The vast delta of the Cauvery (Kaveri) River is a fertile rice-growing region, and Tanjore is its busiest rural centre. Once the capital of the powerful Chola dynasty from the 10th-14th centuries, with a walled town and the Brihadiswara Temple, a World Heritage Site, built by King Rajaraja I at the height of his powers. The sheer size and magnificence of the temple expresses this self-confidence: the 62-metre-high vimana is topped by an 80-ton granite dome and somehow the fact that it is unpainted makes it more beautiful; the stone, with its restrained carvings, glows in the sun, and the shrine entrance is guarded by a six-metre-long nandi, or bull. The temple courtyard has stone colonnades decorated with frescoes and tranquil bas-relief figures - the perfect place to shelter from the sun and watch temple life unfold. The Cholas were great art patrons and commissioned exquisite bronzes, many of them dancing Shivas surrounded by rings of flames, and there is a large collection in the Tanjore Museum.