Thanjavur – places to visit and things to do

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Finally, my long wait to visit one of the most famous temples in the world was about to end. We live about 400 km away from this temple in Thanjavur and yet it has taken us 30+ years to step foot at this place. Yes, I am talking about the Brihadeeshwarar Temple, also known as the Big Temple in Thanjavur. Back in those golden days, 1000 years back, the Chola Dynasty was headquartered in Thanjavur aka Tanjore. This dynasty, which has been one of the longest ruling dynasties in South India was known for its brilliant architecture, apart from one of the biggest army and naval fleets any dynasty had in India. This is primarily the reason why they are still famous they have created stories that will last forever. Here are a bunch of things to do and places to visit in Thanjavur.

Quick Info:

Month of Travel: Nov 2017
From: Chennai
Travel Mode: Train
Stay: Svatma (heritage hotel) Read our review of this property. Svatma is by far the best hotel in Thanjavur.

Thanjavur Palace and Museum

The first place we went to when he decided to explore this temple town of Thanjavur was the Thanjavur Palace and the museum attached to it. I’ll be honest, this place is not maintained well. Especially after having checked out the way palaces have been maintained in Udaipur and Jaipur, this was quite a disappointment.

Thanjavur Palace

This palace was actually called the Sivaganga Fort and was built by the Thanjavur Nayaks. So technically this was a fort and not a built as a palace. The narrow steps, low ceilings were all built as a measure to slow down enemy entry which further proves that this was a fort. We were told that there are secret chambers that had interconnected rooms. There are two secret passages, one of which leads to the Big Temple from the Thanjavur Palace. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Bell Tower

A tall structure which is closed now for the public, a huge mechanical bell used to ring every one hour. Back in the day, this Bell Tower served as an indication of time.

Thanjavur Palace

Art Gallery

There are numerous bronze sculptures, stone carvings and currency coins displayed here. Pretty interesting for sure.

Thanjavur Palace Thanjavur Palace

Arsenal Tower

Thanjavur Palace

A triangular structure, taller than the Bell Tower is the first thing that you will see once you enter the art gallery. You can go to the first floor of this building which will lead you to an area where the kings those days practised martial arts. You cannot miss the huge whale skeleton that’s displayed there (no connection, obviously and I have no clue why they chose this place of all places to display it), and don’t miss to take a photo under the lotus setting.

Thanjavur Palace

I wonder why this lotus hall was built.

Thanjavur Palace
View from Arsenal Tower

Paintings

Thanjavur Palace

Apparently, the walls were covered in beautiful paintings while what you see above is what is left.

Maratha Darbar

A colourful meeting room with the Maratha ruler’s painting in the background.

The Audio Visual Library

There is a small theatre which plays an audio-visual about the history of Thanjavur and the famous places that you can visit when in Thanjavur. It was quite interesting as you do learn a few interesting facts from the video.

Thanjavur Palace

The Saraswati Mahal Library – which is supposed to have the best collection of ancient books is now closed to public. There is a small section where you get a sneak peak of the lives of the Chola rulers, including the kind of books they read.

Veena (commonly pronounced as Veenai) making

Once we were out of the palace complex, we headed to a small house which belonged to Mr. Narayanan (the same name as my partner-in-crime, but he has nothing to do with him). He creates beautiful veenas and took us through a short tour of the how they make one from scratch. His family has been doing this for many generations now. He seemed to be rather famous, having been recognized by the Government of Tamil Nadu, which has earned him accolades by the Chief Minister of the state for keeping the old tradition alive.

Things to do in Thanjavur

Things to do in Thanjavur

He made me play the veena for some time, so much so that he was ready to help me join a class to learn this art. He is sad that nobody wants to learn to play the veena anymore and it’s dying a slow death. After he completed that statement, the next second, with so much glow on his face he proudly mentioned that no other instrument can match the sound and the quality of music that originates from this beautiful piece of art. Such passion 🙂

Things to do in Thanjavur

Interesting facts/things that we learnt from him:

  • Origin of the veena is from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu and not from Andhra Pradesh, like many believe it to be. The Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology, through its research officers’ wing, initiated and successfully obtained the GI tag for the Thanjavur Veena.
  • Veenas are made out of the wood from the jackfruit tree.
  • There are two types – Ottu Veena (where the parts are assembled) and Ekantha Veena (one single piece made into this instrument).
  • The cost of a veena ranges from Rs. 15000 (230$) to Rs. 30000 (470$)
  • The veena, even if not played, can be simply kept in the house for positive vibration.

Things to do in Thanjavur

Bronze Artifacts Making

With a huge smile on my face (which I couldn’t control for some reason), we went to our next destination. From the time we entered the house where the bronze statues were being made, the experience was really interesting. Imagine, you are actually witnessing an art that been in existence forever, always around you, but never really cared or thought about how it’s actually done. See it in person and boom – you suddenly become so lost in awe.

Things to do in Thanjavur

Things to do in Thanjavur
The various stages in making the bronze statues.

These guys also have a store from where you can pick a gift or two. Perfect place to pick something for your friends/family, a souvenir that they will never expect 🙂

Things to do in Thanjavur

Things to do in Thanjavur

The Brihadeeshwar Temple aka Big Temple

Let me start off by explaining how name Big Temple came into being. As “Brihadeeshwar” was/is not too easy for a lot of people to pronounce or remember, the easier and shorter way was to call it the “Periya Kovil”. Periya Kovil in Tamil literally translates to “Big Temple”.  And more than the locals, people from everywhere else travel down to Tanjore to visit this magnificence. So now you know why 🙂

One of Chola dynasties greatest architecture

Built more than a thousand years ago, one of the most famous temples in India, known for its architecture is the Brihadeeshwar Temple. And if I need to put things in perspective – you need to see it to believe it.

The amazing temple in Tanjore

To know more about the temples nearby Thanjavur, please read this post I wrote recently about the famous ancient temples in and around Thanjavur. If time permits, do visit the Grand Anaicut which is one of the oldest dams in the world and Manora which was built in honour of Britain’s victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo.

Happy Travelling!


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13 thoughts on “Thanjavur – places to visit and things to do”

  1. wow, what a strange instrument. Haven’t seen anything like that before. your picture from Maratha Darbar looks stunning!

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  2. I love reading about places that I hadn’t even heard of before, and Thanjavur is definitely one of those places! Too bad that the palace is not well maintained, but Maratha Darbar’s colours and the lotus hall are breathtaking. I hope to see it all one day!

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  3. Oh wow, these temples look amazing. Still haven’t made it to India, but would like to photograph these sights. Your Instagram photo is incredible! Love those colours

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  4. I totally know this phenomenon that you travel for hours to see places, but do not make it to attractions that are practically around the corner. Good for you guys that you’ve made it, this temple looks very beautiful. The picture of you under the giant flower is very cute!

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  5. A strange but unique environment. I’ve never been to Thanjavur and it’s quite new to me but I love the art works produced here. From music to bronze making, I wonder how life of those age would have been. The Bell Tower is quite fascinating and I’ll aslo like a picture under the lotus flower. Lol. Did you get any of the bronze artifacts? I bet I won’t be able to restrict my shopping instincts.

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  6. I’d never heard of Thanjavur Palace before but this and the whole place looks really interesting. The bronze artefact making would be pretty cool to watch too

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  7. Very lively destinations. So much to see and do. My partner Sheila would love to check out that bronze-artifact making thingy. Sheila loves knick-knacks and decors, and I think she would buy some to put in our shelf back home.

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  8. It’s great to see that Thanjavur has preserved numerous ancient relics like the Big Temple through the test of time. Would love to visit it in the near future! 🙂

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  9. I’m a big fan of temples, historical places and huge infrastructure. This place looks very interesting even I’d never heard thanjavur before. I was amazed by that well-designed instrument called Veenai. Great people and interesting culture. Hoping to visit India someday 🙂

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  10. Reading your posts about (for me) exotic and unknown places is so interesting. I have never heard of Thanjavur, I have so many places on my list but you added another one. 🙂

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