If I could turn back time..

If I could turn back time, and given a chance to meet only one person, I would like to meet this great great human "Rajaraja Chola - I"

A glimpse about him..

Rajaraja Chola I (Tamil: இராசராச சோழன் Telugu:రాజరాజ చోళుడు born as Arulmozhi varman) is one of the greatest emperors of the Tamil Chola Empire and India, who ruled between 985 and 1014 CE. He established the Chola empire by conquering the kingdoms of southern India expanding the Chola Empire as far as Sri Lanka in the south, and Kalinga (Orissa) in the northeast. He fought many battles with the Chalukyas in the north and the Pandyas in the south. By conquering Vengi, Rajaraja laid the foundations for the Later Chola dynasty. He invaded Sri Lanka and started a century-long Chola occupation of the island. Rajaraja Chola I holds the distinction of being one of the six Indian Kings who never lost out on the battlefield to the enemies. His great warrior son Rajendra Chola is also one among that exclusive league.

Here is his pic.





King Rajaraja Chola and his guru (teacher) Karuvurar, Brihadeesvara temple, Tamil Nadu, 11th century. This is the earliest royal portrait in Indian painting. In keeping with ancient traditions, the guru is given importance and the king is shown standing behind him. This may not be an exact rendering of the king's features, rather a stylised representation.

What really make me think that I need meet him are..

• His passion to construct the stupendous masterpiece of all times, The Brahadeeshwara Temple at Thanjavur (Tanjore) - The Granary India.
• The engineering behind the great temple and the massive efforts.
• The administrative skills because without it, it is almost impossible to build such a massive architecture within 6 years, yes I mean SIX years.

It is simply awe-inspiring to just even imagine these details. Some thought provoking questions arise like..

1. How was he able to have such great engineers, called Sthabadhees, at that time?

2. What tools did they use to decide the plan, select the land, transport such heavy granites?

For splitting apart massive pieces of granite, the technology is from Avaiyar's song

"Methenavai Vettenavai Vellavam Vezhathil
Patturuvum Kol Panjil Paayaathu
Nettirupaaraikku Nekku Vida Paarai
Pasumaraththu Verukku Nekku Vidum"

meaning, "Hard and Aggressive things will never win over Soft and Humble things. The spear that pierces through an elephant will never pierce through cotton. Likewise, a hard rock that never gives way to strong iron crowbar gives way to the slender root of a green tree". Amazed!!!!. Still to come.. but how did this song help him!!!, The thing is that the rock was cut with such a precision, where the rock was selected and lots of small shaft like holes were made in the rock across a stretch and then in those holes, tree roots were driven and water was poured into it. As water, soaks the root, the root starts to expand and that would slowly break the rock apart. And those large rocks were transported the temple spot using elephants.

3. Where did he learn the technology from?

I guess it should be ancestral, as there is a literature and rules on how to build temples called "Aagama Vidhis"

4. Who was behind him to build such a massive piece of architecture?

5. How was he able to handle such a great kingdom and then administer the temple building activities?

For some of the questions, that I have provided the answers by googling and many other books to find answers to those questions, but for the rest that are unanswered, I have to meet him...

Let's look at his magnificent splendor..

Spectacular view of King RajaRaja Cholan's magnificence



Entrance to the temple - The Gopuram

The Brahadeeshwara Temple (Front View)

Overall View of the Magnificence

There are 8 such nandhis at top of the Gopura, just compare the size with the person sitting nearby. Each such nandhi is carved out of a single rock

The base of the Periya Kovil, just compare the size of the Vimanam (Tower) with the people standing at the base. the view is from the behind of the Temple Vimana.

This is the view from the terrace above the Mandapam

This is the image of the Big Nandhi of the Big Temple carved out of a single rock

This temple complex not only contains massive pieces of architecture but also great surprises. example- micro-technology, a small strand goes through the hole of the carvings.

As rightly said, "Great minds have purpose, others have wishes" my mind bows to Raja Raja the great.

Thanks to my friend R. Prabu for sharing his thoughts on this blog.