Thanjai Mamani Koil is a Shaivite temple on the northern edge of Thanjavur, older in its origins than the great Chola monuments at the city's centre. The shrine preserves architectural elements that predate the canonical Dravidian style codified under Raja Raja Chola, making it of some interest to visitors who have already absorbed the main sites and want to see how temple architecture evolved in the same landscape.
The temple is active and receives a steady stream of local worshippers rather than tourists. It sits in a quieter residential neighbourhood where the pace of the city is less frenetic than around the Big Temple. An auto-rickshaw from the palace area takes about ten minutes.