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Brihadeeswarar Temple

Religious and Sacred Architecture

The Brihadeeswarar Temple, called Rajarajesvaram by its builder and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil and Peruvudaiyar Kovil, is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in the Chola architectural style on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplar of Tamil architecture, also called Dakshina Meru. Built by the Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Great Living Chola Temples, alongside the Chola era Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Airavatesvara temples.

Facts
Year Created
1010 2
Architectural Style
Chola (Dravidian) 1
Primary Material
Granite 1
Commissioned By
Rajaraja I 1
Construction
from 1003 1
Height (metres)
63.4 1
UNESCO Inscription Year
1987 1
Current Use
Active temple and major tourist attraction 1
Classification
Genre
Architecture 1
Connections

In Form

Source Brihadisvara Temple (Wikipedia)

In Genre

Entity-backed identity for the genre enum value this work already carries, resolved to an arts art-form by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The genre fact itself, with its own citation, stays on the work unchanged.

Sources
1. Brihadeeswarar Temple, Wikipedia
  • History section, opening sentence
    Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE.
  • History section, style sentence
    built in a Chola architectural style
  • Description, Architecture section, materials sentence
    Built using granite, the vimana tower above the shrine is one of the tallest in South India.
  • History section, builder clause
    Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE.
  • Description, Architecture section, vimana height sentence
    The Chola era architects and artisans innovated the expertise to scale up and build, particularly with heavy stone and to accomplish the 63.4 metres (208 ft) high towering vimana.
  • Infobox, UNESCO World Heritage Site data, inscription field
    Inscription: 1987 (11th Session)
  • Reception section
    The temple is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Tamil Nadu.
  • Genre reference
    The Brihadeeswarar Temple, called Rajarajesvaram by its builder and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil and Peruvudaiyar Kovil, is a Shaivite Hindu temple built in the Chola architectural style on the south bank of the Cauvery river in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India.
View the Source
2. Brihadisvara Temple (Wikipedia)
  • Infobox, completed field
    1010 CE
  • In Form: Architecture, lead paragraph
    Brihadisvara Temple, called Rajarajesvaram (lit. 'Lord of Rajaraja') by its builder, and known locally as Thanjai Periya Kovil (lit. 'Thanjavur Big Temple') and Peruvudaiyar Kovil (lit. 'Temple of the great lord'), is a Shaivite H
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