Tanjore big temple mysteries

Monday, May 13, 2013

Tanjore big temple mysteries

Tanjore is an excellent place with good water facilities and fully covered with beautiful palm forests. It is a smooth and green place where the great Raja Raja Chola ruled. There are many mysteries present in the Tanjore big temple. The whole construction procedure of theTanjore big temple is that of a great mystery to the archeologists. The great legends who made research on the Tanjore big temple couldn't find out what is the actual fact behind the construction of the Tanjore big temple. Some of the edible mysteries of the Tanjore big temple are 

• Underground passages in Tanjore big temple
• Huge cap stone at the top of Tanjore big temple
• Painting in Tanjore big temple
• Granite stones used for the temple construction
• Cutting and carving of Granite stones
• Secret passages in Tanjore big temple

The construction of the world's difficult temple is a great mystery to the people of world. As of now we can go only to the prediction on how theTanjore big temple was created and we cannot conclude on how the construction part would be. 

Underground passages in Tanjore big temple

The Tanjore big temple contains more than 100 underground passages to various places. The underground passages also contain some secret passage that leads to various places like thePalace of Raja Raja chola and also to other important places. The underground passages lead to the other temples and also to the other places in and around Tanjore. Most of the underground passages were sealed and if the people choose the wrong passage then there are possibilities that the path may also lead to the dangers. This can also be a trap for the kingdom safety of Raja Raja Chola. 

Huge Cap stone at the top of Tanjore big temple

The biggest mystery of all the other mystery in Tanjore big temple is the huge cap stone in the top of the Tanjore big temple. The weight of the cap stone at the top of Tanjore big templeweighs 80 tons. The main exclamation about the cap stone is that how come the builders of Tanjore big temple were able to place the cap stone at the top of the Gopuram in Tanjore big temple. There were no cranes or any high end equipments used in those days to do these works. The only thing that can help is the elephants. The huge cap of Tanjore big temple is constructed in such a way that the shadow of the Tanjore big temple Gopuram will not fall on the ground. It will just fall on itself. This particular planning and type of construction is not an easy task to go with.

Paintings in Tanjore big temple

There are lots of high quality paintings in the Tanjore big temple that explain many things about the kingdom of Raja Raja Chola and also the greatness of the Raja Raja Chola. Some paintings also explain about the Raja Raja Chola's favorite God Shiva. There were also some stories present in the painting present in Tanjore big temple. In the secret passage from Tanjore big temple there were great paintings present that explain about many great things. The most admiring part of thepainting in Tanjore big temple is the painting of Raja Raja Chola offering his respect to his Guru. The colors chosen for the painting are great such that the paintings are still good and healthy to see. 

Granite stones for Construction of Tanjore big temple

The granite stones are one of the strongest stones in the world. With the strength of the granite stone the stone is also equally heavy enough that it cannot be carried from one place to other place in the easy way. The stones that are used in Tanjore big temple were brought from a place that is 50 miles away from the Tanjore big temple. Without elephants the work might not be possible for the transportation of the rocks from that place. It is said that more than 1000 elephants were used for the construction of the Tanjore big temple. The ancestors of Chola kingdom were good enough to build temples with the granite stones. 

Cutting and carving of the granite stones

The cutting and carving of the granite stone is not an easy task even today. We can't even imagine how this would have made possible in those days without any special equipment. The Granites are the strongest stones in the world and it is definitely not an easy task to cut and carve the granite stones. When compared to carving cutting and shaping is the definitely difficult task. Those days the rocks were made small holes as a like and the holes were filled with the water and after a long period of time the rocks will automatically break. This was how the rocks were broken. But even today the cutting of a granite rocks take more than one hour and several gallons of water for the cutting with the help of the advanced equipments. 

Secret passages in Tanjore big temple

The secret passages were also built by Raja Raja Chola in his period of time. The secret passages were something different from the underground passages. The underground passages were built to connect several temples built by him together. Secret passage were built in such a way that it connects the secret places of the chola kings together like the one that connects the Palace of Raja Raja Chola and the Tanjore big temple. The secret passages in Tanjore big temple also consisted of many paintings that represent the greatness of Raja Raja Chola. There will be one painting that represents Raja Raja Chola offering his respect to his Guru. Most of the underground passages were blocked and closed because of the safety reasons. There were also some dangers in some of the underground passages from Tanjore big temple.

Rulers of Chola Dynasty

History

Cholas rule forms an important part in the history of South India. It saw remarkable progress in almost all spheres of life such as polity, culture and economy. In 9th century, the Cholas gained control and overthrew the Pallavas. They ruled in the south of India from the 9th to 13th Century. The Indian Chola Empire conquered not only south of India but also extended their empire over the seas and ruled parts of the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Vijayalaya

The founder of Chola Kingdom was Vijayalaya who conquered the kingdom of Tanjore during mid 8th century. The Indian Chola dynasty is an important landmark in the history of India. The Chola Empire occupied present Tanjore and Trichirappalli districts with some adjoining areas. The rule of Chola dynasty rose to prominence in 850 when their ruler Vijayalaya defeated the Pallavas and took over Tanjore from them. Due to the conflict between Pallavas and Pandyas, Vijayalaya occupied Tanjore and made his capital. He was succeeded by his son Aditya-I.

Aditya-I

Aditya-I defeated Pallava king Aparajita and also Parantaka Viranarayana, the Kongu ruler. After Aditya-I the kingdom was ascended by his son Parantaka-I who ruled between 907 to 955 AD. Cholas power earned supremacy under his reign. Parantaka-1 annexed territory of Pandya King and soon conquered the Vadumbas. He defeated away all of the Pallavas power.

Rajaraja Chola

Rajaraja Chola (985-1014 AD) was the one of the imperialistic and greatest Chola rulers. He was one of the greatest kings of the South India and was known as "Rajaraja the Great".Under the rule of Rajaraja the Chola kingdom grew into an extensive and well knit empire. It maintained diplomatic ties with countries as distant as Burma (Myanmar), China, and Malaysia across the Indian Ocean. Rajaraja I with the help of his able son Rajendra conquered nearly the whole of the present Madras Presidency. He defeated the eastern Chalukyas of Vegi, the Pandyas of Madurai and the Gangas of Mysore. He was an able administrator and also a great builder. Rajaraja chola built a magnificent temple at Tanjore, which is named as Rajarajeshwar after his name.

Rajendra Chola

Rajendra I (1012 1044 AD) was also an able ruler like his father Rajaraja Chola. He went upto Bengal and became victorious on the banks of Ganges. He was given the title of "Gangaikonda" (the victor of Ganges). He built up a new capital called Gangaikondacholapuram. Rajendra Chola's greatest achievements was the conquest of Andaman and Nicobar islands. During Rajendra Chola reign the kingdom was called the "Golden Age of Cholas." After his death the Chola kingdom began to decline. His successors were weak and so the kingdom started disintegrating.

Vira Rajendra

Vira Rajendra (1064 - 1070 AD) the elder brother of Rajendra-II succeeded his brother to reign for the next seven years. He conquered the invasion of Chalukya King and defeated the Chalukya ruler.Vira reconquered Vengi and foiled the efforts of Vijayabahu of Ceylon who was trying to drive the Cholas out of Ceylon. While Someswara-II succeeded the Chalukyas throne, Rajendra made some incursions but later on built friendly ties by giving his daughter to Vikramaditya. Soon after the death of Vira Rajendra in 1070 AD, there was a contest for the throne and Adhi-Rajendra, the heir apparent took the throne.

Place Patna, Bihar, Bengal & Srilanka Period 300 B.C. to 1250 A.D Language Tamil Religion Hinduism Kings Vijayalaya, Aditya-I, Rajraja Chola, Rajendra Chola, Vira Rajendra, Kulottunga - I, Vikrama Chola

Kulottunga - I

Rajendra-II succeeded Adhirajendra who got the title as Kulottunga Chola. In about 1073, Kalachuri King Yasahkarana invaded Vengi but did not gain anything. Pandyas and Chera's attack were defeated down by Kulottunga. The southern Kalinga revolt was also put down. In about 1118 AD, the Viceroy of Vengi - the Vikramaditya VI took control of Vengi from Chola and thus succeeded in separating the Cholas from the Eastern Chalukyas. Gangavadi and Nolambavadi were lost to Hoysala's Vishnuvardhana.

Vikrama Chola (1120 - 1135 AD)

The next successor, the son of Kulottunga-I restored the Chola power by reconquering Vengi and by taking control of part of Gangavadi. His reign was somewhat peaceful to his subjects though there were floods and famines in South Arcot. The Hoysala expansion took control of Chola power slowly and subsequently. The last rulers namely Kulottunga - II, Rajaraja - II, Rajadhiraja - III could not stop the Hoysalas annexation of Chola Kingdom. Cholas hold on Pandyan kingdom had already weakened. In about 1243, the Pallava chief declared independence. The Kakatiyas and Hoysalas partitioned among themselves the territory of the Chola Empire and Chola Empire ceased to exist for ever.

Administration and Art

Chola Dynasty was prosperous. It was divided into mandalams or provinces, further sub-divided into valanadus and nadus. The Cholas also built many temples and numerous sculptures were also found. They include bronze image of Nataraja, the divine dancer Shiva, dancing the dance of death and destruction. The Chola rulers are remembered most for their creations rather than their ruling.. Chola rulers were active patrons of the arts, poetry, drama, music, and dance. They are known for constructing enormous stone temple complexes decorated inside and out with painted and sculpted representations of the Hindu gods.

Culture and Society

There were many developments in the culture and society during the Chola Empire. The main center for cultural and social gatherings was the temple. The temple was an institution in itself. The temple courtyard functioned as a school where students were taught the ancient Vedas and Holy Scriptures. The temples were built in the form of citadels where people could feel safe during an attack or aggression. The society was divided into Brahmins and non-Brahmins. This was the time when Bhakti cult emerged and Lord Shiva was worshipped as a symbol of fertility. Language developed immensely and many languages like Tamil, Kannada and Telugu were developed from Sanskrit.