The Greatest Chola King Raja Raja Chozhar's Final Abode - Bidding Adieu to our Hero!

 Thank you for all the love and support for the first 2 parts. Tooke me time to write this blog and all your comments and love, makes it rewarding :)

Day 2 afternoon - after having a great lunch, we relaxed for a while in the resort and started @3.30PM to Airavateesvara Temple in Darasuram (On hindsight should have started at 2PM). It is just 80kms from Tanjore but the roads are narrow and hence took about 75 minutes.

This temple is a must-see if you are a fan of Chozha's architecture. 

Dating back to the 12th Century, this architectural marvel was built by the famous Chola King Rajaraja Chola II, dedicated to Lord Shiva. It was much bigger than what it is now with the gopurams entirely in ruins, but the main shrine and the associated sanctums still stand mighty and proud.

This temple was named after Airavat, Lord Indra’s white elephant. Legend has it that the elephant was cursed by Sage Durvasa for disrespecting Him which caused the spotless white elephant lose his colour. The elephant prayed Lord Shiva, who asked him to take a dip in the temple tank and he regained his white colour, freed from his curse (inscriptions narrating this is in the inner sanctum of the temple). The devotees believe that taking a dip in the temple tank will free them from their sins.

 Few architectural marvels:

Astonishing stone resembling a chariot shape

The Musical Steps - The small ornately carved flight of seven steps leading to the ‘Balipeetham’, called as the “Musical steps” represent the seven musical notes. When one walks or even taps them, they produce all the seven melodious ‘swaras’ or notes of music. Goosebumps!!!

Illusion: Sculpture resembling Bull on one side and elephant on the other with just one head.

 Intricate Carvings throughout the temple

Check out for the gymansts carvings and many more.. You would need more than a day if you are a lover of scultupres! Such impressive art 1000 years ago it just unimaginable!

Temple timings: 8AM - 12 Noon, 4PM - 8PM

Location: Darasuram Temple

Our next stop was Panchavan Madevi Pallipadai, Queeen of Raja Raja Chola I and step-mother of Rajendra Chola I. The temple stands tall, in its representation of Love – Love for a Mother.

Pallippadai in Tamil denotes a Memorial Temple, a place, as per Saivite rituals, where the ashes of the person were buried, and a deity for worship- a Shiva Lingam -would be consecrated. Generally built in honour of the loved one.

Panchavanmadevi was a Pazhuvettaraiyar Princess, a great dancer (legend has it that she posed for the Bharatanatya karanas in the Tanjore temple) and an eminent Patron of several temples. Several inscriptions mention her contributions.

During the Chola reign, it is a well documented fact that the women were empowered (We had a great civilisation even 1000 years ago!). Be it Kundhavai or Sembian madhevi or Panchavan Madhevi - they all were eminent personalities, well respected and contributed equally to the society at large.

What makes Panchavan Madhevi exceptional, to have a pallipadai in her honour, is that her immense affection for her step-son Rajendra I.

You can get the key from the temple priest, if it is closed. The people in the village are very cordial and will guide you to the priest's home.

The inscriptions are in adhistanam. The inscription reads:

“பழையாறையான முடிகொண்ட சோழபுரத்துப் பள்ளிப்படை பஞ்சவன் மாதேவிச்சரம்”. 

You have to read Udayar to just understand Panchavan Madevi. You will just live with her, love her and breathe her. That feeling cannot be explained in words! It was really a dream come true moment for me to visit these places, to just breathe the same air they breathed 1000 years ago, to just walk in the same land they walked in.. it is just goosebumps moment for me! 

Love you RRC, Kundhavai, Vandhiya thevan, Panchavan madevi, Rajendra Chozhan, Aniruddha brahmarayar, karuvur thevar, Easana siva pandithar, pazhuvettarayar and all those who contributed for the greatness we see today! My heart is just filled with varied emotions!

Location: Panchavan Madevi Pallipadai

Priest Sabapathy Gurukkal: 9944664144

With a heavy heart, we started to our next important stop in our trip - "Raja Raja Chozha's pallipadai". Having seen Panchavan Madevi's and with so much of emotions running in our mind, we were just silent and were not emotionally ready to meet our King yet.

Google maps is crap, kept taking us in circles, please call the priest, he will guide you.

Finally - we stepped on the land where the mighty King was buried. Where it all came to an end! 

Udayalur village, ~32 kms from Thanjavur is where the great King was finally laid to rest. Paalkulaththu Amman temple, located on the banks of Palkulam has a stone pillar in its doorway bearing inscriptions. Previously this pillar was part of the mandapam in Pazhayarai, where in the body of Raja Raja Cholan I laid for last rites. At a later date this mandapam was demolished and the pillar was taken and placed at Paalkulaththu Amman temple.

Here lies my mighty King once expanded his kingdom within India and to south-asia, Srilanka, beyond Indian Ocean; when crossing ocean was just a dream, leave alone having a full-fledged navy and conquering far-off countries! Here lies the patron of art who built architectural marvel Thanjavur temple! Here lies the sage who did the unbelievable task of compiling "Thirumurai". Here lies the greatest administrator who brought in so many civil reforms, who introduced elections, assessment of land and reorganising them as valanadu. Above all, here lies a great human being of all times! My Raja Raja Chozhan, Our Raja Raja Chozhan, Our pride!

The final resting place of the greatest Chola Emperor is in such a dilapidated condition that it just broke my heart. The priest is so good and does whatever he can from the limited income he gets. Just stepping on that land and looking at the mausoleum will teach us so many lessons in life! 

Whenever you can, please do visit and pay your respects to the greatest king. If you cannot visit, please call the priest and donate whatever you can for the upkeep of this historical place!

I do not have any more words! With a heavy heart and teary eyes, we just left that place. Long Live Cholas! Long Live Raja Raja Chozhan! Long Live Tamil!

Priest Jayaraman: 7402449681

Location: Raja Raja Chozhar Mausoleum

Thank you!!!

Raja Raja Chozhan Chronicles - Day 2 first half

 Thank you for reading the Day 1 post and providing lovely feedback. To write this Day 2 it took me almost 2 months simply because i was stuck in day-to-day chores and this needs some dedicated time. Just thinking how dedicated Kalki or Balakumar or Neelakanda Sastri would have been to write so much on Chola History!

Here is our first half of Day 2:

Woke-up early in the morning and was greeted by the lovely sight of Sun and Moon at the same time! We had a lovely river view room with a spacious balcony, where we sat and enjoyed a lovely morning cup of strong aromatic coffee! On the banks of Vennar river, peacocks were dancing and cooing! Monkeys were jumping from trees and staring at us. Luckily they do not come into the resort, sits on the wall, observes and goes back to the tree. I was just thinking, if we can have such a relaxed, blissful morning, getting up at 5.30 wont be difficult :)

Finished our morning chores and went to the dining for a sumptuous breakfast! What a spread! I am a vegetarian and a foodie, so it was heavenly to look at all those dishes lined-up and inviting me to relish them! Fluffy pooris with mildly spiced Potato masala, Vegetable upma, Live dosa and Paniyaram counter,  Crispy Vada, Ghee Pongal, Ceylon Parotta and a coconut based side dish, 3 varieties of chutney, Juices, Fresh cut fruits, Bread - just to name a few :) All set for a long day, now lets go to the great Peruvudaiyar Temple! It was called as RajaRajeswaram by Raja Raja Chozhar.

It was just a 15 minute drive from our Resort to the temple. Lush green fields, Paddy was being dried and threshed, little sparrows were on the road trying to grab some grains. If you go early, you will get a good parking space just opposite to the temple. We know quite a bit of history about the temple, but a guide insisted that he knew lot many details and will give a guided tour (Tamilnadu Tourism guide). Due to the pandemic tourists inflow was minimal which placed their livelihood at stake. We opted for his service. Just a pointer here for future travelers, if you already know a little history, these tours wont help. These are just basics for people who dont know anything about Thanjavur or Raja Raja Chozhar (RRC). 

Statue of Raja Raja Chozhar

A little peek into the history here. Tanjore was ruled by Pallavas around 550 AD - 800 AD. Vijayalaya Chola established Chola empire again and Cholas ruled for around 400 years. After Cholas, Pandiyas ruled for a short period and the reins went to Muslim rulers (12-13th century). During 14th Century Vijayanagar rulers (Nayakkas) took over the administration and it lasted till 17th Century when the Marathas came to power. When Sivaji, the last Maratha ruler, died in 1855 without a male heir, Tanjore was annexed to the British India through Doctrine of Lapse.

Many changes have been done to the temple by the different rulers, like the Nandi that we see now was the contribution of Marathas, carved out of a single stone befitting the Brahadeeswarar. The older nandi kept by RRC started growing mysteriously and it has been nailed down and kept near Varahi sannidhi. Varahi sannidhi has its own significance. Apparently RRC visits Varahi everytime before he steps out for a war. (Not Nisumba soodhani, that's a separate deity. She was special to the Cholas as well). Amman sannidhi was built by Pandiyas. It has beautiful paintings and stone carvings! Nayakkas built the Karuvur thevar sannithi (RRC's spiritual guru).

One has to read "Udaiyar" to understand how painstakingly Raja Raja Chozhar built the temple. A few facts for the readers benefit. This is a temple fully built with Granite stones in a period where it was not common. RRC wanted the temple to stand forever as a symbol of Tamil Culture. Granite stones were not available nearby Thanjavur, they had to bring it from Narthamalai which is about 50 miles away. It is difficult to cut the granite stones as well. With no big transport facilities or infrastructure facilities, it is just mind-blowing to even think about how RRC made it possible! It is believed that series of holes were made in the granite stone (shallow or deep based on the requirement), wooden sticks were placed on those holes and filled with water. The wood will expand in due course thereby breaking the stone.

Another interesting fact is that the gopuram is 216 feet tall (signifying the 216 letters in Tamil) but built without any binding materials. They made it through a mechanism called interlocking.

Another unbelievable fact is the vimana (topmost round shaped stone - Cap stone) weighs 80 tons!!! It is believed that the sanctum sanctorum (Garbagriha) emits so much of electromagnetic positive energies and the vimana was kept as a repulsive force to keep the energies trapped within the Garbagraha so that the devotees can benefit from the positive vibes (An answer to people who ask why should we go to temple to worship God :) ). There are 8 huge nandis near the neck of the vimana and they are carved out of single stone. More than 130,000 tons of granite were used to build this temple.

How they took the cap stone to that height is still a mystery. It is widely believed that a circular ramp, surrounding the tower, was constructed using soil and elephants were used to carry the stones and nandis to the top. The lower part of the ramp ended like 6kms away from Thanjavur. Tons of soil was brought in from various places. Just imagining such a thing gives us goosebumps.

The shadow of the vimana will not fall on the ground during noon! This is the only structure in the world to have this feature. At the top of the vimana there is a kalasa (metal structure with a lotus design) which has inscriptions mentioning the names of various kings. That was brought down last year for polishing and it was 12 feet tall! It looks so small from ground level, you can imagine how tall is the entire structure!

There is a small staircase near the main deity which leads to the upper part of the tower. It is said that the chanting of mantra "OM" inside that hollow structure gives rise to a divine vibration.

There are lot of beautiful paintings in the Tanjore Big Temple which explains about the greatness of the Chola empire. It is a mystery how even after 1000 years they look so beautiful! It is believed that some herbs were used to give that ever lasting colour.

Bharatanatyam is a divine dance form of Tamils and 108 karanas (poses) are carved as statues on the outer wall of the upper story corridor wall.

There are more than 100 underground / secret passages inside the temple premises. These are believed to have been used by the chola King and his family to visit the temple, few paths that might lead to treasures and few paths to hide from enemies if the need arises. The mysterious thing is that some paths leads to dangerous paths and some nowhere at all. Hence these are all sealed now. Historians call it as the safety trap of RRC.

Another mystery is there are two foreigner sculptures in the gopuram. One is believed to be a France King and another is believed to be a Chinese. Proves that Cholas had indeed spread their wings beyond India, in a period when sea travel was minimal.

There are so many inscriptions inside the temple premises mentioning about various things. Prominent one being who contributed towards building this temple.

In the prahara (path around the tower), you can see some beautiful sculptures.

This is intricately carved - one side lotus flower open and one side closed, indicating day and night.

Near this elephant there is a horse with a rope like structure on its neck. If you close and touch the rope, you will feel as if you are touching the rope. Such beautiful carving in stone.

Murugan sannidhi has intricate carvings and lovely polished stone structures. (built by Nayakas).

I can go on and on about this temple. Please visit Wiki and other related websites if you need more info.

Location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Brihadeeswara+Temple/@10.7813384,79.1008628,13z/data=!4m9!1m2!2m1!1stanjore+temple+location!3m5!1s0x3baab89f48fe1221:0x1d23cb40e55d84d6!8m2!3d10.7827828!4d79.1318463!15sChd0YW5qb3JlIHRlbXBsZSBsb2NhdGlvbloQIg50YW5qb3JlIHRlbXBsZZIBDGhpbmR1X3RlbXBsZQ?hl=en

You can get beautiful authentic Tanjore paintings nearby (be watchful and ensure its authenticity).

After this we visited Darbar Hall, Museum and Saraswathi Mahal Library. These all have their own significance.

Came back to hotel for lunch, took some rest and started for the afternoon leg of our trip. This is the most interesting part of our trip. In search of RRC's final abode!

To be continued... (will write soon ;) ) Please provide your feedback as always!