What The Brihadisvara Temple complex, Thanjavur

From the fifth to the ninth century, a variety of dravidian temple styles emerged, first during the Chalukya era (see Aihole, Badami, and Pattadakal), and subsequently during the Pallava era (see Mamallapuram and other monuments). After thereafter, the Cholas became the dominant dynasty from 850 and 1280. Early Chola times saw little focus on architecture and more on maintaining their geopolitical borders. The Chola empire gave rise to elements like the multiple columns with projecting square capitals in the tenth century. According to George Michell, this was the beginning of the new Chola style. Built between 1003 and 1010 by the Brihadeshwara temple, this South Indian architecture is most fully realized in terms of both scale and intricacy.

The primary temple and its gopurams date back to the first part of the eleventh century. Over the next millennia, the temple underwent alterations, refurbishments, and restorations. Damage was inflicted by the wars and raids, especially those involving the Muslim Sultans of Madurai and the Hindu monarchs of Thanjavur.Hindu dynasties that reclaimed power fixed these. The monarchs occasionally ordered new murals to be painted over the deteriorating ones in an effort to restore the temple. They also funded the construction of new shrines in other instances. The important sanctuaries of Nandi, Parvati (Amman), and Kartikeya (Murugan) date back to the Nayaka period of the 16th and 17th centuries.In a same vein, the Dakshinamurti shrine was constructed after. Tanjore's Marathas took good care of it.

This 11th-century temple's original monuments were erected around a moat. It contained the main temple, known as the gopura, with its enormous tower, as well as sculptures, paintings, and inscriptions that were mostly associated with Shaivism but also with Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Throughout the temple's history, damage has occurred, and some artwork has vanished. In the ages that followed, more mandapams and monuments were built. Today, the temple is surrounded by defensive walls that were constructed after the sixteenth century.