Awesome Brihadeeswarar Temple

Brihadeshwara Temple is located in Thanjavur, TN. It was built by Chola emperor Rajaraja -1 in 1003-1010 AD. It has one of the biggest Shivalinga in India. It is an architectural marvel. As we learn from literature the temple is made of granite and has no underground piling and no massion was used to couple granite pieces. We started from Madurai early in the morning and reached by noon. From the bus stand, there are autos. The temple has a locker facility. We dropped our luggage and shoes in different places. There are some shops for water and soft drinks. It was very interesting to see a shop for the products made by the local community. The temple is located in the middle of the compound and the whole compound is cemented. As we left our shoes at the second gate we had to walk barefoot. It is so hot. Finding difficulty to place foot. Instead of walking, we were almost running. The first building is Nandi Mandi. After a gap, the second one is Brass Natarajan on the right side of the entrance. A beautiful corridor as one can see at Rameshwaram leads to Sanctorum. A big Shivling can be seen from a distance. The walls of the temple are decorated with artwork. I was amazed to see non-Hindu people visiting temple. So I asked the priest about it. He said all are welcome.