Thanjavur travel guides
Thanjavur Travel Guide: The Big Temple, the Palace and Chola Day Trips 
Travel guide · Destinations
Thanjavur Travel Guide: The Big Temple, the Palace and Chola Day Trips
Thanjavur, or Tanjore, is the Tamil Nadu town where the Chola king Rajaraja I built the Brihadisvara or Big Temple, completed around 1010 and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The places to visit in Thanjavur also include the Nayak and Maratha palace, its gallery of bronzes and the Saraswathi Mahal Library. One full day covers the town; a second adds Darasuram.
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Frequently asked questions
When is the Thyagaraja Aradhana at Thiruvaiyaru?
Usually during Margazhi, the music season that runs from mid-December to mid-January, says Tamil Nadu Tourism. For a week, musicians gather at the composer-saint's shrine in Thiruvaiyaru, about 12 km from Thanjavur, to sing his Pancharatna kritis.
When can you see Natyanjali in Thanjavur?
During Maasi, the Tamil month that falls in February and March, at Maha Shivaratri. Begun at Chidambaram's Nataraja temple in 1981, the festival now also comes to Thanjavur, Kumbakonam and other temple towns, where classical dancers perform as an offering to Shiva, according to Tamil Nadu Tourism.
How long should you allow for the Big Temple?
A morning with a guide, as on both of our tours, covers the tower, the Nandi and the main shrine. Official hours differ: the Archaeological Survey of India gives 6.30 am to 8.30 pm daily, while Incredible India lists a midday closure from 12.30 to 4 pm, so skip the middle of the day.
Is the Saraswathi Mahal Library open every day?
No. The library and its museum close on Wednesdays and government holidays, and otherwise open 10 am–1 pm and 1.30–5.30 pm, by the district administration's and Incredible India's figures. A public library since 1918, it holds manuscripts on palm leaf and paper in several languages.
About Thanjavur Tours & Experiences
The best things to do in Thanjavur are to see the Big Temple in the morning and again in the evening, give an afternoon to the palace's bronzes and manuscripts, look for the town's veenas, paintings and dolls, and drive out to the other Chola temples or to Trichy. Both of our tours here include a guided morning at the Big Temple.
Reviewed by Experience My India Editorial Team · Updated 21 Oct 2026
Things to do in Thanjavur
The temple and the palace are in town; the rest need a car.
Visit the Big Temple morning and evening
Rajaraja I's granite temple, still in worship, lifts its tower more than 60 metres above a linga 8.7 metres high, with a Nandi carved from one rock facing the shrine. Both of our tours bring you here with a local guide on the morning of day 4; return at dusk as well.
Spend an afternoon in the palace
In the palace of the Nayaks and Marathas, the Raja Raja Chola Art Gallery's bronzes range from the 9th century to the 19th, and the Saraswathi Mahal Library's museum displays illustrated manuscripts, atlases and paintings.
Seek out Thanjavur's crafts
Thanjavur paintings, art plates, dolls and veenas are registered Geographical Indications; the veena, carved from jackfruit wood, was the first Indian instrument to earn one. At Swamimalai, near Kumbakonam, more than 2,000 craftsmen make bronze icons using the lost-wax process.
Drive out to Darasuram and Gangaikonda Cholapuram
The other two Great Living Chola Temples fill a day: the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, near Kumbakonam, has miniature carvings on its front pillars, and Rajendra I's Gangaikonda Cholapuram, finished in 1035, has door guardians each cut from a single stone.
See Trichy's Rock Fort and Srirangam
Tiruchirappalli, about 55 km away, fits into an afternoon: on day 4 the South India Temple Trail goes on from the Big Temple to the Rock Fort and the Srirangam temple, then back to Thanjavur.
Choosing between our tours through Thanjavur
Both arrive from Mahabalipuram on day 3, after four to five hours on the road. The South India Temple Trail — 10 days stays two nights and adds Trichy, for travellers following the temple trail to Kanyakumari. The 10 Days South India Tour Package stays one night, then drives about three hours to Madurai on its way to Kerala. More: Thanjavur tour packages.
When to go for these
Tamil Nadu Tourism recommends December to February. The northeast monsoon brings Thanjavur district about 594 of its 1,054 mm of rain a year between October and December, against about 43 mm in January and February together (India Meteorological Department data). Summer reaches 35–40°C, so see the courtyards early and late.
Before you go
Cover shoulders and knees for the temple; shoes stay at the gate, and thin socks help on hot granite. For the town's history, see our Thanjavur travel guide.
Plan a trip
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