a european on tanjore temple?

the Tanjore big temple has its own mysteries and holds it close to its chest.

yes its true
a carving of a face distinctly caucasid in features and european in attire finds a place on the gopuram.
when was it done? and who modelled for it?
we have no clear answer.

local legends say it is a replacement for a sculpture that fell down from the gopuram. the story goes that it is the face of a danishman from tranquebar- an european trading post set up with a long lease from the serfoji dynasty of tanjore in 18th century.
but then there is one event in the 1000 year old history of the temple that could provide possible leads.


around 1800 Colonel William Lambton was entrusted with the job of measuring and mapping british india. Lambton decided to have a mathematical and geographical survey that would cover the whole of india with a network of triangulation. when he was through with his job he would have a meridian arc right up the centre of India from the southern tip as far as the Himalayas.
Precision was rigorously maintained and even today, despite more sophisticated mapping equipment and survey methods, the values arrived at by lambton cannot be disputed. Lambton’s contribution is significant not only for mapping and measuring but also for geography. in his work he measured the arc of the meridian near to Equator and his measurement was used to deriving the ellipsoid of the earth.
When surveying Tanjore district, in 1808 Lambton mentions that the country was so flat that he had difficulty in locating any natural prominence for sighting. He therefore used the gopurams of the temples that dotted almost every village and completed the land survey.
On one occasion, the giant theodolite, which he was using, fell from the top of the Tanjore Big Temple and was badly damaged.
He had to spend months repairing it under a tent pitched in open country, before he could restart his work.” or was he held by the locals till the gopuram was repaired?
did the half ton heavy theodolite instrument damage the temple sculptures and did the replacement sculpture denote this incident where a cheeky sculptor indicated european presence in the temple?
and does the bust have a double cheek like lambton himself?