In the old city of Thanjavur, the Brihadeeswara Temple—also known as Peruvudaiyar Kovil and the Big Temple—still functions as a place of Hindu worship as well as a landmark of South Indian history. Its name, its broad stone enclosure and its soaring sanctuary tower all point to scale, but the monument is more revealing when read as a carefully planned royal and religious complex rather than as a single photogenic building.
The Chola ruler Rajaraja I commissioned the temple at the height of his power. UNESCO records construction beginning around 1003–1004 and consecration in 1009–1010, a chronology also reflected in the temple’s close association with the king. The sanctuary was dedicated to Shiva, and its inscriptions preserve evidence of the institution that grew around it: worship, offerings, staffing, performance and administration. They make the walls a historical record as well as a surface for sculpture.