A commemorative postage stamp on the 1000 years of Construction of Peruvudaiyaar Kovil (Dhakshina Meru), a Shiva temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as “Great Living Chola Temples“ :

Issued by India

Issued on Sep 26, 2010

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Brihadeeswarar Temple on the completion of 1000 Years of construction.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Brahm Prakash
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

About : 

• Brihadeeswarar Temple was built by King Raja Raja-1 of Chola dynasty at Thanjavur, the capital of his Kingdom, in Tamil Nadu.
• Originally named as Rajarajeswaram by Raja Raja Chola, it is now called Brihadeeswaram in Sanskrit & Peruvudaiyarkoli in Tamil. The construction of this granite temple began in AD 1003-04 and it was consecrated in the year AD 1009-10. One of the outstanding temples in South India, the Brihadeeswarar Temple is a tribute to the Chola dynasty’s power, wealth and artistic merit. It showcases the pure form of Dravida temple architecture and mathematical prowess & symmetry, covering the skills of architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting.
• The temple occupies an area measuring 800′ x 400′. The 64.8 m tall tower over the sanctum sanctorum is testimony to the engineering skill of the Cholas. 13 tier pyramid shaped vimanam (tower) raised from a square base is topped by a huge monolithic cupola carved from an 81.3 tonne block of granite. It was raised with the aid of a 6 km long inclined plane.
• Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the sanctum sanctorum houses “Mahalingam” in the shrine, measuring 4 meters in height. A monolithic Nandi chiseled out of a single rock, measures 5.94 meters in length, 2.51 meters in breadth and 3.66 meters in height.
• The temple is replete with famous series of paintings by Chola, Nayak and Maratha artists. Beautiful Chola fresco paintings of about 1000 AD and the Nayaks paintings of 17^th century can be seen on the four side walls of the central cell along the circumambulatory passage.
• A complete inventory of a number of copper, silver, gold and brass images gifted to the temple by Rajaraja, his family members, officers and others are referred in the inscriptions of this temple.
• This temple is under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1946 and is being maintained as a protected monument of national importance. Recognising its unique architectural excellence, UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Monument.
• Text : Based on materials provided by the proponent.

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