Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Library Museum. The main entrance is from the north, via a lane off East Main St. On the
way in you'll find the ticket office for the Maratha Palace Museum, which comprises
three of the seven sections: the Mahratta Dharbar Hall, the bell tower and the Saarjah
Madi (this last under reconstruction at research time).
Past this ticket office, a passage to the left leads to, first, the
Royal Palace Museum
(admission
?1; 9am-6pm)
, a small miscellany of sculptures, weaponry, elephant bells and rajas'
headgear; second, the
Maharaja Serfoji Memorial Hall
(admission ?4; 9am-6pm)
, commemorating
the enlightened Maratha scholar-king Serfoji II (1798-1832), with a better miscellany
overlooking a once-splendid, now overgrown courtyard; and third, the
Mahratta Dharbar Hall
,
where Maratha rulers gave audience in a pavilion adorned with colourful murals, includ-
ing their own portraits behind the dais and hunting scenes on the north wall.
As you exit the passage from the above, the
Saraswati Mahal Library Museum
(admission free;
10am-1pm & 1.30-5.30pm)
(no photos allowed) is on your left. Perhaps Serfoji II's greatest
contribution to posterity, this is testimony both to the 19th-century obsession with know-
ledge accumulation and to an eclectic mind that collected prints of Chinese torture meth-
ods, Audubon-style paintings of Indian flora and fauna, and sketches of the London sky-
line. Serfoji amassed more than 65,000 books and 50,000 palm-leaf and paper
manuscripts in Indian and European languages, though these aren't included in the exhib-
it.
Exiting the library, turn left again for the
Art Gallery
(Indian/foreigner ?7/60, camera ?30/ 100;
9am-1pm & 3-6pm)
. Set around the courtyard of the Nayak palace, this contains a large collec-
tion of superb, mainly Chola, bronzes and stone carvings. One of the rooms is the Nayak
Durbar Hall, built in 1600, which also contains a statue of Serfoji II. From the courtyard,
steps lead about halfway up a large
gopuram
-like tower affording good views over Than-
javur. The Maratha bell tower, outside the Art Gallery entrance, can be climbed with your
Palace Museum ticket.
Festivals & Events
Thyagaraja Aradhana
( Jan)
At Thiruvaiyaru, 13km north of Thanjavur, this important eight-day Carnatic mu-
sic festival honours the saint and composer Thyagaraja.
MUSIC FESTIVAL
