Once upon a time some one told me , that he had a crappy mobile camera and was not able to take good pictures. Maybe you are thinking why am I saying that here in this post.
I travelled to Tanjore / Thanjavur 3 years ago and I didn’t have the so-called professional camera or DSLR with me at that time. All I had was a 3.2 MP mobile camera;  ‘Samsung Wave’. It is my favourite camera till today. I really miss the hassle free, quick clicking, I miss the ‘risky’ shots I used to take from trains and buses 😉 That phone had a dedicated button for camera function. Everything was pretty easy and quick.
So here I am sharing my early travel memories and travel pictures taken using a 3.2MP mobile camera and trying to prove a point that it is not necessary to have a great camera to create a good picture.
This place is the land of breath-taking art and even more breath-taking architecture. The most popular destination within Tanjore is the Brihadeeswarar Temple. It is one of the largest temples in India.  As a recognition to the stunning Chola architecture, UNESCO has declared this place as World Heritage Site . So Brihadeeswarar Temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the “Great Living Chola Temples”.
First glimpse of Tanjore Architecture
Second Glimpse of Thanjavur 😉
As I reached very early in the morning, there wasn’t so many people. There are many advantages of reaching early at any popular tourist destinations. Fewer people, Neat pictures, golden light of golden hours, good photographs, more peaceful atmosphere. These are some of the advantages to mention.
Lets go inside and get some better pictures.
Welcome to Thanjavur
The land of breath taking architecture
And intricate designs..
..carved on Granite
Now you have some idea why it is one of the World heritage sites. This temple was built in 1010 AD by Raja raja Chola, the Chola king of that time.
The vimanam (or temple tower) is 216Â ft (66Â m) high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kumbam (Kalasha or Chikharam, the apex or the bulbous structure on the top) of the temple is carved out of a single rock and it weighs around 80 tons”
Sunlight kissed Thanjavur temple
The temple is said to be made up of about 60,000 tons of sandstone and granite.
You can see how detailed the designs are!
The Kumbam itself, a 60 ton granite stone carved in one piece, on top of the main gopuram is believed to have been taken to the top by creating an inclined slope to the height of 66m to the top of the gopuram. Elephants might have been used to drag the stone up the slope.
- The corridor
- The Corridor
You can see the pillars from this picture. One pillar is one piece of  granite block! Also you can see the shadows .There is something peculiar about this temple regarding shadows.
“Another widely held belief is that the shadow of the gopuram (pyramidal tower usually over the gateway of a temple) never falls on the ground. This is only part of the gopuram, which does not cast a shadow that fall on the ground, at least not within the temple premises which is an architectural amazement in the world of architecture.”
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The prime deity of the Brihadeeswarar Temple is Shiva.
Also  there is a big statue of Nandi (sacred bull), carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high.
Breath taking architecture, peaceful atmosphere and a different tone and ambience due to the granite structure. That is what Tanjore for me. Lets see some more random pictures from Tanjore.
This place is well maintained. It looked nice and clean. The landscaping and beautification were going on when I visited the place. Anyway it looked great.
Beautiful Thanjavur
Thankfully it was a bright sunny day and it made the entire place more beautiful.
Standing tall
And before leaving we saw ‘the blessing elephant’
This elephant will bless you, if you pay the man standing next to it 😉
Before leaving, one last shot of this architectural marvel
Thanjavur : The architectural Marvel
Some more posts from this same travel series coming next. Hope you will like the Phonography.
All the quotes are from Wikipedia.
All pictures are taken by Trablogger using his Mobile camera 😉 Please contact for approval, if you would like to use them for any purpose
