The Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu (India) was built by Emperor Rajaraja Chola (985-1012) in 10 century AD. This Chlola architecture is dedicated to Shiva. It was designed by the famous architect Sama Varma. It is worth mentioning that the Cholas were great patrons of art, and during their reign, as a a result, the most magnificent temples and exquisite bronze icons were created in South India. The Brihadisvara temple is crowned by a pyramidal 65-m vimana, a sanctum tower. Its walls are covered with rich sculptural decoration. The second Brihadisvara temple complex built by Rajendra I was completed in 1035. Its 53-m vimana has recessed corners and a graceful upward curving movement, contrasting with the straight and severe tower at Thanjavur. It has six pairs of massive, monolithic dvarapalas statues guarding the entrances and bronzes of remarkable beauty inside. On the plinth all round the gigantic edifice, there is incised a long series of epigraphs reveling the personality of the Emperor. The temple is constructed of granite, mostly of large blocks. The temple is within a spacious inner prakara of 240.90 m long (east-west) and 122m broad (north-south), with a gopura at the east and three other ordinary torana entrances one at each lateral sides and the third at rear. The prakara is surrounded by a double-storeyed malika with parivaralayas. The sikhara, a cupolic dome, is octagonal and rests on a single block of granite, a square of 7.8 m weighing 80 tons. The majestic upapitha and adhishthana are common to all the axially placed entities like the ardhamaha and mukha-mandapas and linked to the main sanctum sanctorum but approached through a north-south transept across the ardha-mandapa which is marked by lofty sopanas. The brihad-linga within the sanctum sanctorum is 8.7 m high. Life-size iconographic representations on the wall niches and inner passage include Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Bhikshatana, Virabhadra Kalantaka, Natesa, Ardhanarisvara and Alingana forms of Shiva. The walls of the lower ambulatory inside are adorned with mural paintings of Chola and later periods. Sarfoji, a local Maratha ruler, rebuilt the Ganapati shrine. The celebrated Thanjavur school of paintings of the Nayakas are largely superimposed over the Chola murals.