The temple was constructed by the Chola King, Rajaraja Chola I. The architecture of the temple adheres to the design spelled out in ancient texts of Agamas and Vaastu Shastras. The temple architecture and engineering was completed by Sri Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan, who is considered as ancestor of Vaastu Vedas. It is said that his successors survive to this day and practice the art of Vastu or Vastu Shastra. Under King, Rajaraja Chola I the main temple and the sanctum, the entrance or the gopuram, and the Vimana or the tower were constructed. He also got the inscriptions, frescoes and sculptures done. Later the area was ruled by different dynasties who made other additions to the temple. During the 16th century, a fortified wall was built around the temple. The Pandya kings added the shrines of Goddess in the temple complex. The Vijayanagara kings added the Subramanian shrine. The Marathas renovated the shrine of Vinayaka. The Nayaks of Madurai, in their attempt to restore the faded paintings, ordered ... More

The temple was constructed by the Chola King, Rajaraja Chola I. The architecture of the temple adheres to the design spelled out in ancient texts of Agamas and Vaastu Shastras. The temple architecture and engineering was completed by Sri Kunjara Mallan Raja Raja Perunthachan, who is considered as ancestor of Vaastu Vedas. It is said that his successors survive to this day and practice the art of Vastu or Vastu Shastra. Under King, Rajaraja Chola I the main temple and the sanctum, the entrance or the gopuram, and the Vimana or the tower were constructed. He also got the inscriptions, frescoes and sculptures done. Later the area was ruled by different dynasties who made other additions to the temple. During the 16th century, a fortified wall was built around the temple. The Pandya kings added the shrines of Goddess in the temple complex. The Vijayanagara kings added the Subramanian shrine. The Marathas renovated the shrine of Vinayaka. The Nayaks of Madurai, in their attempt to restore the faded paintings, ordered new murals on top of the older ones.

The name of the temple also underwent changes. Rajaraja-I named this temple as Rajarajesvaram and the ShivaLinga was known as Peruvudaiyar. Thus during his time the temple was also known by the deity's name as Peruvudaiyarkovil in Tamil language. During the Maratha rule the temple was named as Brihadisvaram. Presently it is called as Thanjai Periyakovil (Tanjore Big temple).