The Brihadisvara temple is an ancient Hindu temple located at Thanjavur in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. This 10th century CE temple, one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, is a brilliant example of the Dravidian style of temple architecture. The central temple known as the Periya Koil (Big Temple) stands within a fort, whose walls are later additions built during the 16th century. The main tower of the temple is about 70 m high. One very interesting feature of this tall structure is that the shadow of the hemispherical crown on top never falls on the ground.
The crown itself is very large and heavy (nearly a ton) and till a few years back was thought to be carved out of a single stone. However during one of the cleaning efforts it was found to be in two pieces. The task of carrying this huge crown to a height of 70 m is another feat worth mentioning. In order to do this a inclined plane of sand was built from a distance of nearly 11 km. The place where this scaffold began is called the Sarap pallam ("Scaffold Pit").
The Brihadisvara temple was built by an important Tamil ruler, RajaRaja Chola of the Chola dynasty. In the twenty-fifth year of Rajaraja Chola (1009-10 CE), on the 257th day of the year the king handed over the copper pot for the final decoration atop the Vimana. It weighed about 107 kg, and was overlaid with gold plate of the weight of 292.5 Kalanju (nearly 13 kg). The main deity worshipped the temple is Shiva, in the usual form of a linga.
The Sivalinga of Sri Brihadisvara is probably the grandest in existence. This image was originally called Adavallan (Expert Dancer). Another name was Dakshina Meru Vitanken. Both the names occur in Thiruvisaipa as the names of the deity at Chidambaram. This possibly indicates that the Shaiva creed derived its support at the time mainly from Chidambaram. Rajaraja Chola calls the image Rajarajeswaramudaiyar (The Lord of Rajarajeswaram). The tower over the shrine is named Dakshina Meru after the abode of Lord Shiva at Kailasa.
A remarkable feature of the temple is the great Nandi (stone bull). The Nandi that figures at the entrance is immense in size (a popular belief is that it is growing by the day), and the ceiling of its enclosure is decorated with frescoes in the typical painting style of Thanjavur.
The tall Rajagopuram of the temple also found use as a survey platform during the measurement of the Great Arc, by the Survey of India under William Lambton. The Great Theodolite used during the Survey of India was damaged in a fall from the roof, and its carefully calibrated plates were bent. This instrument was later repaired at Trichy.