The temples, the palace, the bronzes, the paintings, the frescoes, the cuisine, the weapons of war and ivory dolls, the kalamkaris, and literary genres like the abhyudayamus, the prabandhams and the kuravanjis-they are all brushstrokes that make up a colourful painting, which tells the story of the city of Thanjavur. In this fascinating study, in words and images, Pradeep Chakravarthy and Vikram Sathyanathan narrate the cultural history of Thanjavur-starting from its early days of grandeur during the Chola Empire when the Chola ruler Raja Raja I built the