Chola Art and Architecture (Imperial Period)

Stone lasts, but a god has to travel. The Chola kings built granite temples that were meant to stand for ages. They also cast bronze gods that could be carried through the streets. Start with the three great temples.

1.1 Who built the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, and when?

The Chola emperor Rajaraja I built it. Work began around 1003 and the temple was finished in 1010. In that year the king placed a gold-plated pot, called a kalasam, on top of the tower. That act consecrated the temple, which means it was made sacred.

The temple is also called Dakshina Meru, the “Mount Meru of the south”. Mount Meru is the mythical mountain at the centre of the universe in Hindu belief.

1.2 How was such a big temple built?

The temple is built of thousands of tons of granite. The nearest granite is at least 45 km away. No mortar was used to join the blocks.

Its main tower is called the vimana. It rises over the inner shrine and is about 60 m high. At the top sits a carved dome called the kumbam. It is cut from a single rock and weighs about 80 tons.

1.3 How did the builders lift the 80-ton dome?

Legend says they dragged it up a gently sloping ramp about 6 km long. Treat this as a story, not a proven fact. No record we can check tells us how it was lifted.

For exams, remember only this: the dome weighs about 80 tons, and the ramp is a legend.

1.4 Who designed it?

The temple was designed by Kunjara Mallan Raja Rama Perunthachan. He is one of the few builders of this age whose name survives.

1.5 What did Rajendra I build?

Rajendra I was Rajaraja’s son. He built the Brihadisvara temple at Gangaikondacholapuram, which was finished in 1035.

Its vimana is 53 m high. Its outline is quite different from the straight, severe tower at Thanjavur.

1.6 What did Rajaraja II build?

Rajaraja II ruled from 1143 to 1173. He built the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram.

It is smaller than the other two. Its vimana is 24 m high. Its front hall, the mandapa, is built like a chariot with wheels.

2.1 What is the lost-wax method?

Lost-wax casting, also called cire-perdue, is a way to cast metal. First the artist makes a model in wax. The wax is covered with a heat-proof mould. The mould is heated, and the wax melts and runs out. Molten bronze is then poured into the empty space.

The method is thousands of years old. It goes back to the 3rd millennium BC.

2.2 How were Chola bronzes made, and why were they movable?

South Indian bronze images are cast by the lost-wax process. After casting, the artist adds fine touches by carving. So the images are carved as well as modelled.

They range from small household images to almost life-size sculptures. The larger ones were meant to be carried in temple processions. That is why they are bronze and not stone. A stone image stays in the shrine, but a bronze image can leave it.

2.3 What is a Nataraja?

Nataraja is Shiva as the cosmic dancer. He is shown in metal or stone in many Shaivite temples, mostly in South India.

The Nataraja is the most famous Chola bronze.

2.4 Is bronze casting counted as a major Chola art?

UNESCO says the three temples show the brilliant achievements of the Chola in architecture, sculpture, painting and bronze casting. So bronze casting sits beside stone building as a Chola strength.

3.1 How did a temple pay for its staff?

A big temple was far more than a place of worship. Rajaraja I made many land grants to Brihadisvara. The people who worked there got land: cooks, gardeners, musicians, accountants and watchmen.

Rajaraja is also said to have given more than 38,000 gold coins to the newly consecrated temple.

3.2 Why do the temple’s inscriptions matter to historians?

The Tamil inscriptions are long. Some run to 107 paragraphs. They record the temple’s construction, its rituals and offerings, and the gifts it received. The king had them carved. They list his own gifts and those of his sister Kundavai and his queens.

So the walls work like a temple record book. They tell historians how the temple was built and run.

3.3 What were the sabha and the ur?

These were village councils. A village given to Brahmins had a council called a sabha. A non-Brahmin village had a council called an ur.

Councils had eligibility rules about who could sit on them. They were split into committees. They collected revenue and supervised irrigation.

3.4 What else do we know about the Chola state?

Revenue administration, village self-government and irrigation were highly organized under the Cholas. Long inscriptions on temple walls describe how village councils worked. Rich temples of southern India also invested their money in trade.

4.1 What is the UNESCO listing?

UNESCO lists the three temples together as the Great Living Chola Temples. Brihadisvara at Thanjavur was inscribed in 1987. UNESCO later changed the boundaries of the site to include Gangaikondacholapuram and Darasuram, in 2004.

All three are living temples, which means worship still goes on in them.

4.2 How do you keep the three kings and temples straight?

Use the king’s name and the place together. Rajaraja I built Brihadisvara at Thanjavur. Rajendra I built Brihadisvara at Gangaikondacholapuram. Rajaraja II built Airavatesvara at Darasuram.

The tower heights also differ. Thanjavur is about 60 m, Gangaikondacholapuram is 53 m and Darasuram is 24 m.

4.3 What does the art tell us about Chola power?

The temples show royal wealth and pride. Rajaraja built the Thanjavur temple with the booty of his conquests. Kings paid for huge temples, and the temples in turn fed and paid many people.