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.
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.
This is intricately carved - one side lotus flower open and one side closed, indicating day and night.
To be continued... (will write soon ;) ) Please provide your feedback as always!
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