Thanjavur, formerly Tanjore, city (1991 pop. 202,013), Tamil Nadu state, SE India. It is a district administrative headquarters and a rice-milling center on the Kaveri River delta, known as the "rice bowl" of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is also a center of craftsmanship noted especially for its silks and bronzeware and is a leading S Indian music and dance center. Among the city's many Hindu temples, the most famous is the Brahadeswara temple, one of the greatest examples of Dravidian architecture, which dates to the 11th cent., when Thanjavur was capital of the Hindu Chola kingdom. The city passed under British rule in 1799.

Thanjavur (Tamil : தஞ்சாவூர்), also known by its anglicised name Tanjore, and it is the Eleventh largest city in Tamil Nadu (after Chennai, Vellore, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli, Erode and Thoothukudi) and a municipality in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located about 10 km south of the Kaveri River, Thanjavur is the headquarters of Thanjavur District.

Thanjavur derives its name from Tanjan - an asura (demon) who according to lore, caused a lot of devastation and was killed by Sri Anandavalli Amman and Sri Neelamegapperumal. Tanjan's last request, that the city might be named after him, was granted. It is one of the older cities in Tamil Nadu and has a lot of significance in Dravidian history. Thanjavur District is known as the "Rice bowl of Tamil Nadu".

History

The Thanjavur area has a rich historical heritage and is a prism of ancient as well as the modern south Indian civilizations. The city was once the stronghold of the historic Cholas and at one time was also the capital of the Cholas, Mutharayars and Marathas when they were at the peak of their power. Since then, Thanjavur has been one of the chief political, cultural and religious centres of South India.

Perumbidugu Mutharaiyar ruled his kingdom with Uraiyur as the capital. Later it was ruled by the Nayaks of Vijayanagara and the Maratha rajas.

Thanjavur contains over 90 temples, as it was favored by the Chola rulers between the 1st - 12th centuries, the Nayakas in the 16th century, and the Marathas in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Under the Cholas

Thanjavur, or Tanjapuri as it was called in the ancient times was chosen by the Mutharayar king and later conquered by Vijayalaya Chola. Vijayalaya built a temple for his favourite goddess Nisumbhasudani in the city. Although subsequent emperors made Kanchipuram a subsidiary capital, Thanjavur maintained its position as the chief city. The great Brihadeeswara Temple, built by Rajaraja Chola I was completed around 1010 AD. It remained the centre of the Chola administration for many years, channelling the state revenue into a number of civic projects. It also acted as a repository of the empire's records, as the great Rajaraja had its walls covered with numerous inscriptions recording his conquests and his endowments to various charities. The impression we get from the inscriptions is of a wealthy, progressive city, although totally dominated by the temple.

The inscriptions tell us about a number of royal palaces in the city and of the districts where palace servants lived. We also learn the names of a number of streets: the big street of Virasola and the big market of Tribhuvanamadeviyar. During the reign of Rajaraja we learn that the city was divided into two parts: Ullalai (inner) and Purambadi (outer) city. Purambadi could have been an extension to the city built during Rajaraja's reign. Among the new streets built by Rajaraja were two running east to west in front of the Brihadeeswara Temple and called Northern and Southern Talichcheries. People who worked in the temple occupied these streets. There were other temples then, such as the Jayabhima temple and Tanjai Mamani found in the inscriptions, which do not exist anymore. There was also a public hospital attached to a Vishnu temple named after Sundara Chola called Sundarachola Vinnagara Salai which was endowed by Kundavai, the sister of Rajaraja Chola.

The influence of Thanjavur began to diminish when Rajendra Chola I built a new city named Gangaikonda Cholapuram and moved his capital there.

Under the Nayaks and Marathas

After the Cholas the Pandyas conquered the Chola country. Madurai was the Pandya capital and Thanjavur remained in the background, as a province of Vijayanagara empire.

Later in 1535,the Vijayanagara king installed a Nayak king hence the era of Tanjore Nayaks which lasted till mid-17th century, until attacked by the Madurai Nayaks. Later slipped into the hands of Marathas.

Tanjore was conquered by the Marathas in 1674 under Venkaji, the half-brother of Shivaji the Great; his successors ruled as Maharajas of Tanjore. The British first came into contact with Tanjore by their expedition in 1749 with a view to the restoration of a deposed raja of Tanjore Nayak lineage. In this they failed, and a subsequent expedition was bought off. The Maratha rajas held Tanjore until 1799.

In October 1799, the district was ceded to the British East India Company in absolute sovereignty by Raja Serfoji II, a pupil of the missionary Schwartz. The raja retained only the capital and a small tract of surrounding country. He died in 1833 and was succeeded by his son Sivaji, on whose death in 1855 without an heir the house became extinct.

Geography

Thanjavur is located at . It has an average elevation of 2 metres (6 feet). The city lies on the Kaveri River basin, 200 miles south of Chennai.

The Downtown (known simply as Town) is the business district. The largest residential area is the Medical College area, which is a relatively new neighbourhood and is separated from the Town by a flyover (Membalam). The other major neighbourhoods are Palliagraharam, Karanthai, Keezhavasal, Vilar, Arulanandha Nagar, Nanjikottai Road, Manambuchavadi, Pookkara Street, Old Housing Unit, New Housing Unit, Gnanam Nagar and Srinivasapuram. The total area of the city is 36 km².

The urban agglomeration encompasses Vallam to Mariamman Koil (west - east) and Vayalur to the Air Force Station (north-south) for an area of about 100 km².

The Grand Anaicut Canal (Pudhaaru), Vadavaaru and Vennaaru rivers flow through the town.

Nearby Cities

• Tiruchirappalli or Trichy - 54 km West
• Madurai - 155 km South
• Coimbatore - 258 km West
• Chennai - 320 km North

Nearby Towns

• Thiruvaiyaru - 13 km North West,
• Kumbakonam - 40 km North East,
• Pattukkottai - 45 km South East,
• Mannargudi - 37 km East,
• Pudukkottai - 55 km South
• Nidamangalam - 32 km East,
• Tiruvarur - 58 km East,
• Nagappattinam - 84 km East,
• Velankanni - 96 km East
• Thirukkattupalli -28 km North East

Places of interest

Thanjavur is famous for the Brihadishwara Temple (or Brihadeeswara temple) built by Rajaraja Chola during the 11th century . The Brihadishwara Temple, also known as the Big Temple, is one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The temple is enclosed in two courts, surmounted by a lofty tower and including the exquisitely decorated shrine of Murugan. Among the other historic buildings is the Vijayanagara fort, which contains a palace that was expanded by the Maratha king Serfoji II with an armoury, a Bell Tower and the Saraswathi Mahal Library, which contains over 30,000 Indian and European manuscripts written on palm leaf and paper. Also built by Serfoji II is the Manora Fort, a monumental tower, situated about 65 km away from Thanjavur.Raja Rajan Manimandapam which is also one among the tourist places in Thanjavur, nearby which, The Bronze Idol of Padmashree Sivaji Ganesan, a renoved actor's Idol has been Established, who is the "Son of this Soil"

Arts and Culture

Thanjavur is one of the chief political, literary and religious centres of southern India, known for its contribution to Carnatic music, it has produced many classical musicians and Bharathanatyam dancers. It has become the second most important site for the annual Natyanjali dance festival.

Tiruvaiyaru, which is close to Thanjavur, is the place where the great musician Saint Tyagaraja lived. Here in Tiruvaiyaru every year in the Tamil month of 'Thai'(second half of January) Thyagaraja Aradhana will be held where musicians from all over the country will participate.

Tanjore is well known for bronze sculptures and its unique painting style called Tanjore Painting, a percussion instrument called the Thavil, a divine classical string instrument Veenai and the Thanjavur Dolls.

The Tanjore paintings are very popular and are renown around the world. The artists use a combination of canvas background with glass, metals, etc. to depict and decorate various scenes from Hindu mythology.

Tanjore plates which are made of color glass pieces which are aesthetically cut and embedded on velvet cloth. It will have god image or birds at the center.

Sacred Heart Cathedral in the city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tanjore.

Demographics

Thanjavur is the eleventh largest city in Tamil Nadu with a population of 221,185 (est. 2008). Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Thanjavur has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 76%. In Thanjavur, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. Ethnically most of the people are Tamils. There is also a large Telugu speaking population along with Saurashtrians and Thanjavur Marathi people. The total population of the urban agglomeration is approximately 400,000 (unofficial figure) and growing. There are plans to make Thanjavur a Municipal Corporation.

Thanjavur Tamil

The Tamil spoken in Thanjavur is accentless unlike Madurai, Tirunelveli, Chennai or Coimbatore Tamil. This is the Tamil one can hear in almost all of Central Tamil Nadu i.e. the Delta districts.

Employment

Thanjavur District is the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. As a result, most of the people in Thanjavur District are farmers. Many of these farmers are tenant farmers, who work the lands of a landlord and pay rent for their property.

In the city of Thanjavur there are a large number of doctors due to the presence of a 50-year old medical college. The first M.B.B.S. doctor of this city was the late Dr. N. Ramanathan, who served as a general practitioner of medicine from 1938 to 1988. There is a bus stop with his name, near his hospital. The South Rampart area around the Old Bus Stand has one of the largest concentration of doctor's offices in all of Asia. There are also a large number of professors working in the various professional and arts colleges around the city.

Education

Thanjavur is renowned for its culture of education. It is home to the famous Saraswati Mahal library which dates back to the end of the 16th century and contains over 30,000 rare manuscripts. It has now been fully computerized. St. Peter's, founded in the 18th century by Schwartz, is a renowned school. Currently, Thanjavur has four universities, viz., the Tamil University, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute Of Science & Technology and Periyar Maniammai University and several colleges including the renowned Thanjavur Medical College. There are also many research centres, including the Paddy Processing Research Centre and Soil and Water Research Centre.

Universities

• Tamil University
• SASTRA University (formerly Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy). Sastra has a well developed sprawling campus on a 500 acre site and is an accredited Research and Development Centre under the President's Technology Mission - TIFAC CORE. Sastra has collaborations and exchange programs with many reputable universities abroad.
• Periyar Maniammai University - proven record of academic excellence in all its programmes and an impressive track record in Engineering Education for over 20 years. It has an ideal setting for teaching, learning and research with high-tech facilities in its vast lush green and clean campus.
• PRIST University.

Colleges

• Medical
• Thanjavur Medical College(Fourth Medical College in Tamil Nadu started in 1959)

• Engineering
• Shanmuga Arts, Science,Technology and Research Academy
• Anjalai Ammal Mahalingam Engineering College(AAMEC)
• Periyar Maniyammai College of Technology for Women
• PR Engineering College
• Ponnaiyah Ramajayam College of Engineering and Technology (PRCET)
• King's College of Engineering (KCE)
• St. Josephs College Of Engineering and Technology
• Parisutham Institute of Technology & Science (P I T S)

• Paramedical
• Mannai Narayanasamy College
• Arasu Paramedical College
• Konagarnadu College of Nursing
• Our Lady of Health College of Nursing

• Agriculture
• Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology

• Autonomous Colleges
• A.V.V.M Sri Pushapam College (Autonomous) poondi, Thanjavur Dt. A.Veeraiya Vandaiyar Memorial Sri Pushpam College was established in 1956 in a village Poondi, 12 km from Thanjavur on the way to Nagapattinam on National Highway 67. The college campus is 85 acres large and has NAAC accreditation with status of four stars.
• Rajah Serfoji Govt. College
• Kundhavai Nachiar Govt. College

• Arts, Science and Management
• Tamilvel Umamaheshwaranar Karanthai Arts College
• Na. Mu. Venkatasamy Nattar College
• Nalli Kuppusamy Women's College
• Bharath College of Science and Management
• Marudhupandiar College
• Vivekanandha College
• Adaikala Matha College
• Adaikala Matha Institute of Management
• Bon Secours College
• Abi & Abi College of Arts and Science
• Swamy Vivekanandha College of Arts and Science

• Polytechnic
• Periyar Centenary Polytechnic
• Vandayar Polytechnic
• CCMR Polytechnic
• Shanmuga Polytechnic

• B.Ed Colleges
• Dr.S.R.J.College of Education
• Maruthu Pandiar College of Education
• Bon Secours College of Education
• Bharath College of Education
• John Britto College of Education
• P R College of Education
• Dr.Velaichamy Nadar College of Education for Women

• Teacher Training Institutes
• Maruthu Pandiar Teacher Training Institute

• Famous Schools
• Kalyanasundaram Higher Secondary School (Established in 1893)
• Don Bosco Matriculation higher secondary school
• Kamala Subramaniam Matriculation Higher Secondary School
• Auxilium
• Sacred Heart Convent
• Sri Venkateswara matriculation higher secondary school
• Blake Higher Secondary School
• Veeraragava Higher Secondary School
• Umamaheswara Higher Secondary School
• Rajahs Higher Secondary School
• St. Joseph Girls Higher Secondary School
• St. Antonys Higher secondary school
• Girls Christian Higher Secondary School
• St. Peters Higher Secondary School
• Maxwell matriculation higher secondary school
• Seventh-Day matriculation higher secondary school
• Maharishi Vidya Mandir higher secondary school
• Yagappa Matriculation Public School

Transportation

Highways

Thanjavur is well connected with other parts of the state by Road. Three National Highways connect Thanjavur to various parts of the country like Chennai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Mysore, Madurai etc.

The Thanjavur-Trichy segment of NH67 is currently being converted to a four-lane highway which would be followed by the Thanjavur-Nagapattinam segment.

National Highways

• NH 67 Nagapattinam-Tiruvarur-Thanjavur-Tiruchirappalli-Karur-Coimbatore-Ooty-Gudalur
• NH 45C Thanjavur-Kumbakonam-Sethiathope-Neyveli-Panruti-Vikravandi NH45 Junction
• NH 226 Thanjavur-Pudukottai-Sivaganga-Manamadurai

State Highways

• SH 27 Thanjavur-Thiruvaiyaru-Ariyalur-Perambalur
• SH 29 Thanjavur-Pattukottai-Aranthangi-Karaikudi-Paramakudi-Mudhukulathur-Sayalkudi
• SH 63 Thanjavur-Mannargudi-Thiruthuraipoondi-Vedaranyam-Kodiakkarai

Thanjavur City has excellent town bus service. There are two bus termini, one for Town buses (Old Bus Stand) and the other for mofussil buses (New Bus Stand), from where there are frequent buses to Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Kumbakonam and various other parts of the state. The Thanjavur-Trichy mofussil bus route is the most travelled in the state and there are frequent buses from both cities 24 hours of the day.

The State Express Transport Corporation operates buses to Chennai, Bangalore, Ernakulam, Marthandam, Nagercoil, Tirupathi,Thiruvananthapuram, Ooty and to various other parts of the southern states.

Railways

Thanjavur is one of the principal Railway Junctions in Southern Railway. It is connected to Chennai (popularly called as the Main line) via Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai,Cuddalore and Villupuram. It is also connected to Nagore in the East and Tiruchirappalli in the West.

Flights

In early 1990s, Thanjavur was connected with Chennai via the Vayudoot Flight Service, which was stopped due to poor patronage. Now a full fledged Air Force Station is coming up at Thanjavur to station Fighter (aircraft) and Sukhoi jets and is expected to include civil service for passengers. The Thanjavur Air Force Station will likely start its operation by the end of 2008.

Top Government Officials

1. Deputy Inspector General of Police.. Mr Abhash Kumar IPS
2. District Collector.. Mr Shanmugham IAS
3. District Superintendent of Police Mr Amit Kumar Singh IPS

Entertainment and Cinema

Major Parks

1. Sivaganga Park
2. Rajarajan Manimandapam
3. Tamil Conference Memorial Tower at Tholkappiar Square

Cinema

• GV Studio City A/C DTS - a 5 Screen Multiplex
• Shanthi A/C DTS
• Kamala A/C DTS
• Shivaji A/C DTS
• Gee Vee A/C DTS
• Gee Vee Gold A/C DTS
• Rajarajan A/C DTS
• ADLABS Rani Paradise A/C DTS (Reliance)
• Vijaya A/C DTS
• Jupiter A/C DTS
• Arul A/C DTS
• Yagappa 70mm DTS
• Raja Kalaiarangam
• Thiruvalluvar
• Parveen
• Kumaran

Arasu Cable TV Corporation

• Tamilnadu Government launched Arasu Cable TV Corporation (ACTVC) at Thanjavur to provide quality cable service to the public at an affordable cost. A Digital room is set up at Thanjavur which gives feed to eight districts namely Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Trichy, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Pudukkottai and Karur.

Popular personalities from in and around Thanjavur

1. Mathematician - Ramanujan - Kumbakonam - Thanjavur District
2. Poet - Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram - Pattukottai - Thanjavur District
3. Kalaignar M Karunanidhi - (He is from Thirukuvalai which is a part of the composite Thanjavur District)
4. Dr. R. Venkataraman - Former President of the Republic of India
5. Thiru U. V. Swaminatha Iyer(Tamil Thatha) - Tamil scholar
6. Thiru Chaandilyan - Tamil Writer - Author of kadal Pura, Yavana Rani..
7. Thiru T. Janakiraman (Thi. Jaa) - Tamil Writer - Author of Moha Mul, Mara Pasu..
8. Thiru A.Y.S.Parisutha Nadar, long time M.L.A. and Municipal Chairman of Thanjavur, Philanthrophist
9. Nadigar Thilagam Pathmashree Sivaji Ganesan - actor
10. Thiru K.Thulasi Ayya Vandayar, Secretary and corespondent of A.V.V.M SRI PUSHPAM COLLEGE
11. Thiru G.K. Moopanar - late founder Tamil Maanila Congress
12. Thiru S.P.Anthonisamy - Industrialist, Educationist-Chairman, Parisutham Institute of Technology & Science
13. Thiru. S.S. Palanimanickam - Union Minister of State for Finance (Revenue)
14. Thiru G.K. Vasan - Union Minister of State for Statistics and Prog Imp (Independent Charge)
15. Thiru. Rt. Hon. Srinivasa Sastri - Known as the Silver Tongued for proficiency in English
16. S.Shankar - Famous Tamil Film Director
17. Madan - cartoonist
18. SVe.Shekar - actor
19. L. Ganesan- MP Former MDMK Leader
20. Thirumathi Manorama- Tamil Actress

References

8.http://www.srjcolleges.com

District Development Authority, Thanjavur

External links

• Utthiramerur - Town with inscriptions about Cholas internal administration and election process
• Photographic feat, Frontline, Volume 24 - Issue 10 :: May. 19-Jun. 01, 2007
• Ajanta of the South, Frontline, Volume 24 - Issue 10 :: May. 19-Jun. 01, 2007