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Thanjavur is an important pilgrim centre and a major tourist destination. There were 2,002,225 Indian and 81,435 foreign tourist arrivals in 2009.
The most visited monument in Thanjavur is the Brihadeeswarar Temple, whose construction, the historian Percy Brown described as "a landmark in the evolution of building art in South India". Built in the 11th century AD by the Medieval Chola king Raja Raja Chola I, the temple complex houses a granite shrine dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and is surrounded by fortifications. The walls of the sanctum are covered with wall paintings from the Chola and Nayak periods. The temple was designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is replicated in the Gangaikonda Cholesvarar Temple constructed by Raja Raja's son Rajendra Chola I.
The Thanjavur Maratha palace was the official residence of the Bhonsle family who ruled over the Thanjavur region from 1674 AD to 1855 AD. It was originally constructed by the rulers of Thanjavur Nayak kingdom, after whose fall served as the official residence of the Thanjavur Marathas. When most of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom was annexed to the British Empire in 1799, the Thanjavur Marathas continued to hold sway over the palace and the surrounding fort. On the southern side of the third quadrangle is a tower like building, 190 feet tall with eight storeys, called the Goodagopuram.
Thanjavur Maratha Palace
The Saraswathi Mahal Library, established around 1700 AD and located in the premises of the palace, contains over 30,000 Indian and European manuscripts written on palm leaf and paper.Over eighty per cent of its manuscripts are in Sanskrit and many of them are on palm leaves. The Tamil works includes treatises on medicine, and commentaries on works from the Sangam period.
The Rajaraja Chola art gallery is inside the palace - it has a large collection of stone and bronze images from the 9th to 12th centuries. Most of the idols are brought from the various temples in the Thanjavur district.
