The magnificent & the elegant temple of Lord Siva at Gangaikonda Cholapuram was erected by the Chola King Rajendra Chola I during the 11th Century (around the year 1025CE). Rajendra Chola was son of Raja Raja Chola who built the master piece at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple. This imposing monument is now declared an UN World Heritage site.
Gangaikonda Cholapuram was a city founded by Rajendra Chola to commemorate his victorious march to the Ganges and this was capital of Chola empire during the 11th Century CE for almost 250 years from then. Emperor Rajendra adorned the name of Gangaikonda Cholan after his army captured the Ganges Plains and the capital of his empire was thus named Gangaikonda Cholapuram. It’s from this place Chola empire expanded and reached its lofty heights controlling entire South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia & Indonesia. It’s believed that Rajendra Chola’s army brought water from Ganges and emptied it in tanks of Gangikonda Cholapuram. But today Gangikonda Cholapuram is no more a city and is just reduced to a small rustic village and what remains for the last 1000 odd years is this great structure of Siva Temple celebrating the most superior engineering, artistic and craftsmanship of the Chola Period of Indian History.
The most striking aspect of the temple is its Vimana, which is octagonal in shape and is 183 feet in height. This is in contrast to Thanjavur Temple, where the Vimana takes a pyramidal shape rather than an octagonal shape but the height of Thanjavur Vimana is more than this. Unlike most temples in South India where the main entrance adores a majestic Gopuram, Gangaikonda Cholapuram like Thanjavur has the majestic Vimana above the sanctum sanctorum. The Main Mandapa is two storied structure and dotted with pillars with exquisite carvings.
Inside the Temple
Lord Siva – Housed in the main Hall (Mahamandapa) under the grandeur Vimana, is the most graceful and beautiful Lingam of Lord Siva. The Siva idol is 13 feet in height and 60 feet in diameter. From one end of the long hall it gives a very soothing view. Here the Lord is carved to sitting on top of a giant Lotus flower.
Nandi (or Siva’s Bull) – Right in the entrance of the Mahamandapa is the giant Nandi, unlike a single stone carvings this Nandi seems to be made of brick stones and mortar as evident by the cracks.
Ganesha – South West corner of the temple is the shrine of Ganesha. Everything in this temple is of large proportions compared to most of the other temples and not breaking this rule is the Ganesha idol a large and beautiful image.
Brhannayaki– Lord Siva’s consort referred as Brhannayaki and has her own small shrine in the North side.
Chandikesvara – Again on the North side is a shrine dedicated to Chandikesvara
Mahishamardini – In the North you can also find a shrine dedicated to Mahishamardini or Durga
Simha Kinaru – To the north of Mahamandapa is a circular well with steps provided to access the well. The entrance of the steps is adorned with a lion figure which has given the name to the well. According to tradition Rajendra poured a part of the Ganges water, brought from his famous expedition, into the well, to sanctify it.
Dwarapalakas – Huge structures guarding the doors of the Mandapa, these structures are easily 10feet tall and can be seen both in South and North side entrances of the Mandapa
Dakshina Moorthy (Guru) – As in Thanjavur Dakshina Moorthy is placed at an elevated position in the South Side of the Mahamandapa in it’s exteriors. One has to use ladders to have a darshan of this.
Sthala Vriksham – This is one of the traits of many temple in Tamil Nadu, each temple has its dedicated tree and tree for Gangaikonda Cholapuram is Vanni Tree located in the Northern side of temple.
Outer walls & Gopuram – The Gopuram in the main entrance of the temple along the outer walls have caved in. Now what remains is the broken outer walls. British Engineers who were constructing dams across Indian rivers have exploded the walls of this temple for granite for constructing dams.
In Picutres
How to reach
Gangaikonda Cholapuram comes in NH227 which connects Trichy to Chidamabaram
Gangaikonda Cholapuram is around 30km from Kumbakonam. Best way would be to hire a taxi from Kumbakonam. The route from Kumbakonam, goes via Anakarai. Anakarai has a dam over River Kollidam and as of this writing, buses can’t ply over the the dam, so one has to change buses near the dam or take a car straight from Kumbakonam.
From Chidambaram, Gangaikonda Cholapuram is around 48km. Again best mode would be a taxi or self-driven car.
The How to reach map is here
Enjoy
- Plan for at least 2 hours inside this temple
- Relish the rich carvings, architecture and frescoes of this temple.
Watch out for the following
- North & South Entrance of the Mahamandapa, the flight of steps and Dwarakapalakas
- Carvings of Narthana Ganapathi, Nataraja, Harihara, Ardhanareswara, Brahma and various other relics from Hindu mythology
- Panels of artistic works running all around the Vimana and Mahamandapa walls
- Ask the Pujari to show you the Lotus beneath the Siva Lingam
- Feel the vibrations of the great history of this place & Cholas inside the temple, the most awesome part of this temple visit
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