Being the nerdy nerds that we are, we couldn't leave Thanjavur without stopping at the Saraswati Mahal Library (and here), one of the oldest libraries in Asia. The collection was begun in the 1500s and includes ancient Tamil manuscripts written on palm leaves. Awesome!
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the library museum, so you'll just have to trust me that it was really impressive. We saw some of the palm leaf manuscripts as well as dusty old maps, 17th and 18th century medical textbooks, weird drawings comparing people's facial features to those of animals ... It was crazy and totally cool! If you ever find yourself in Thanjavur, the library is a must-see.
The library is part of the larger Thanjavur Maratha Palace complex (and here), where the Maratha kings lived from the late 1600s to almost 1900. The palace is older than that, though, because it was built by the Nayaks, who ruled just before the Marathas.
Most of the palace complex is now a museum, where we found this stone sculpture of none other than the great RajaRaja the Great! Builder of the Big Temple! Woot! We took a picture to send back to John's happy Tamil teacher.
This tower is just begging to be climbed, don't you think? Stay tuned ...
Samuel admiring one of the many stone sculptures on display (and being admired in turn by a group of Indian tourists) ...
This depiction of Shiva and Parvati was my favorite piece, because the gods appear to be so human. Something about their body positions or facial expressions?
The Maratha royal family still exists and lives in part of the palace. The family temple is in the main courtyard, though, among the displays of stonework. Here's Nandi ...
... and here's a combination lingam and yoni, representing the male and female aspects of creation. The lingam generally represents Shiva.
Here's Ganesha. I'm fascinated that the Hindus dress their idols in cloth, and the images of Mary in the Catholic churches here are dressed, too, sometimes in full saris. Is that common in Catholicism around the world? Or is it the native culture rubbed into Catholicism? Decorating with flowers and flower garlands crosses religions here, too. I've seen it at Hindu temples, Muslim shrines, and Catholic sites.
Here's that tempting tower again. We assumed it was the bell tower, but I found out later that the bell tower is actually a different, squarer structure. This is actually the old Arsenal Tower, which was used as a watchtower and to store weapons.
But before climbing, we had more art to admire ...
Here are the kids all ready for adventure. They're armed with something they found on the ground that I couldn't get them to put down. Oh well, they all love to collect "treasures," broken bangles being the favored artifact. I'm sure they'll have amazing immune systems by the time we leave India. But to the climb! Each story was a wide, open room (each with a slightly different layout) with plenty of arches and some amazing woodwork in the ceiling. The stairways must have seemed like secret passageways to the kids. They were narrow and twisty, and none of them were the same.
There were four stairways at each level, and it's a good thing, because this giant spider would have stopped our ascent if we hadn't been able to pick another path up. Would YOU disturb that web?
A view of the bell tower and inner courtyard from partway up ...
Views of the Big Temple ...
We're not sure what this old building is, but it's pretty cool ...
Kids heading back down the steep steps ...
The rooms facing the inner courtyard are full of ancient bronzes (lots of Natarajas), stone sculptures and paintings.
The bathroom was hidden behind a barred gate, down a path between crumbling buildings, and right next to the office of the museum's head of art restoration. The curator poked his head out the door and invited us in to see how he does restoration work on the bronzes. Sweet!
After our chat with the curator, we headed to another part of the palace in search of the Durbar Hall (where the kings received their audiences). It faces another courtyard filled with museum pieces.
"Old Tamil. How cool is that?" (Direct quote from John, who is looking over my shoulder.)
This is John's attempt at an artistic portrait. It would have been great if a) we'd had a better camera (situation resolved!!) b) Samuel had gotten the memo c) I didn't look like I was eight months pregnant. For the record, I am NOT pregnant and have no plans to become pregnant. I've heard that the camera adds 10 pounds, but this is pretty ridiculous.
Ignore the washed out picture of us sitting on the steps and admire the incredible Durbar Hall! It's hard to explain the riot of fading colors, murals, bas reliefs, and bat infestation. I can just picture the king reclining on pillows, listening to supplicants or meeting with British overlords.
Here are the kids looking regal right where the throne would be. Why is it that Evie's version of "regal" always comes off as "I'm about to order an execution?"
There's apparently some restoration work going on, though we didn't see anyone doing anything and everything looks equally faded ...
There's a small museum next to the Durbar Hall with items once used in the palace. The kids are NOT touching this drum, in case you were worried. They are only PRETENDING to beat this drum. My children would NEVER touch artifacts in a museum. ahem.
I kind of liked the deteriorated look of the courtyards and arches. It was much more charming than some of the "restored" stuff you see here. Sometimes restored just means "whitewashed" or "rebuilt using cement."
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble ... I love how it looks like Samuel's inside the pot. He's actually standing on the far side and peering over the rim.
The palace complex gets two thumbs up from us, though it could use a little true restoration and a good cleaning. It's full of fun history and beautiful artwork, though, not to mention that incredible library.
We passed by the Big Temple on our way back to the hotel ...
... and we stopped to do a little exploration in some ruins in a tiny village we passed through on the way back to the hotel. This is where we saw the old temple I mentioned in a previous post. I should rephrase and say that John did some exploration while the kids and I looked on from below. The place has apparently been converted from awesome historical building to community outhouse, and I'm not THAT confident about the kids' immune systems.
It was a very cool spot, though. I wonder what this place was like 200 years ago?
Here's that old temple again, right across the street from the abandoned building ...
... and some local kids who found us highly entertaining ...
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the library museum, so you'll just have to trust me that it was really impressive. We saw some of the palm leaf manuscripts as well as dusty old maps, 17th and 18th century medical textbooks, weird drawings comparing people's facial features to those of animals ... It was crazy and totally cool! If you ever find yourself in Thanjavur, the library is a must-see.
The library is part of the larger Thanjavur Maratha Palace complex (and here), where the Maratha kings lived from the late 1600s to almost 1900. The palace is older than that, though, because it was built by the Nayaks, who ruled just before the Marathas.
Most of the palace complex is now a museum, where we found this stone sculpture of none other than the great RajaRaja the Great! Builder of the Big Temple! Woot! We took a picture to send back to John's happy Tamil teacher.
This tower is just begging to be climbed, don't you think? Stay tuned ...
Samuel admiring one of the many stone sculptures on display (and being admired in turn by a group of Indian tourists) ...
This depiction of Shiva and Parvati was my favorite piece, because the gods appear to be so human. Something about their body positions or facial expressions?
The Maratha royal family still exists and lives in part of the palace. The family temple is in the main courtyard, though, among the displays of stonework. Here's Nandi ...
... and here's a combination lingam and yoni, representing the male and female aspects of creation. The lingam generally represents Shiva.
Here's Ganesha. I'm fascinated that the Hindus dress their idols in cloth, and the images of Mary in the Catholic churches here are dressed, too, sometimes in full saris. Is that common in Catholicism around the world? Or is it the native culture rubbed into Catholicism? Decorating with flowers and flower garlands crosses religions here, too. I've seen it at Hindu temples, Muslim shrines, and Catholic sites.
Here's that tempting tower again. We assumed it was the bell tower, but I found out later that the bell tower is actually a different, squarer structure. This is actually the old Arsenal Tower, which was used as a watchtower and to store weapons.
But before climbing, we had more art to admire ...
Here are the kids all ready for adventure. They're armed with something they found on the ground that I couldn't get them to put down. Oh well, they all love to collect "treasures," broken bangles being the favored artifact. I'm sure they'll have amazing immune systems by the time we leave India. But to the climb! Each story was a wide, open room (each with a slightly different layout) with plenty of arches and some amazing woodwork in the ceiling. The stairways must have seemed like secret passageways to the kids. They were narrow and twisty, and none of them were the same.
There were four stairways at each level, and it's a good thing, because this giant spider would have stopped our ascent if we hadn't been able to pick another path up. Would YOU disturb that web?
A view of the bell tower and inner courtyard from partway up ...
Views of the Big Temple ...
We're not sure what this old building is, but it's pretty cool ...
Kids heading back down the steep steps ...
The rooms facing the inner courtyard are full of ancient bronzes (lots of Natarajas), stone sculptures and paintings.
The bathroom was hidden behind a barred gate, down a path between crumbling buildings, and right next to the office of the museum's head of art restoration. The curator poked his head out the door and invited us in to see how he does restoration work on the bronzes. Sweet!
After our chat with the curator, we headed to another part of the palace in search of the Durbar Hall (where the kings received their audiences). It faces another courtyard filled with museum pieces.
"Old Tamil. How cool is that?" (Direct quote from John, who is looking over my shoulder.)
This is John's attempt at an artistic portrait. It would have been great if a) we'd had a better camera (situation resolved!!) b) Samuel had gotten the memo c) I didn't look like I was eight months pregnant. For the record, I am NOT pregnant and have no plans to become pregnant. I've heard that the camera adds 10 pounds, but this is pretty ridiculous.
Ignore the washed out picture of us sitting on the steps and admire the incredible Durbar Hall! It's hard to explain the riot of fading colors, murals, bas reliefs, and bat infestation. I can just picture the king reclining on pillows, listening to supplicants or meeting with British overlords.
Here are the kids looking regal right where the throne would be. Why is it that Evie's version of "regal" always comes off as "I'm about to order an execution?"
There's apparently some restoration work going on, though we didn't see anyone doing anything and everything looks equally faded ...
There's a small museum next to the Durbar Hall with items once used in the palace. The kids are NOT touching this drum, in case you were worried. They are only PRETENDING to beat this drum. My children would NEVER touch artifacts in a museum. ahem.
I kind of liked the deteriorated look of the courtyards and arches. It was much more charming than some of the "restored" stuff you see here. Sometimes restored just means "whitewashed" or "rebuilt using cement."
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble ... I love how it looks like Samuel's inside the pot. He's actually standing on the far side and peering over the rim.
The palace complex gets two thumbs up from us, though it could use a little true restoration and a good cleaning. It's full of fun history and beautiful artwork, though, not to mention that incredible library.
We passed by the Big Temple on our way back to the hotel ...
... and we stopped to do a little exploration in some ruins in a tiny village we passed through on the way back to the hotel. This is where we saw the old temple I mentioned in a previous post. I should rephrase and say that John did some exploration while the kids and I looked on from below. The place has apparently been converted from awesome historical building to community outhouse, and I'm not THAT confident about the kids' immune systems.
It was a very cool spot, though. I wonder what this place was like 200 years ago?
Here's that old temple again, right across the street from the abandoned building ...
... and some local kids who found us highly entertaining ...
We rewarded the kids' great "tourist behavior" with a late afternoon of swimming and exploring the Ideal River View Resort, where we were staying. It was a fun place. The kids loved the pool and the Diwali sweets staff members kept handing them. My favorite part was dinner, because it was served buffet style on a terrace overlooking the river and because there was live music every night. Beautiful!
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