Did you know that the 216 feet tall Tanjore Brihadeeswara temple has a foundation of just five feet? Or that the lingam there was measured based on its builder Raja Raja Chola’s middle finger?
Many such interesting facts about the Tanjore Big Temple were unveiled at the exhibition of a documentation project titled ‘Brihadisvara temple — The monument and the living tradition’, at Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. The exhibition, which is being organised by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), was inaugurated recently by former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami.
The documentation project was done by IGNCA, with the support of historian R Nagasamy, an archaeologist, epigraphist and the chief coordinator of the project. It took nearly 20 years of research and analysis before the project was completed last year. All aspects of the temple, including architecture, iconography, murals and inscriptions, have been included in the project.
An audio-visual of Kumbhabhishekam, a ritual that is held once in 12 years at the temple, was also shown at the exhibition. DVDs were also released to explain more about the temple on a multimedia platform.
“After all these years of hardwork, it must be ensured that the project reaches people and they appreciate it. Many have no idea about the scientific knowledge and skill that has gone into the making of this amazing structure. There are many other historic places in India that need to be looked into for documentation. Let this be the beginning,” said Gopalaswami.
Eminent personalities like dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, trustee of IGNCA, and Tamil scholar Avvai Natrajan, were part of the inaugural function of the exhibition, which will be open between 10 am and 7 pm everyday till March 31.
According to officials, there are plans to take this exhibition to Coimbatore and Bengaluru, before bringing it back to Chennai by June, especially for the schoolchildren.