During
the rule of the British this town was called Trichnopoly. Today it
is Tiruchirappalli and is also called Tiruchirappalli for short.
This city is situated on the banks of the Kaveri river.
Tiruchirappalli is the fourth largest city in the state and it was a
citadel of the early Chola rulers which later fell to the Pallavas
kings. The Pallavas never really managed to retain control of this
strategic city and lost it to the Pandyas several times. The
struggle for power between the Pallavas and Pandyas continued till
10th century as the Cholas asserted and assumed rule for a long
time. Tiruchirappalli is 325 km from Chennai.
When this empire collapsed around 1565, Tiruchirappalli came to be
under the rule of different rulers. They were the Nayaks of Madurai,
the Marathas, the Nawabs of Carnatic, the French and finally the
British. But it was under the Nayaks of Madurai that this town
prospered in its own right and grew to become the city that it is
today. The city is a fine blend of the traditional and the modern
and the town developed was built around the Rock Fort. Apart from
the fort there are several churches, colleges and missions dating
back to the 1760s. This town is also called the Rome of the East
because every Christian denomination has some kind of an
establishment in this city. With excellent infrastructural
facilities Tiruchirappalli is a good base to see east and central
Tamil Nadu.
Rock Fort : Tiruchi's most famed landmark is an 83m high rock
which is the
only out crop in the otherwise flat land of the City. The most
amazing fact about the rock is that it is one of the oldest inthe
world - approximately 3,800 million years, which makes it as old as
the rocks of green land and older than the Himalayas. The sheen
aboutness of its rise in an attention grabber in itself, of which
very little remains, but the temple at the summit of 344 steps news
out of rock leading to the top where there are inscription dating
back to the 3rd century B.C. Hardly anything remains of the remnants
but the main gaurd date is still infact the fort played an important
part during the carnatic laws and according to an inscription,
mainly contributed to lay the foundations of the British empire in
India. Atop the rock is the Uchipillaiyar koil, a temple dedicated
to Lord Vingayaka from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of
Tiruchi. At light of stops lead to the Mathrubutheswarar of
Thaymanaswami temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva where the lingam is a
projection of the rock itself. Below the Siva temple there are two
pallava cave temples that have beautiful sculptures of the 6th and
centuries. At the foot of the Rock fort is a tank and a Pavilion
which are used during the float festival of the temples. Near the
tank are the home where Robest clive lived when he was in Tiruchy
and an 18th Century Christ Church built by Revernd schwartz of
Denmark. The home is now past of Thiruchy's famous St.Joseph's
College.
Srirangam: The most important pilgrim centre in the
district is located on an island just 7 kms from Tiruchirappalli.
Srirangam, surrounded by the waters of the River Kaveri on one side
and its tributary the River Kollidam on the other, is a 600-acre
island-town enclosed within the seven walls of the gigantic Sri
Ranganatha Swamy Temple. This is the seat of the pontiff of the
Vaishnavite, who are the worshippers of Lord Vishnu.
There are not less than 21 gopurams here in this temple, one of
which is the tallest in South India. The 72m high 13-tiered
Rajagopuram was built in 1987 and this tower dominates the landscape
for miles around, while the remaining 20 gopurams were built between
the 14th and 17th centuries. Originally, there was just a 20 small
shrine where the temple is today. but it was added on to and
expanded by Cholas, Cheras, Pandayas, Hoysalas, the vijayanagar
kings and Nayaks of Madurai and today Srirangam stands as the
biggest temple in the country.
Thiruvanaikkaval or Jambukeswara Temple Situated 2 kms
east of Srirangam, this beautiful Shiva temple steals the show from
the larger Ranganathaswami temple because of its excellent
architectural design. The temple is named after the elephant that is
believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva here. Installed under an
ancient Jambu tree, the lingam is partially submerged by water and
meant to represent the God as Water.
Tanjore :
Thanjavur rose to glory during the later Chola period between the
9th and
14th centuries A.D. It also flourished later during the rule of the
Nayaks and Mahrattas. The headquarters of this district has the same
name as the district. It has been the treasure house of art for
centuries. It is called the Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is
well-known throughout the world for being the home of the
Brahadeeswara temple, the magnificent palace, Rajah Serfoji's
Saraswathi Mahal Library, Art Gallery and also for its exquisite
handicrafts like the Art Plate, pithwork, bronze icons, Thanjavur
paintings and the classical South Indian musical instruments.
Sri Brahadeeswarar Temple This is also called the Big temple
and it is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The great Chola king Raja Raja I
(985-1012 A.D) built this temple. It is an outstanding example of
the Chola architecture. Its unique architectural excellence has made
the UNESCO to declare it a World Heritage Monument. The 64.8mts.Tall
vimanam or the tower over the sanctum sanctorumis a testimony to the
engineering skill of the Cholas.In keeping the immensity of the
temple the gigantic mahalingam in the shrine measures 4 mtrs. in
height. The monolithic Nandi,or the bull mount of Lord Shiva has
been chiselled out of single rock. It is the second largest nandi in
India. The beautiful Chola Fresco paintings on the inner walls of
the temple are no way less than Ajanta paintings.
One of the best temples in South India, the Brahadeeswarar Temple is
the Chola dynasty's finest contribution to Dravidian temple
architecture. What makes the construction so unique is the diversion
from the usual temple building norms of having a tall gopuram and
smaller vimanams (the tower over the sanctum). At the big temple the
vimanam soars high while the gopuram remains stunted.
The 64.8m tall, 14-tiered pyramid shaped vimanam rises from a square
base and is topped by a huge monolithic cupolas carved out from an
81.3 tonne block of granite.It was installed with aid of a 6km long
inclined plane. The tower is a testimony to the engineering skill of
the Chola architects who planned its construction in a way that the
shadow of the cupola never falls on the ground. (Temple Office
No.274476)
The Palace Just 1 km.away from Brahadeeswarar Temple, is the
magnificent palace. This palace is surrounded with huge fort walls.
it dates 14th century A.D and was partly built by the Nayaks and
partly by Marathas. The Nayaks and the Marathas ruled Thanjavur from
1400 - 1676 A.D and from 1676 - 1855 respectively. Even now the
royal family of the Marathas resides in this palace. It measures 110
acres in size. It is a grand pile of fascinating building with huge
corridors, spacious halls decorated rooms, tall observation towers,
beautiful stucco works, wonderful fresco painted walls and ceilings
beautiful stucco works, wonderful fresco Painted walls and Ceilings
underground tunnels, intricate carvings, royal family's sacred
Chandra Mauleeshwarar temple are all worth seeing.
Saraswathi Mahal Library: The Thanjavur Maharaja Serforji's
Saraswathi Mahal Library is one among the few medieval libraries
that exist in the world. It is an unparalleled repository of
cultural antiques and an inexhaustible treasurehouse of knowledge
built by successive dynasties of the Nayaks and the Marathas who
ruled Thanjavur. It contains a very rare and valuable collection of
manuscripts, books, maps and paintings on all aspects of Art,
Culture and Literature . The Encyclopaedia Britannica in its survey
of the Libraries of the world mentions. That it is as “the most
remarkable Library in India.” It was Conceived and Christened as the
Royal Palace Library in the 16th century by the Nayak Kings and
later developed by the Maratha Kings of Thanjavur. Only after 1918
this Library was made a Public Library. Now both the Government of
Tamil Nadu and the Government of India maintain the Library.
