Hi Guys,
Wish you a very Happy New Year
2018! I’m here back with another post on my recent mini trip across three
famous ‘Great living Chola temples’
as referred by UNESCO. It was an adhoc trip and it turned out to be a great
one.
Day 1 – Train to Kumbakonam and Sunset at Gangai Konda Cholapuram
I started by journey via Cholan
Express to see the temples built by the Cholans. This train is one of those
rare trains in Indian Railways which doesn’t run on optimal passenger load
thanks to the presence of sleeper and AC coaches in a daytime train. So, it is
a suitable train for Adhoc trips. Nevertheless, let me skip the train journey
and focus more on the temples. The
train was an hour late as it reached Kumbakonam on the verge of 3 pm. It meant
that I had to cut down Darasuram from Day 1 and keep it for day 2.
I kept my backpack in a nearby
Hotel and got into a bus for Gangai Konda Cholapuram which is approximately 40
kms from Kumbakonam. The trip has a scenic dam on the way across Kollidam
River. The dam has an island called ‘Anaikarai’ in between and the bridge on
either side is one way which means vehicles have to stop on one side and wait
for their turn. It was around 5.30 pm by the time I reached Gangai Konda
Cholapuram.
Gangai Konda Cholapuram was built
by Rajendra Cholan after he expanded his kingdom till the branches of the
mighty river Ganga. He constructed the imposing temple here and moved the
capital city to this place. A look at the place today and you will see it as
nothing more a giant temple amidst a village. It is hard to believe a mighty
kingdom was ruled out of this place once.
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| The Silhoutte of Gangai Konda Cholapuram amidst Sunset |
The temple is completely built
out of stone as are the other two temples. The temple’s main tower is the heart
of the whole architecture. It is built very similar to the Thanjavur temple,
but the key difference is that after the first two layers, the structure is
more spherical in nature as against the tapering square in the Thanjavur temple.
Incidentally, the temple is also named as Brihadisvara temple in line with the
temple at Thanjavur. The temple has a giant Shiva Lingam and is a very peaceful
temple with very little crowd around. The peace adds to the mystical feel of
the temple. Outside the temple, the landscape is well maintained by ASI with
lawns and trees attracting hundreds of pigeons and parrots. At Sunset, there
was constant screeching from the parrots as they were settling down. Apart from
the main temple, the surrounding complex has been destructed over time. After
strolling across till sunset, I took a bus back to Kumbakonam and stayed there
for the night.
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| The giant tower in Gangai Konda Cholapuram! |
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| The big Nandi Statue and temple Flagstaff |
Day 2 – Darasuram and Thanjavur
After thinking of starting as
early as 6 am in the morning, I slept off and got ready by 7 am. Darasuram is a
Suburb of Kumbakonam and is only 2-3 kms away from the main town. It was around
7.45 am when I reached the deserted temple. The temple is constructed a bit
lower than the surface which means that you have to climb down a few steps and
get into stagnant water (from the rains) to get inside the temple. Since, the
temple is below surface level, water keeps creeping in through the stone floor,
which has resulted in Algae bloom and not so pleasant odour.
This temple known as ‘Airavateswara
Temple’ was built by Raja Raja Chola II in the 12th century. The
temple is said to be a much bigger complex with seven streets. However, only
the main complex is present today. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. As I
went in so early, the priest was yet to come and he came leisurely after 8 am,
by when a few tourists had come. So, a late start did help the process.
The temple is not as magnificent
as the other two in terms of size, but it makes up with the intricate carvings
on stones across the temple. For this reason, the temple reminded me of the
Vittala temple in Hampi.
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| Darasuram temple entrance, which is a few feet below the ground level |
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| The Chariot Shaped temple that reminded me of Vittala temple in Hampi |
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| Those Intricate Stone Carvings! |
I then came back to Kumbakonam,
had my breakfast and started to the biggest and famous of the three temples in
Thanjavur. After a bumpy ride, I reached Thanjavur around noon. Unlike the
earlier two temples, this one was bristling with crowd and in particular lot of
tourists had arrived at the complex.
This temple was constructed by
the famous king Raja Raja Chola I in earlier 11th century and
recently the temple celebrated its 1000th Anniversary. Named
Birhadesvara which means the ‘Big Shiva’, the Shiva Lingam in the temple is
huge fittingly. The temple is more famous for the giant Nandhi statue at the
entrance and the colossal tower in the centre of the temple. The main tower is
16 storeyed with 13 of them tapering towards the top. The centre piece is the
giant monolithic stone which completes the tower. It is an architectural wonder
considering the grandeur and age of the temple.
Unlike the other two temples,
this temple was significantly improved by the later Nayak rulers adding more
sanctums and idols to the temple. Chief among them is the gigantic monolithic
Nandhi statue at the temple’s entrance. It’s amusing that Raja Raja Chola’s son
left this magnificent city and temple to construct a new capital at Gangai
Konda Cholapuram. Had it not been for the later Nayaks and Marathas, Thanjavur
too might have faced the same fate of the other two temple towns.
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| Unlike the other two temples, the main temple in Thanjavur had two giant entrance doors! |
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| The magnificent temple complex! |
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| Elephants and Horses carved on stones seems to be a common thing across the temples! |
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| Not just the main tower, the other towers in the temple too are large and filled with intricacies which makes the complex an amazing one! |
History is interesting! Cities
that flourished once upon a time have fallen down big time today. While some
like Thanjavur are still surviving albeit not to the full flurry, cities like
Hampi or Gangai Konda Cholapuram have vanished. Forests and deserts have become
big urban clusters today. Who knows what would happen to these cities tomorrow?
On that thought, I left Thanjavur
and went to Srirangam before boarding a train back to Chennai!
Happy Reading!
