This great panel portrays several sentiments in one
: the heroic sentiment in the expression on Tripurantaka's face and form
and in that of the vigorous rakshasas in action ; the emotion of pity
in the sorrowful faces of their women clinging to them in despair; the
spirit of wonder in the paraphernalia of gods surrounding Siva ; and the
sense of the Grotesque in the attitude of the dwarf ganas and of Ganesa
hastening on his mouse. The Cholas being great warriors and conquerors,
and Rajaraja himself the greatest if them all, it is in the fitness of
things that the theme of Tripurantaka, the mighty warrior-god , is glorified
here, virtually as the keynote of the Chola power.
The colours in the paintings are soft and subdued, the lines firm and
sinewy and the expression vivid and true of life; above all , there is
an ease in the charming contours of the figures. They constitute the most
valuable document of the painter's art during the days of the early Cholas,
and it is interesting to note that all the grace of south Indian classical
painting that is seen in the earlier Pallava paitnings at Sittannavasal,
Panamalai and Kanchipuram is continued in the present series.
The highest achievement in plastic art in the Chola period is revealed
in the fine series of the one hundred and eight dance-poses carved all
around the inner walls of the first floor of the temple. They form and
invaluable document in the history of Indian art and are the predecessor
of the labelled dance-poses on the Chidambaram gopuras, with the important
difference that at Thanjavur, Siva himself, the lord of dance (Nataraja),
is depicted as the dancer.
The temples of Devi near the Nandi - mandapa and of Subrahmanya are later
additions, the former during the time fo Konerinmaikondan, a Pandya of
the thirteenth century, and the latter during the Nayaka period in the
seventeenth century. The shrine of Ganesa and the mandapa of Nataraja
are also very late in date. The temple of Subrahmanya ahs exquisite carvings
and is an excellent example of south Indian temple-architecture in the
late medieval period.
ARCHITECTURE
To understand the architecture of the Chola temples, it is essential to
know something of the pre and post - Chola architecture. The Pallava temples
of the seventh to the ninth centuries, the earliest in south India, have
certain features which differentiate them from the later ones. As Jouveau-Dubreuil
has very clearly illustrated, the niche, the pavilion, the pillar ad pilaster-corbel
and the horseshoe-shaped windows (kudu), among others, are the most important
factors which help in the ascertainment of the dates of the monuments.
A typical niche in the earlier Pallaa rock-cut monuments at Mahabalipuram
and in the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram is rather wide, and the
makara-torana decoration on the niche-top is flat, the floriated tail
of the makara overflowing on the sides ; but in a Chola niche, as in the
later Pallava ones, the space is narrower and the decoration on the niche-top
more round. The simulated railings for the pavillions on monuments at
Mahabalipuram are quite different from their Chola counterparts. The kudu
which at the Mahabalipuram monuments has a shovel-headed finial, develops
a lion-head in the Chola monuments, and this continues thereafter.
The capital of the pillar and pilaster in the Chola monuments, rectangular
with its sides cut off in a slant at 45o, has the central portion projecting.
It is from this that the later Vijayanagara lotus corbels develop. It
is easily seen that without the central projecting block the Chola corbel
is not essentially different from the early Pallava one, where the same
angle also occurs in addition to the rounded corbel.
The central shrine in the Pallava structural temples, like the Kailasanatha
at Kanchipuram, is prominent and the gopura is quite dwarfish. In the
early Chola temples the shrine is magnified, and in the time of Rajaraja
and his successors it becomes colossal, as one notices in the temples
at Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram, Darasuram and Trubhuvanam. The gopura
in the early Chola temples, though larger in size than in the Pallava
ones, is still comparatively short, and it is only in the late Chola period
that gigantic gopuras come into being and dwarf the central shrine. The
earlier Pallava dwara-palas (door-keepers), with a very natural look and
mostly with a single pair of armsn, are replaced in the Chola structures
by those with a fierce mien and four arms, the ones in the Thanjavur and
Gangaikondacholapuram temples being typical examples : they carry the
trisula (trident) on their crowns, bear tusks protruding from their mouths
and strike terror with their knit eye-brows, rolling eyes and hands always
in the tarjani (threatening) and vismaya (wonder) attitudes. In the large
Chola temples, long flights of steps from the sides lead to the platform,
whence one enters the sanctum ; the balustrade is massive, curls up at
the end and is decorated on the exterior. Alternating koshtha-panjaras
and kumbha-panjaras from a regular feature of decoration, and the niches
are flanked by pilasters crowned on the top by a curved roof-moulding
adorned by two kudus with crowning lion-heads. The base of the entire
series of these niches has yali-decoration and at corners and intervals
there are makara - heads with warriors in action issuing from their mouths.
The pavilions are usually two pinjaras flanking a sala (wagon-roof pavilion),
the former with a single finial and the latter with three. The kumbha-pinjara
itself shows stages of development, and the earlier and simpler ones,
which we find in the early Chola temples, cecome more decorative and developed
in the later ones. Separate mandapas, which form a regular feature in
the late Chola and Vijayanagara temples, with a number of pillars adorning
them, are not so prominent in the carly chola structures, though the front
of the temple is a long mandapa for different forms of bhoga-worship.
A large courtyard and small shrine against the enclosure-wall at the cardinal
and inter-cardinal points for the dik-palas (guardians of the directions)
form a feature in the early Chola examples.
The following pages describe three of the most important Chola temples,
viz., the two Brihadisvara temples, respectively built by Rajaraja I (985
- 1012) and Rajendra (1012-44) at Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram,
and the Airaatesvara temple, built by Virarajendra (1063-69) or Rajaraja
II (1150-73) at Darasuram.
HISTORY
The Cholas of Thanjavur (ninth to twelfth centuries) were great conquerors,
who were not only paramount in south India but for some time extended
their sway as far as the river Ganga in the north and brought Ceylon,
a part of Burma, the Malayan peninsula and some islands of south-east
Asia under their influence. They were also mighty builders, who erected
a large number of temples in their empire, some of them constituting the
finest specimens of south Indian architecture. Inheritors of the Pallava
tradition, the edifices also reflect the power and genius of their authors.
Karikala, the early Chola emperor of the Sangam age, is lost in legendary
grandeur. It was several centuries later that Vijayalaya, in circa 850,
established a small kingdom around Thanjavur, which developed into a gigantic
empire under his successors. In the time of Aditya and Parantaka, the
son and grandson respectively of Vijayalaya, there was a great temple-building
activity. Parantaka ruled for forty - eight years. Bearing such heroic
titles as virasolan and samara-kesari, he extended his dominions by conquests.
As the conqueror of the Pandyas, who ruled further south at Madurai, and
of Ceylon, he was styled Maduraiyum Ilamum-konda, i.e. one who captured
Madurai and Ceylon. He was a great devotee of Siva in the Chidambaram
temple, which he covered with gold. That he was also a great scholar and
patron of literature is suggested by his title pandita-vatsala. He had
sons who inherited his qualities but were unfortunately short-lived. His
eldest son, Rajaditya, while almost defeating the Rashtrauta king, Krishna
III, died on the battle-field on his elephant just at the moment of victory.
His younger brother was Gandaraditya, whose queen, widowed early with
a little child in her arms, was a pious lady, remarkable for her generous
practice of building and endowing temples.
This was a weak period in Chola history, when Krishna III asserted his
power in Tondai-mandalam, and his son of Gandaraditya being just a babe,
Arinjaya, the younger brother of Gandaraditya, ascended the throne. But
he soon lost his life on the battle-field in trying to regain the lost
territory from the Rashtrakutas. His son, Sundara-Chola, who succeeded
him, was a great warrior and a just ruler. Like his grandfather Parantaka,
he was a great patron of literature. His last days were clouded by the
sad assassination of his war-like eldest son Aditya. His second son, Rajaraja,
was then a youth, accomplished and powerful ; but the nobility of Rajaraja
was such that even though desired by his subjects, he refused to ascend
the throne, as his uncle Uttama-Chola, the son of Gandaraditya, now quite
grown up, longed for it. Rajaraja eventually succeeded Uttama-Chola.
Rajaraja I, known as Rajakesari Arumoliarman, ascended the throne in 985
and was probably the greatest of the Chola emperors. His military triumph,
organization of the empire, patronage of art and literature and religious
tolerance are only partially eclipsed by those of his son Rajendra, who
was unparalleled in military genius. As the Chola kingdom had just recovered
from the onslaught of the Rashtrakutas, Rajaraja started his reign with
military campaigns to strengthen his position. He brought low the Keralas,
Pandyas and Simhalas, overcame the western hilly tracts, Mysore and Gangavadi.
He also overcame the Chalukya king Satyasraya, the large treasures captured
from whom were utilized in the enrichment of the temple at Thanjavur.
As a sagacious conqueror, Rajaraja gave his daughter Kundavai in marriage
to Vimaladitya, whose elder brother Saktivraman, the Eastern Chalukya
king, was under his protection.
He sent his son Rajendra to Kalinga and established a pillar of victory
on the Mahendra hill. With his mighty navy, Rajaraja conquered the Maldives,
besides a number of other islands, and crippled the power of the Cheras
known for their naval strength. He was a great builder and erected at
Thanjavur the magnificent temple known as the Brihadisvara or Rajarajesvara.
Rajaraja was followed by his equally brilliant son Rajendra (1012-44),
undoubtedly the greatest ruler of his line, who asserted his power in
Ceylon, the Chera and the Pandya countries and Vanavasi and overcame the
Chalukya Jayasimha. He then turned his eyes to the north in his desire
to bring to his kingdom the waters of the sacred river Ganga by the might
of his arm. In less than two years, Rajendra successfully overcame the
Eastern Chalukya territory, Kalinga and Dakshina-Kosala and overcame the
Pala king Mahipala of east India.
To celebrate his triumph, Rajendra created ' a liquid pillar of victory'
(jalamaya-stambha) in his new capital at Gangaikondacholapuram, 'the city
of the Chola, the bringer of the Ganga'. In a great irrigation tank, now
in ruins, the waters of the Ganga were poured from pots brought by the
vassal-kings as the only tribute demanded by the emperor, who then assumed
the title of Gangaikondachola, 'the Chola king who brought the Ganga'.
As thanksgiving, he erected a large temple in honour of Siva, also known
as the Brihadisvara, at his capital.
Rajendra then utilized his mighty navy for attacking and subduing the
Sailendra king Sangramavijayotungavaraman of Srivijaya (Sumatra-Java).
A number of place-names mentioned in his inscriptions have been understood
as connoting places mostly in Malaya, included in the empire of Srivijaya.
His conquest of Burman, the islands in the Eastern Archipelago, Ceylon,
Laccadives and Maldives clearly proves the efficiency of his unparalleled
naval power. His great scholarship and literary attainments earned him
the title pandita-Chola. The marriage of his daughter Ammangadevi to his
own nephew, the Eastern Chalukya king Rajaraja, shows his diplomatic genius.
The child born of this marriage was the great Rajendra-Chola Kulottunga.
Rajendra-Chola succeeded his maternal uncles Rajadhiraja and Virarajendra
in 1070 and ruled over a large empire that combined the Chola and Chalukya
dominions. He was powerful not only on land but on sea. His power was
felt even in distant Kalinga. Vikrama Chola succeeded Rajendra-Chola.
Kulottunga II, the son of Vikrama-Chola, effected elaborate renovations
at the temple at Chidambaram. This building activity was sustained in
the reign of his son Rajaraja II (1150-73), whose title Raja-Gambhira
is recorded in the Mandapa of the Darasuram temple. The growing zeal of
the royal house in Saivism is manifest in the stories of the Saiva saints
at Darasuram.
Rajaraja's nephew, Rajadhiraja, was followed by Kulottunga III, the last
of the great Chola emperors, who, by his power and personality, checked
the forces of disruption that had been steadily eating into the vitals
of the empire. He was a great builder, and his reign is marked by several
additions to the glorious chapter of Chola architecture. His hand is evident
not only in the Kampaharesvara temple at Tribhuvanam, the most important
monument of his reign, but also at Kanchi, Madurai, Chidambaram, Tiruvarur,
Tiruvidaimarudur and Darasuram.
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