For those who are hearing about RRC for the first time, here is a brief from Wikipedia:
"Rajaraja I, born Arulmoli Varman, often described as Rajaraja the Great, was a Chola emperor (reigned c. 985–1014) and was the most powerful king in south at his time chiefly remembered for reinstating the Chola power and ensuring its supremacy in south India and Indian Ocean.
His extensive empire included the Pandya country (southern Tamil Nadu), the Chera country (central Kerala and western Tamil Nadu) and northern Sri Lanka. He also acquired the Lakshadweep and Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean. Campaigns against the Western Gangas (southern Karnataka) and Chalukyas extended the Chola influence as far as the Tungabhadra River. On the eastern coast he battled with the Chalukyas for the possession of Vengi (the Godavari districts).
Rajaraja, an able administrator, also built the incomparable Brihadeesvara Temple at the Chola capital Thanjavur. The temple is regarded as the foremost of all temples in the medieval south Indian architectural style and is standing tall and proud after 1000+ years. During his reign, the texts of the Tamil poets Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar were collected and edited into one compilation called Thirumurai. He initiated a massive project of land survey and assessment in 1000 CE which led to the reorganization of the country into individual units known as valanadus. Rajaraja died in 1014 CE and was succeeded by his son Rajendra Chola I"
Since reading "Ponniyin Selvan" (long ago, have reread it many times now), my thirst to know more about Chozha's grew manifold. Shri. Balakumaran's "Udayaar" did little to quench the thirst, but i became as parched as "palai nilam":). My husband has been equally avid and recently my 7 year old son has come leapt into the ride as well.
We wanted to fulfill our longing of walking the same path this great king walked, breathing the same air this king once breathed and imagine the lands through his eyes, we started our journey to try and relive a bit of the "Ponniyin Selvan"/"Udayaar" trails.
However, our son is the primary reason behind this trip. He is so much into Chozhan history that he can recite the old inscriptions as is! from the moment we decided about this trip, it became exciting :)
I started reading many travelogues, researched articles, pored through maps and took notes, drawing the map for our tour. We had to draw from many sources to find all the details. That is the primary reason for my writing this travelogue.
While this trip and it's account is only a portion of the whole journey and customized for our convenience, we hope To help those who come after us to visit these places less difficulty! A tiny bit for the trailblazer king and his progeny!
I have narrated based on my experience and what worked for us. If you have any questions, please post in comments - will try my best to answer. Please post your feedback as well, will help me to do better!
Day 1 of 3- A not so early start and a start loaded with eagerness and anticipation
We started from Chennai in the morning, reached Pondy at 9.30. Had breakfast and proceeded to our first stop - "Sri Veera Narayana Perumal Temple - Kattu Mannar Koil". Birthplace of Sri Nathamuni (compiled Nalayira Divya Prabandham) and Sri Alavandhar. Ulagirku Nalayira Divya Prabhandhathai kattum mannar. Hence the name Kattu Mannar Koil. Maragathavalli Thayar.
Very old temple, built by Chozha's 1400 years ago and you can imagine "Azhvarkadiyan" fighting against Saivites in this temple!
You can find more details on the temple here:
https://tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com/2015/09/veeranarayanan-perumal-koil-temple.html
Temple was closed when we reached, few others were also waiting, the battar mama opened for us and we all had a lovely darshan!
Temple Timing: 7 AM to 12 Noon and 5PM to 8 PM
Contact Details: Thirupullani B. Rangaraja Bhattachariar 98403 69793
There is a beautiful pond before the temple.
Next stop is Sri Anantheeshwarar Temple with Soundaranayagi Ambal. This is just 5 minutes from Veera Narayana Perumal temple, but little difficult to locate, since there are many Sivan temples around. Landmark is near Sub Treasury.
Such a beautiful temple with so many inscriptions! Here is where we have the famous "Udayarkudi Inscriptions" which narrates the punishment given to the murderers of Aditha Karikalan (Crown Prince and elder brother of RRC). My son got so excited seeing these inscriptions as this was one of the key attractions for him. We were late reaching the temple, but i requested the Sivachari mama to keep it open for 5 more minutes. Since it was Krithigai, he was also busy performing abishekam, we were fortunate to visit this temple. This temple has a beautiful Nandhavanam (garden), filled with nandhiyavattai trees. We found nadhiyavattai tress throughout our trip, refreshing sight.
Coordinates: 7GGX+WJ5
Temple Timing: 7 AM to 12.30 Noon and 5PM to 8 PM
Contact Details: 94864 57124
Our next stop was where Vandhiyathevan started his journey in "Ponniyin Selvan". Yes, "Veera Narayana yeri". It was around 2PM when we reached the banks of this lake. Oh My God! It just took our breath away. Such a vast lake that it resembles an ocean! "Bramandam" is the word that came to my mind! We were wondering how Cholas built this lake, what a foresight they had, how they would have done it 1100 years ago. My husband remarked that it is difficult to even imagine how one could have visualized such a huge artificial lake from whatever the landscape before. imagine trying to do that in today's age with all the technology and the political factors, we might not be able to do it:). The fact that we could see current versions of canals from this lake providing irrigation to a huge area of farmlands around is a testament to the success of this project, centuries later! "Chola Vala Nadu"!!
Our next stop was where Vandhiyathevan started his journey in "Ponniyin Selvan". Yes, "Veera Narayana yeri". It was around 2PM when we reached the banks of this lake. Oh My God! It just took our breath away. Such a vast lake that it resembles an ocean! "Bramandam" is the word that came to my mind! We were wondering how Cholas built this lake, what a foresight they had, how they would have done it 1100 years ago. My husband remarked that it is difficult to even imagine how one could have visualized such a huge artificial lake from whatever the landscape before. imagine trying to do that in today's age with all the technology and the political factors, we might not be able to do it:). The fact that we could see current versions of canals from this lake providing irrigation to a huge area of farmlands around is a testament to the success of this project, centuries later! "Chola Vala Nadu"!!Breathtaking! No wonder their reign is still known as the golden period., and it started raining as if the gods were agreeing with us.
Location: Veeranam Lake - Google Maps
If you have plans to stay at Kattumannar Koil - you can try Hotel Saradharam Residency - 94425 91466
From there we started to Keezha Kadambur Rudra Koteeswarar Temple (It was known as Kadambur in olden days, now it is called as Mela Kadambur and Keezha Kadambur). It is about 20-25 minutes drive from lake. Kattu Mannar Koil is a bigger town, but once we leave that town, we might not find shops. Better to carry food, water, snacks etc., We had our puliyodharai and Thayir Saadham (Of course no trip is complete without our home made puliyodharai, Idly, Thayir Saadham ;) ). We were ready at around 3PM for the evening session of the trip.
Temple is under ASI now. The key is with the local residents, if we call them they will come and open. They also willingly showed us around the temple, inscriptions and the famous tunnel / Hollow Sculptures. Presiding deity is Sri Rudrapathi / Rudra Koteeswarar and Soundaranayagi Ambal. Devaaram hymns (sung by "Appar") has mentioned this temple and known as "Thevara vaipu sthalam". The temple depicts the history of Nayanmars, with inscriptions dated back to 12th Century and sculptures dated before Darasuram temple. Hollow sculptures were really amazing, when you clink the sculpture with a coin you can hear a clear note as if striking a brass bell! Imagine such a sculpture made ages ago and surviving 1000+ years! Amazing architecture! The tunnel is believed to be the escape route used by "Abathuudhavis" after murdering Adittha Karikalan. It is believed to lead to GangaiKonda Cholapuram.
The temple is in a very dilapidated condition. My heart bleeds on seeing some of these temples and pallipadais! Something substantial should be done to preserve such legacy.
There is a fishing pond nearby and such a scenic location!
Coordinates: 11.23941, 79.53493
Contact: 99431 33058
More info on this temple: Tamilnadu Tourism: Rudra Koteeswarar Temple, Keezha Kadambur, Cuddalore (Tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com)
Our next stop was Mela Kadambur - Sri Amirtha Kadeswarar Temple
We reached at around 4.30PM, but it appeared that the temple timings if 5.30 - 7.30 PM. Waited outside. It is believed that the Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar Maligai is believed to be somewhere between these two kadambur temples, we went in search of the ruins but could not locate.
The temple has a beautiful Nandhavanam and sculptures were so intricate!!! Sivachariyar explained many things to us. This deity/Lingam is believed to be before Ramayana kaalam (from Krutha Yugam). This is a karakkoil (chariot shaped vimanam). Blessed to worship Amirtha Kadeswarar (Nava pashana lingam) and Vidhyajothinayaki. The Ambal is believed to turn into Saraswathi in the morning, Mahalakshmi in mid-day and Durga in the evening, exhibiting the various forms or Shakti. You can see the facial expression of Ambal changing accordingly. Indra's ego was crushed by Lord Vinayaga here and many other important events associated with this temple. This temple is quoted in Ponniyin Selvan.
DasaBhuja-Rishaba-Thandavamoorthy is famous here, 1000+ years old, abishekam during pradosham and we can see him only on that day. Muruga appears with a bow, Sani Bagavan sits in an Eagle (crow was given by Dasaratha, before that Sani sat on Eagle), Lord Brahma worshipping Siva, Yama and his assistants, - many such unique things we can see here. Kadambu tree is the sthala vriksham and hence the name Kadambur. Truly blessed!
Coords: 11.2368718,79.5254441
Temple Timings: 07.30 - 10 am; 5.30 - 07.30 PM
Contact: Sri Kirubakaran Archakar - 86085 44837 / 9585451409
More info on this temple: Tamilnadu Tourism: Amirthakateshwarar Temple (Karakkoil), Melakadambur, Cuddalore (tamilnadu-favtourism.blogspot.com)
Our next stop was Maaligai Medu
It is about 12 kilometers from Mela Kadambur, 1km from GangaiKondaCholapuram temple. Ruins of Rajendra Chola's palace can be seen here. Major excavation is going on here and many interesting finds have been made by the TN State Archaeology. Plan to visit there in day time, else cannot see anything here.
Our final stop for the day was Gangai Konda Cholapuram Arulmigu Peruvudaiyar Temple. The first thought that struck us was, we should not have kept this as the last place for the day. This is enormous and needs minimum 2 hours to just view! Daylight is essential to view this place in its full glory.
India was celebrating 100 crores COVID vaccinations that day and hence we had the banner there :)
This temple and the city was built by Rajendra Chola I during 11th Century. For almost 250 years this was the capital of Cholas. This Shivalingam is made of single lime stone and considered to be one of the biggest (bigger than the one in Thanjavur ), the sunlight directly falls on the enoromous Nandhi and reflecting on the linga during the day and even if all the lamps are switched off, we can see the lingam in the sanctum sanctorum. Unparalleled architecture! Mind-blowing! Chandrakanta stone in sanctum sanctorum beneath the lingam, which keeps the sanctum sanctorum cool in summer and warm in winter. Shadow of the Kalasam does not fall on the ground.
Temple opening time: 6-12noon; 4-8PM
Contact: 97513 41108
After a beautiful day with the Cholas, mind still absorbing the enormity of their knowledge, heart throbbing with love for the great King, we went to our Resort in Thanjavur.
Keeping with the spirit of the trip we booked our stay an ethnic report :Great Trails River View resort. Such a lovely and comfortable resort on the banks of Vennaru River.
And it turned out to be a awesome choice(more on this later
We called and ordered room service, was hot and ready when we arrived, refreshed, hogged on the food and lied down. Nithra Devi embraced us the moment our head hit the pillow. Will continue our day 2 soon! Thanks for reading :)
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