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History of Thanjavur


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There are no references to Thanjavur in any of the Sangam period records though some scholars believe that the city has been existing since then. Kovil Venni, situated at a distance of 15 miles to the east of Thanjavur, was the site of the Battle of Venni between Karikala and a confederacy of the Cheras and the Pandyas. The Cholas seemed to have faced an invasion of the Kalabhras in the 3rd century AD after which the kingdom faded into obscurity. The region around the present-day Thanjavur was conquered by the Mutharayars in the 6th century CE and ruled up to 849 AD.

Thanjavur Royal Palace courtyard

The Cholas came once more into prominence through the rise of the Medieval Chola monarch Vijayalaya in about 850 AD. Vijayalaya conquered Thanjavur from mutharayar king Elango Mutharayar and built a temple to the Hindu goddess Nisumbhasudani at this place. His son Aditya I consolidated their hold over the city. The Rashtrakuta king Krishna II, a contemporary of the Chola king Parantaka I claims to have conquered Thanjavur but there exists no evidence to support his claim. Gradually, Thanjavur became the greatest and most important city in the Chola Empire and remained its capital till the construction of Gangaikonda Cholapuram in about 1025 AD.

During the first decade of the eleventh century AD, the Chola king Raja Raja Chola I constructed the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur. The temple is considered to be one of the best specimens of South Indian temple architecture.

When the Chola Empire began to decline in the 13th century AD, the Pandyas from the south invaded and captured Thanjavur twice, the first in 1218-19 and the second in 1230. During the second invasion, the Chola king Rajaraja III was driven out of his kingdom and sought the help of the Hoysala king Narasimha to get it back. Thanjavur was eventually annexed along with the rest of the Chola kingdom by the Pandya king Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I in 1279 AD and the
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