Brihadeeswarar Temple is located at Thanjavur and the diety of the temple is Shiva. Temple: A 107 paragraph long inscription on the walls of the Vimana records the contributions of Raja Raja Chola and his sister Kundavai to this temple. It stands within a fort, whose walls were added in the 16th century. The Vimana is 200 feet in height and is called Dakshina Meru. The Shikhara is octogonal in shape and rests on a single block of granite that weighs 81 tons. This block was carried up a specially built ramp that started six km away from the temple. Nandis can be found on all corners of the Shikhara, and the Kalasa on top is 3.8 meters in height. There are hundreds of stucco figures on the Vimana. The Shivalingam - Peruvudaiyar, Rajarajeswaramudaiyar - is a huge and is set in a two-storied sanctum. The walls of the sanctum are covered in murals and sculptures.

A prakaram surrounds the great temple and its walls were built during Raja Raja Chola`s period. The parakram has long pillared corridors, and the walls are covered in murals, Shiva lingams and Nandis. The Periya Nayaki temple is within this temple and was added during the Pandya period.

Many of the 108 Bharata Natyam postures can be found here, including the various manifestations of Shiva (as Aadalvallaan - Nataraja, Tripurantaka, Dakshinamurthi etc.) are depicted on the panels or in exquisite murals. The interior and the exterior walls of the temple are covered with images.

The sanctum, the ardhamandapam, the mukhamandapam and the mahamandapam, have a striking appearance. All the entrances to the mandapams and prakarams are grand, which speaks volumes for the skill that existed in that period. Inscriptions here refer to Shiva as Dakshina Meru Vitankar and Aadavallan. The Nandi here dates back to the Nayak period, and has its own mandapam. It is a monolithic and weighs 25 tonnes, and is 12 feet high and 20 feet long.