Cauvery Basin: Thanjavur, the capital city of Cholas

Thanjavur was the capital for almost a thousand years for the Cholas (9th-13th centuries), the Nayaks (1535-1676) and the Marathas (1676-1855). The Cholas defined the agrarian structure in this 'rice bowl of Tamil Nadu' where the fan of the Cauvery Delta was irrigated to give the lowlands a source of almost constant water. The power and money this gave the Chola Empire, which stretched across most of the Indian peninsula, meant Thanjavur became a centre for the arts. Music, dance, bronze sculpture, painting and of course architecture thrived, the greatest example of which is the Brihadishvara temple built by Rajaraja in 1010.

I got my first view of this Unesco World Heritage site in the golden evening sun, but the light did not soften the two huge sculpted dvarapalakas standing guard on the gate, teeth like fangs and brows furrowed, their feet seemingly raised ready to crush me. The monumental temple dedicated to Shiva, with its tall tower, twenty foot long Nandi and four meter high lingam, is however built with a balance of proportion and simplicity of ornament that seem to humanise it. Even Sarasvati, Bhikshatanamurti and Nataraja were approachable with the red light of the setting sun coating their pale granite bodies.

On the other hand the royal palace in Thanjavur is a confusing rambling building built by the Nayaks and added to by the Marathas. It was under renovation when I went so I stumbled down dark corridors to the Durbar Hall, a suddenly bright room painted with gods, angels and court figures, built by Shahji II in 1684. After a series of bad directions I followed a serendipitous goat to another gallery which contained part of the huge eclectic collection of Maharaja Sarfoji that forms one of the most important reference libraries in India.
Despite the noise of the workmen in the Rajaraja museum the Chola bronzes and sculptures, like Shiva and Parvati's wedding, seduced me into a reverie. I felt like I had at the Brihadishvara, like an audience in the dark, captured by the performance on stage.