King Raja Raja Chola and his dream project

It is a chilly morning towards the end of December, when the otherwise hot and dry weather in Tamil Nadu becomes bearable. I am in Thanjavur to see the Brihadeeshwara Temple.

I have done the smart thing; I slept early and woke up much before the winter sun was contemplating showing up and reached the temple complex with the gray of the morning still hanging.

The car drops me at the gate of the Temple complex. A look from the opposite of the commanding entrance arch and the main temple imposes itself on the landscape. The thought of a hot filter coffee, which is the brew of the land, is kept for later, and I walked towards the complex, which had huge entrance gopurams and other smaller buildings on both sides.

The complex is almost empty. A few women in green sarees with crisp golden borders are in there already. They are old and have wrinkles to show, but their faces are resplendent. A red dot on their forehead, milky white jasmine flowers bunched neatly into the thinning hair buns, and a look of peace on their faces An advancing day might wipe it off their faces, but for now they are a sight, adding to the grace of the morning.

A large part of the temple ground is laid in stone. So is the path that goes around the temple. The bare part has a well-maintained cover of green grass. The archeological department that maintains this UNESCO heritage site has done a brilliant job. They always do, wherever they go. You walk in through the main square stone arch and are greeted by the ever-present Nandi, Lord Shiva’s mount.

Circling around him, you get close to the main temple building. The view is just amazing; the lazy blue of the morning sky adds to the sharp edged silhouette of the structure. At most 61 meters in height, it has carvings from the square base to the tapering top. It is as if a few hundred artisans about 1000 years ago had lost their minds and feverishly carved away to glory. All to a design, a definite pattern, and most likely under the careful eye of a master.

It is indeed majestic. an archeological marvel from the past. A homage to the imagination, faith, and ability of a generation far gone. An imposing human endeavor. For those with an eye for history, here are some details.

The Chola Marvel

The Brihadeeshwara temple was the dream of King Raja Raja Chola I, who ruled the Chola dynasty between 1003 and 1010 AD. It is a proud testament to the architectural and engineering skills of the Chola dynasty. A temple imagined in all grandeur and built with immense love, it is famous for the towering center piece, which rises almost 65 meters. Positioned above it is a single stone dome weighing around 80 tons. It is still a point of discussion as to how the dome was positioned there. A bunch of experts had once concluded that it would have to be dragged by elephants along a slope of almost 4 km of mud and limestone. Some theories suggest steep ramps. No matter how it was done those days, it would have taken an unbelievable effort to manage it.

I walk up the stone stairs, still cool to the feet, and enter the sanctum. A priest stands over at the entrance to the main idol, bare-chested, with sandalwood paste on his forehead, a slight stubble, and a contended expression on his face. This is not the usual temple in Tamil Nadu; there are more visitors coming to see the architectural wonder and less for the godliness of the temple.

A quick look at the sanctum interior, and I am out to explore the grounds. A high, tapering roof, complete with carvings of various forms, tells you that the carving artisans have been busy inside the temple too.

On the grounds, are buildings with pillars lining the corridor, The outer walls and the pillars are walls are covered with inscriptions. There are all kinds of scripts. It is the story of a long-lost world. One can imagine someone centuries ago standing with a chisel or whatever they used, standing for hours scribbling into a rock face. It required patience and a sense of obligation to the coming generations for one to stand there and write up a commentary about those days. There are various scripts: the old Tamil script, and, strangely enough, some words from the Marathi script, a language from the far west of India. The Marathi script is proof of a far-flung part of modern-day Tamil Nadu being a part of the Maratha Empire from the west of India, in and around the 17th century.

In fact, the whole temple complex is like a book written in stone. The king, Raja Chola, during whose reign the Chola Empire its peak had ensured that almost every detail of the temple was inscribed in stone. The inscriptions on the outer lower part of the temple, the pillars around the temple, and seemingly almost everywhere have details of everything connected to the temple. They also list the amount of gold and diamond jewelry used and the number and size of bronze statues (only 2 of the 26 detailed remain these days). The inscriptions tell you the story of a glorious time, a time when the Cholan Empire was at its peak.

I have a look around the whole complex, stunned and amazed by everything I see. I can sense the air getting warm as the sun peeps into the sky on the horizon. A glow pervaded the complex, a golden hue that added to the glory of the now-bright rocks from the past. It was time to go. A confident sun would, while bringing in more sunlight, also add to the heat in the air and make it a bit difficult for people who are not natives of that land.

Thanjavur : the Chola symbol

I was heading back towards the entrance to get to my car and took another look at the complex, committing it to my memory. As my eyes swung away from the temple, I caught sight of the old ladies in green sarees. Two hours had taken their toll; the golden borders on the sarees were crumpled, the faces were a bit drained, and the flowers were starting to wilt and wither. The smiles, however, had grown from the corner of their lips earlier to their ears. The glory of the past had helped, and the joy of the moment was evident.
As I turned away towards the exit, I saw an army of kids, all in dark blue half trousers and light blue shirts, walking in a row. Guided by teachers, they were on a trip of discovery. The smiles were already ear-to-ear, with no more space to go. With their teeth gleaming and their eyes sparkling, they filed in to take in the wonders of a human effort from centuries and generations ago.

History is always exciting—not much when it is about the wars, but more when it is about the infinite possibilities of human capability. A great effort is always a joy to watch, across generations and ages. From wizened grandmothers to carefree children, a thing of beauty is always joyous to watch and admire.

The great Chola Raja Raja Chola might not have heard this in English but in his own grand wisdom did it both….

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. (Benjamin Franklin)

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