A ride along Cauvery - Gangai konda Cholapuram

Gangai Konda Cholapuram - the capital of the later Cholas from the times of Rajendra Chola always seems like an afterthought. There were two other places which acted as capital of their ever increasing kingdom and the need for a newer one seemed rather forced. Palaiyaarai - the oldest capital and the large metropolis of Tanjavur in the later times seemed adequate.

Added to that, the large Brahadiswara temple - an almost replica of the one built by his father in Tanjavur - make the idea looks like a kid wanting to one-up his father and try to grow out of his shadow.

Elevation

Gangai Konda Cholapuram lies in the middle of the path from Veeranam to the shores of Kollidam nearer to another great lake from the times of the Cholas - Ponneri. We decided to skip the trip to Ponneri as it lies away from the road we wanted to take.

So it was to the Brahadiswara temple in Gangai Konda Cholapuram. As always, ASI has done a mixed job of maintaining the temple. While the access and the surroundings have been cleaned up, the temple structure itself is being maintained only nominally and it is sad to see the sculptures and paintings wane away slowly. This being a functional temple adds to the complexity of the maintenance.

Gopuram

The temple itself is smaller than the one at Tanjavur but the similarity in look and build is remarkably similar. Though this temple is considered done during the peak of the Chola architecture period, Thaarasuram and Thribuvanam temples are superior - at least, that is my opinion.

That statement - does not take away any of the glory of the Chola sculptures in this temple. They are more stylish, the postures are amazingly brilliant and most have the color of the original paints on them as well - that is, wherever ASI has not tried to 'restore' the sculptures.

Shiva

The Shiva panel above is an amazing posture - by the way, in the Chola period and the Pallavas before that, had a way of depicting Shiva in a very 'cool' way. The Pitchadanar panel in the Kailasanatha temple is one example. Similarly, the above panel shows Shiva in a casual way - with an elegance unmatched by anything. It is easy to get rapturous looking at such. The original vegetable dye paint and the motifs can still be seen - and makes it easier to imagine the glorious way this panel would've looked when Rajendra came to the temple.

The amount of inscriptions in any Chola temple is high and especially in important temples such as this, the entire outer and inner stones are filled with inscriptions. So I took it to myself to teach Vanathy a little to read the inscriptions - the voice of the people from hundreds of years back - and it was incredible to see her pick it up faster.

Reading Inscriptions

One of the things I was looking forward to was to see the state of the original paints in the outer prahara of the temple. These can be located a little above the ground level sculptures just on the base in which the Gopuram raises. They cannot be touched easily and so are more protected. And I was glad that most of which - though had the wear of time, can still be seen without trouble.

The panels on the side

What makes the whole set of panels unique is the amazing style achieved in them. Like I mentioned, Shiva looks beautiful in a series of sculptures around the temple and each of these need a lot of time to study and wonder. The second stage of the gopura in the picture above has another set of panels housed cleverly inside which helped retain a lot of the original mural paintings and colors.

Shiva Pacifying Parvati

Can you see the colors of the murals?

The other interesting panel is the Adalvallan - the ubiquitous Nataraja of the Cholas. I was not sure whether I noted this panel in any of the other Chola temples I've been to but this one was very easy to identify and looked at in amazement.

Adalvallan

Like every other Chola temple, it will take a book to talk about every panel, every gana in the temple panels. I've not even started on the huge Dwarapalakas or the Yali-shaped underground pathway or the ruined mandapas around the temple or the panels above the two rows I've been writing about or those amazing bunch of parrots nesting in the gopuras - flying in formation and contrasting beautifully against the brownish stones.

Spot the Parrot

Ardhanareeswarar

Since our primary motive was to hit the road along the river and the Sun was moving over head - though the weather was amazingly beautiful - we started our journey to Trichy - planning to stop at river bunds where possible and crossing Kallanai to enter Trichy towards the end of it.