Why this ride
151 km from Tanjore to Tanjore, about 2 h 21 of riding. The stops in between: The Airavatesvara Temple Complex, The Brihadisvara Temple Complex and back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex and The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 151 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 21
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
The great tower of the Brihadisvara temple dominates Thanjavur like a mountain made by hand. Built by the Chola king Rajaraja I and completed around 1010, it rises about 66 metres in thirteen tiers, and its summit is crowned by a single block of granite that tradition says weighs eighty tonnes. Stories say that the builders raised an earthen ramp for several kilometres to haul it into place, though how they did so remains a puzzle that guides enjoy debating. A local legend adds that at noon the tower casts no shadow on the ground, which is a nice tale rather than a fact.
Read the complete The Brihadisvara Temple Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex is where the day begins. Next is The Airavatesvara Temple Complex.
2. The Airavatesvara Temple Complex
Darasuram is a quiet town in the Kaveri delta, a few kilometres from Kumbakonam, and its temple is one of the gems of Chola architecture. The Airavatesvara temple was built in the twelfth century under Rajaraja II, and it is smaller and more delicate than the great temple of Thanjavur, as though the Cholas, at the height of their power, had decided to put their energy into detail. Every surface is carved: miniature friezes of dancers and musicians, the stories of the Shaiva saints, and narrow panels of gods and animals in fine, polished stone.
Read the complete The Airavatesvara Temple Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Airavatesvara Temple Complex comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Brihadisvara Temple Complex.
3. The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
Rajendra Chola I was a king who named his capital after a river trip. After a military campaign that carried his armies as far as the Ganges, he founded a new city about the year 1025 and called it Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the city of the Chola who took the Ganges, and he built a great temple to Shiva at its heart. It stood for two and a half centuries as the capital of one of the great South Indian empires, which at its peak had a navy that reached Southeast Asia. Today the city has gone, but the temple remains, an enormous pyramid of granite rising about fifty-five metres above the surrounding fields, with a tower whose stepped profile is gently curved rather than straight, a style so refined that it feels almost organic.
Read the complete The Brihadisvara Temple Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach The Brihadisvara Temple Complex. Next is back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex.
4. back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Airavatesvara Temple Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex, late in the day. Next is The Brihadisvara Temple Complex.
5. The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Brihadisvara Temple Complex write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Brihadisvara Temple Complex. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex to The Airavatesvara Temple Complex
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex → The Airavatesvara Temple Complex is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Airavatesvara Temple Complex to The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
The Airavatesvara Temple Complex → The Brihadisvara Temple Complex is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex to back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex
The Brihadisvara Temple Complex → back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex to The Brihadisvara Temple Complex
back through The Airavatesvara Temple Complex → The Brihadisvara Temple Complex is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.