journey into history - gangai konda cholapuram

Hey..

Lucky you that I have been in vacation for so long and gave a big break to my blogs. I have been tasting authentic sweet, karam and coffee from Chennai and rest of Tamilnadu and having a great time here back home.
I had planned to visit some of the little known temples and forts in the South when Iam here and as per that plan I visited Gangai Konda Cholapuram a few days back. This is the city built by the Chola emperor Rajendra Chola about a thousand years back. The central temple is an exact replica of the Brahadeeswara temple at Thanjavur built by Raja Raja Chola, Rajendra's father. The city was the capital of Chola dyansty for a brief period of time. Today it is a very small unknown village in the Cuddalore district near Chidambaram. All that remains is the temple and the history.

The Cholas were ran one of the most powerful dynasties in the South for a few hundred years. They were in constant battles with Cheras, Pandyas and Pallavas - the other popular dyansties in the region. Raja Raja Chola was one of the most powerful and popular kings of the revived chola empire. He consolidated his power base in the south and kept the other kings and feudal powerlords under his control. His son Rajendra went far ahead and added parts of Northern India and Ceylon to his empire.

Rajendra Chola went as far as the Ganges and brought rocks from the river bed to construct his city and the central temple. He also brought water from the Ganges river for the abhishekam of the huge Siva-linga in the temple. An interesting point to note is that Rajendra lived during the time when one of the world's most devoured kings and the man who by far ruled the biggest kingdom of this earth lived & ruled - Ghengiz Khan. Their routes crossed - almost. When Rajendra camped on one side of the Ganges, Ghengiz Khan camped on the other side of the river. The immenent battle never happened. Whether Rajendra was afraid of the Mongol warlord or whether Ghengiz was not interested in India will never be known - but the two powerful kings never met in battle or in peace for the better. Rajendra returned to Thanjavur and Ghengiz went to conquer Asia Minor and extended his empire from as far as Portugal till Korea.

Today the Gangai Konda Cholapuram temple has been taken over the Archeological Survey department. It is being maintained decently well. The regular pujas still do happen at the main shrine. This place is a tourist attraction and thanks to all the new cars in the Indian sector, people need new places to visit and this seems to be popular in this belt. There is no entry fee, a surprise again.. there is a parking fee though. The madhil suvar still remains, but the entrance arch & few sculptures are broken. There is a main temple and four small temples surrounding it. The main temple has a wonderful conical gopuram with a big carved stone at the top. The shadow of the top never falls on the ground. There are wonderful admirable sculptures all around. They seem to have a red tint all through. There are also stone inscriptions in a number of places referring to Kulothunga Chola (a later Chola) and their trade/relation with central India.I tried reading some of these with my kindergarten knowledge of Manipravala, and the scriptures were decipherable to a small percentage. The customary bull nandi is huge as usual, but looks recent than the temple.

The temple has a sprawling lawn all around and inspite of the burning heat in the middle of the day, I found this place extremely plesant to walk, loiter and even catch a quite nap. Sitting in the huge madhil-compound I was watching a dad telling his young son of about 7-8 years the story of Raja Raja and Rajendra ..the kid was attentively listening and asking a few questions too. It was a lovely sight. For India is a land of history, South India is a land of cultures and tradition and this heritage lives in its temples. Gangai Konda Cholapuram is a must see and the legacy & significance of such places need to be passed to upcoming generations.

Chao...