2/4 THE CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES

of the Russian crown jewels, was once the eye of the idol, and was stolen by a French deserter in the eighteenth century. The Siva temple is very sacred, as it contains the water lingam. The reformer Ramanuja settled at Srirangam in his latter years. Tanjore (57,870). The administrative head-quarters of the Tanjore district, celebrated for the Brihatiswaraswami temple, with its colossal stone bull (Nandi). Among the

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Fig. 98. Colossal stone bull, Tanjore temple.

Hindu figures on the tower, is that of a European, which, according to tradition, was prophetic of the advent of the British, or is the figure of a Dane, who helped to build the temple. A big iron cannon, nearly 30 feet long, is attributed to the same Dane. The Library contains a valuable col- lection of oriental manuscripts, brought together by the Nayak and Maratha kings of Tanjore. The palace of the latter contains portraits of the various kings, and a statue of Raja Sarabhoji b}' Chantrey. It is now occupied by