GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM

Like father, like son; the habit of building brilliantly engineered temples seems to run in the royal family of the Cholas. It's an even more laudable achievement, considering the fact that Gangaikondacholapuram was built in an attempt to reproduce a 'larger- than- life' father's achievement. It was built by King Rajendra Chozhan, son of Raja Raja Chozhan, who built the Brihadeeswara Temple at Tanjavur. Judging by the outcome anyone will say that the son is as good as his father, if not better. The temple was built during the golden period of the Cholas, when they were invading the northern territories, and wealth was overflowing as a result of their successful war campaigns. Rajendra Chozhan was much more than a passive king who inherited his father’s wealth. He led many successful campaigns and conquered Madurai and Ellam.

During one of his campaigns to the north, he brought back, water from the river 'Ganges' in a golden pot, and sanctified the reservoir 'Ponneri or Cholaganga'. Thus he was given the title of 'Gangaikondan'(the one who brought the Ganges). The king wanted to build a temple equivalent in stature to the Brihadeeswara Temple at Tanjavur. And thus came into existence, the Temple at Gangaikondacholapuram came between 1020 - 29 A.D.

The temple has complex carvings in the Vimanas, and is acknowledged to have some Northern influence; understandable, given the contact with the Northern Chalukya kingdoms. The architecture of this temple is an exhibition of intricate carvings on the hard southern granite stones, discarding the earlier Chola and Pallava style of subtlety and simplicity.

Some of the sculptures found here are as great as any found in any other Chola Temples. But the most striking and unique ones here are, The Nataraja, Coronation of King Rajendra Chozhan by Siva and Parvati, the dancing Ganesha and the most interesting the Ardhanari (the man-woman manifestation of Lord Shiva), one half has masculine characters and the other the more decorative female form, signifying duality of divine energy.

The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is a four meter high Lingam. The sanctum is surrounded by two walls, the inner and outer, providing private worship area for the royal family. A well-crafted image of Goddess Saraswati adorns the royal entrance of the sanctum, which indicates the Chalukyan influence. Also the presence of the 'Suryapita' icon, signifying sun worship and the presence of the 'Navagrahas' (nine planets), is said to be influenced by the Chalukyan connection.

Cholas being meticulous record keepers, one can find inscribed texts in copper plates and also in temple walls. The walls tell us stories of many victories of the warrior king, the land donations made during the period, kings ascending to thrones etc.

Gangaikondacholapuram took a longer time to complete and was a favourite place for  monarchs to ascending thrones. The temple suffered the misfortune of being in the middle of many wars, it was used as a garrison and fortified cantonment by the Pandyas and later on by the British. The temple has also been looted in many occasions, but the architectural and sculpting treasure can never be looted. This monument built to laud the achievements of a warrior king has stood the test of time and remains a standing accolade to the architects and the artists who have created this stunning monument.

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