Gaṅgaikoṇḍa Chōḻapuram is a village
located near to Jayankondam, Ariyalur
district, Tamil Nadu, India. It became the
capital of the Chola dynasty in c. 1025 by
Chola emperor Rajendra I, and served as the capital for around 250 years.
Town
Gaṅgaikoṇda Chōḻapuram
The Shiva temple in Gangaikonda
Cholapuram
Country
State
Languages
• Official
The town is about approximately 125
kilometres (78 mi) northeast of
Tiruchirapalli international airport. As of
2014, the ancient city exists as a heritage
town in the Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, India. The great Arulmigu Peruvudaiyar
Temple at this place is next only to the
Arulmigu Peruvudaiyar Kovil at Thanjavur
in its monumental nature and surpasses it
in sculptural quality.[1] It has been
recognised as a World Heritage site by
UNESCO. [2]
History
Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple Entrance
The city was founded by Rajendra I to
commemorate his victory over the Pala
Dynasty. The translation of the city's name
may be split into Gangai (Ganga)/ Konda (Obtained)/ Chola (Chola)/ Puram (City).
Hence, it refers to the city of the Cholas
built on a locale to commemorate the
occasion when the water of the Ganga
was obtained. It is now a small village, its
past eminence only remembered by the
existence of the Mahashiva Temple. The
Chola Empire included the whole of
southern India to the river Tungabhadra in
the north. For administrative and strategic
purposes, they built a new capital and
named it Gangaikonda Cholapuram.
The city seems to have had two
fortifications, one inner and the other
outer. The outer was probably wider. The
remains of the outer fortification can be
seen as a mound running all around the
palace.
Ruins of the ancient city
Excavations suggest that the outer
fortification was built of burnt bricks, was
about six to eight feet wide. It consisted of
two walls, the intervening space (the core)
being filled with sand. The bricks are fairly
large in size and are made of well-burnt
clay. [3][4] The Tamil Nadu State Archaeological Department has taken up
fresh excavations to probe a nearby village
named Ayudhkalam which is believed to
have weapon manufacturing workshops,
as the name suggests. [5]
The surviving temple in Gangaikonda
Cholapuram was completed in 1035 CE. [6]
Rajendra emulated the temple built by his
father after his victory in a campaign
across India that Chola era texts state
covered Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, and Bengal. After his victory, he
demanded that the defeated kingdoms
send pots of Ganges River water and pour
it into the well of this temple. [3]
Rajendra I, according to Tamil tradition,
thereafter assumed the name of
Gangaikonda Cholan, meaning the one
who conquered the Ganges. He
established Gangaikonda Cholapuram as
his capital from the medieval Chola capital
of Thanjavur, which would go on to become the capital for the next 250
years. [7] Rajendra I built the entire capital with several temples using plans and
infrastructure recommended in Tamil
Vastu and Agama sastra texts. [3] These
included a Dharma Sasta, Vishnu and
other temples. However, all of these were
destroyed in the late 13th and 14th
centuries except the Brihadishvara temple.
The other Chola landmarks are evidenced
by soil covered mounds and excavated
broken pillar stumps and brick walls found
over an area of several kilometres from the
The reasons for the city's destruction are
unclear. According to Vansanthi, the
Pandyas who defeated the Cholas during the later part of the 13th century "may
have razed the city to the ground" to
avenge their previous defeats.[4] However, it is unclear why other temples were
destroyed and this temple was spared, as
well as why there are around 20
inscriptions from later Cholas, Pandyas
and Vijayanagar Empire indicating various gifts and grants to this temple.[8] An
alternate theory links the destruction to
the raids and wars, particularly with the
invasion of the capital city and the
territories that were earlier a part by the
Chola Empire along with Madurai by the
armies of Delhi Sultanate led by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur in 1311,
followed by Khusrau Khan in 1314 and
Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1327.[9][10][11]
The period that followed saw wars
between the Hindu kings and the Muslim
Sultans who seceded the Delhi Sultanate
and carved out new polity such as the
nearby Madurai Sultanate (1335–
1378).[12][note 1] The Vijayanagara Empire
defeated the Madurai Sultanate in 1378
and this temple along with other Chola era
temples thereafter came under Hindu
kings again who repaired and restored
many of them. [9][12] The temple has been re-consecrated in 2017 with installation of
a dwajasthambam and performing maha
kumbhabhishekam [14][15]
Arts and architecture
Chola rulers were patrons of the arts and
architecture. They built the temple of
Gangaikondacholisvara. The temple has
sculptures of exceptional quality. The
bronzes of Bhogasakti and Subrahmanya
are masterpieces of Chola metal icons.
The Saurapitha (Solar altar), the lotus altar
with eight deities, is considered
auspicious.[2] The shiva lingam is made from single rock.
The Chola rulers constructed enormous
stone temple complexes with intricate
carvings of Hindu gods. Rajaraja I built the
famous Brihdrishvara temple at Thanjavur,
which is about 50 km away from city of
Gangaikonda Cholapuram, between 1003
and 1010 CE. Shiva is worshipped here.
The grandeur of this temple has not been
diminished by age. There is a massive
statue of Nandi, the sacred bull of Shiva, in
the central courtyard of the temple.
The exquisite bronze statues of the Chola
period are known the world over for their
grace and lifelike appearance. Many
beautiful figures of Nataraja, or the
dancing Shiva, were made during the
Chola era.
Remains of Royal Palace as of 2005 in Maligaimedu Village
The royal palace also was built of burnt
brick. The ceilings were covered with flat
tiles of small size, laid in a number of
courses, in fine lime mortar. The pillars
were probably made of polished wood,
supported on granite bases; a few pillar
bases have survived to this day. Iron nails
and clamps have been recovered from this
palace site. There is a tunnel that links the
palace and the temple inner 1st prakaara
(north).
Side View of Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple.
In the reign of Virarajendra Chola,
Rajendra's third son, the palace at
Gangaikondacholapuram is referred to as
Chola-Keralan Thirumaligai (Chola Keralan
palace) evidently after one of the titles of
Rajendra I. The same inscription mentions
a few parts of the palace as adibhumi (the
ground floor), Kilaisopana (the eastern portico), and a seat named Mavali
vanadhirajan. Evidently the palace was
multistoried. In an inscription dated in the
49th year of Kulothunga I (1119 CE)
reference is made to
Gangaikondacholamaligai at this place. It
is likely that there were more than one
royals building each having their own
name.
Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva, half Parvati) statue in Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple Roads and City gates
Excavated Ancient Stone Sculptures
Besides the names of the palace and fort
walls, the names of a few roads and
streets are preserved in the epigraphs. The
entryways named Thiruvasal, the eastern
gate and the Vembugudi gate, evidently
the south gate leading to the village
Vembugudi situated in that direction are
mentioned. Reference is also found to
highways named after Rajaraja and
Rajendra as Rajarajan Peruvali and
Rajendran Peruvali. Other streets
mentioned in epigraphs are the ten streets
( Pattu teru), the gateway lane ( Thiruvasal
Narasam) and the Suddhamali lane. The
inscription also refers to the highways,
Kulottungacholan Thirumadil peruvali,
Vilangudaiyan Peruvali and Kulaiyanai pona Peruvali (the highway through which a
short elephant passed by).
City layout
The epigraphs also refer to the
Madhurantaka Vadavaru, now called the
Vadavaru, running about six kilometers
east of the ruined capital. Madhurantaka
Vedavaru, named after one of the titles of
Rajendra I, was a source of irrigation to a
vast stretch of land bordering the capital.
An irrigation channel called Anaivettuvan
is also mentioned.
"Anaivettuvan" - Anai means irrigation (step irrigation) vettuvan means labour or
engineer.
There were both wet and dry lands inside
the Fort, used for cultivation and other
purposes. The present positions of the
existing temples throw some light on the
lay out of the city. With the palace as the
centre to the city, the great temple, and the
other temples in the city seem to have
been erected. Towards the northeast
( Isanya) of the palace is the great temple
of Siva. The Siva temple according to
Vastu and traditional texts should be in the northeast of the city or village and should
face east. The temple of Vishnu should be
in the west.
A number of small tanks and ponds
mentioned in inscriptions and a number of
wells, supplied drinking water to the
residents.
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