Excellent, sir. I have attached three pics of tanjai temple by google earth - 29jun2009, 28aug2007 and 15nov2007. In november photos, the shadow appears to confirm the legend. The temple is tilted by about 20 deg NE. I am not sure if attachment of files is allowed; if not, I will put them in the files section. Sampath
Hi the temple is tilted and not true to the cardinal directions. some how it was built parallel to the vadavar on the south or was the river diverted(?) wonder which of our other great temples were true to direction venketesh
SPS sir, There is a message in red that I do not have the right to upload photos. The three pictures I uploaded are not saved in the 'photos' section. Will appreciate if the block can be removed.
chidambaram seems aligned to cardinal directions but outer walls are skewed how would an ancient architect align his temple to the cardinal direction when he did not have a compass? would he wait for an equinox? venketesh
I have not seen any claim that this is the ONLY temple with the unique "shadow less" feature; perhaps some over zealous enthusiasts might have done it taking a cue from american publishers - #1 in readership, max viewership etc. Facts can become legends if evidence is lost and only memories remain. Google images of the temple are added in the folder "google earth temple images" in the Photos section. Sampath
Google images of the temple are added in the folder "google earth temple images" in the Photos section. tanjai temple 28aug2007.jpgtanjai temple 15nov2007.jpgtanjai temple 29jun2009.jpg Thanks SPS. Sampath
Now there is a Ramayana circuit conducted in Srilanka. There is a place called Sita eilia and the story is Sita was kept captive there.
Since i am collecting all evidences south of Nellore - Had a discussion with some Srilankan people. Elia in Sinhala is High place. Sita is the compressed form of sitala which means cold. ( refer setala mata, seetak kalaba senthamaraippoom padam of vinayagar agaval - in most of the indian languages seeta is cold. in fact the word seethoshnam is seeta (cold) + Ushnam)
Hence the actual meaning of sita elia is cold hill. But now this is turned out to be ashoka vanam.
Then if a stone is yellow then that is where sita - manjal araithal and if any stones is red - then seetha kumkumam itta idam.
May I take it that most of us are convinced that temple's shadow falls within its base at noon time all through the year - winter solstice to summer solstice. The google earth image of nov 2007 (added in the photos section in the folder google earth images) adds support to this view. In this photo, the slight shadow on the west side will vanish when the sun travels a bit to the west. The base of the temple is about 85 to 90 feet square (most of the gopurams have a rectangular base); another hypothesis could be - it is the tallest tower that can be built for the given base area and which meets the absent-shadow criteria. (like importance of L/D ratio for buckling of columns). In addition the base is skewed by about 24 deg NE. Another parameter to be considered is the ayanamsa - precession of the earth's axis, which shifts by 1 degree in about 72 years. And the temple was built about 1000 years ago. What were the minimum, defining design/ construction parameters set by RRC? Eiffel tower's design entry was selected because of the claim that the tower had minimum weight. Just a few random thoughts! Sampath
Most of the temples have short vimanams; tanjai temple and Gangai konda cholapuram vimanams are quite tall and can perhaps be called vimana gopuram. What other temples have such tall vimanams? Cholapuram vimanam is 95 feet square (calculated from google earth image (from lattitudes and longitudes). Its height is about 183 feet, compared to 85 feet square and 216 feet high of tanjai temple). Cholapuram vimanam looks quite squat whereas tanjai looks slender and sleek. Cholapuram temple faces due east. Sampath
It's not a bend, as much as a curve running throughout the gopuram... Of all the Dravida style temples, it is probably the one most deserving of the common Brit usage of the word 'pagoda'. It _is_ very Pagoda-like...
was the architect trying to imitate chidambaram golden vimanam at a larger scale?
> It's not a bend, as much as a curve running throughout the gopuram... Of all > the Dravida style temples, it is probably the one most deserving of the > common Brit usage of the word 'pagoda'. It _is_ very Pagoda-like... > > Shash >
As per wiki, cholapuram tower is with octogon shape compared to straight sided pyramid of peria koil. quote: "As one steps in, the great Vimana arrests the visitor's sight. The Vimana with its recessed corners and upward movement presents a striking contrast to the straight-sided pyramidal tower of Thanjavur but with octagon shape of Dravidian architecture. As it rises to a height of 182 feet (55 m) and is shorter than the Thanjavur tower with larger plinth, it is often described as the feminine counterpart of the Thanjavur temple." sampath