crowd the view. A large monolithic Nandi bull faces the shrine from its own pavilion, and a dark passage in the base holds Chola wall paintings that were plastered over centuries later and have been partly recovered.

What you actually see

• The vimana - the granite tower over the sanctuary, thirteen tiers tapering to a single capstone.
• The Nandi pavilion - a large monolithic bull facing the shrine down the length of the courtyard.
• The courtyard cloister - the arcaded wall running the perimeter, lined with lingams and sculpture.
• The inner passage paintings - Chola-period murals recovered from under later plaster.

When to go

November to February is dry and manageable; the summer months here are severe and the courtyard has no shade. Early morning gives soft light on the east front and fewer people. The tower is floodlit after dark and the courtyard stays open into the evening, which is the better time for photographs of the whole building.

Honest expectations

Shoes are left at the gate and the granite paving burns bare feet by mid-morning. The sanctuary interior is dim and access to the painted passage is limited or closed. Restoration scaffolding appears on parts of the structure from time to time. Thanjavur itself is a plain working town with little to hold you once the temple is done.

Nearby

The smaller Chola temples at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram are day trips, and Trichy is about an hour away.