Chola Emperor Rajaraja, who ruled between 985 and 1015 C.E., built the Great Temple of Tanjore. Rajaraja was the second son of King Sundara Chola and Queen Vanavanmadevi.

As a child he was given the Tamil name Arulmozhi Varman (graceful speaker). On his father’s side, he descended from Karikala Chola and on his mother’s side from the Malayman Thirumudik Kari family of Thirukoyilur, known as one of the patrons of the Sangam age. Rajaraja’s mother was known for her beauty and praised as a “tender deer that gave birth to a tiger, Rajaraja.” Rajaraja had an elder brother Aditya Karikala, who was a fearsome warrior, who conquered the Pandya. But he was killed treacherously around 970 CE. Sundara Chola died of a broken heart in Kanchipuram in his golden palace, and Vanavanmadevi committed sati.

Arulmozhi Varman ascended the Chola throne, crowned as Sri Rajaraja Chola. He also had the Chola royal title ‘Ko Raja Kesari’. All his orders were issued under the name Ko Raja Kesari alias Sri Rajaraja Devar. The name Rajaraja also stands for Kubera, the God of Wealth. During the thirty years of his reign, he first established his power by conquering the territories adjoining his borders, like the Pandya Kingdom, the Cheras, the western Gangas and eastern Chalukyas. He also subjugated the northern part of Sri Lanka. He strengthened his army so systematically and thoroughly that Rajendra, his son, could victoriously march to the Gangetic plains in the north (Bengal) and reach overseas countries like the Sri Vijaya Kingdom later.

There were three important areas in which Rajaraja Chola strengthened the internal prosperity of his territories – education, trade and commere, and agriculture. By and large, education was imparted through a hereditary system and there is enough evidence to point to the heights it reached in Rajaraja’s times. Besides the studies of the Vedas and higher philosophies, the Brahmins specialised in the field of law by reading various Dharma Sastras. So, Rajaraja established many Brahmin colonies, called Caturvedi mangalam, which were administered by elected members of the Sabha. The second act of Rajaraja was to establish by the side of Brahmin colonies commercial settlements for the merchants called Nagaraam or Puram, named after his titles as Kshatriyasikhamani-puram, Rajarajapuram and so on. These were administered by the merchant guilds, who were called Nagarathar. This system developed trade and commerce rapidly.

Rajaraja paid great attention to agriculture. He established agricultural settlements called Nallurs to increase production. He initiated accurate land surveys of all the territories under his control and had maintained detailed records of each and every village, its landholdings, and the details of its taxable lands and land exempted from tax collection. The villages were exempted from paying taxes on sources of irrigation, like tanks and irrigation canals, and were given incentives for five years when lands were cultivated newly. Taxes were exempted for the first two or three years and only half the taxes were to be paid for the next few years until full cultivation was attained. His land survey and administration were the best so far known and he was known as Ulakalantha Cholan.

Rajaraja divided all his administrative units into well-defined and regulated departments, headed by able, well-empowered Kankani-s. Such an administration generated all-round wealth, and enough money was available for development purposes. The money so generated was available in gold and cash (minted coins) that yielded an annual interest of 22 per cent. Merchants and village assemblies could borrow from such sources as temples on written agreement to pay the interest and capital when required. Failure to pay interest regularly was severely fined.

The building of the Great Temple was the result of such all-round prosperity and was Rajaraja’s crowning achievement. True to its manifestation, it was called Dakshinameru – the Southern meru. The Great Temple is a visual representation of Cosmic power on earth that will remain, according to the pious wish of the builder, as long as the Sun and Moon last.

Every aspect of this temple, like architecture, sculptures, bronzes, paintings, the philosophy behind the layout, the worship, festivals, administration etc. was the result of great forethought. Scientists who have made accurately measured drawings of its plan and elevation, with the help of a theodolite, are wonderstruck at the accurate proportions of the measurements employed and say the measuring system of the Cholas and their mathematical calculations were the best in the world. So perfect is the rectangle that its length, 240 metres, is exactly double that of its width, 120 metres. The high central tower is exactly double that of its base (as prescribed in architectual treatises). The long mandapa in front is in two parts and is proportionate to the sanctum. The secondary shrines in the enclosure are equally proportionate to the main unit of measurement. It has now been established that the basic unit of measurement for the whole temple was the height of the Linga in the central sanctum.

The lofty tower rising to a height of 60m as an elegant pyramid is topped by a Shikhara. Neither the shikara on the top nor the flat slab that supports it was made of a single stone weighing several tons (as has been wrongly propagated). They are made of several stones. Nor is the claim that its shade does not fall on the ground correct. It does fall on the ground and can be verified by any sculptor.

The sculptures in the niches around the sanctum are Rudra in the south, Pradosha Tandava in the west, and Goddess Manomani in the north. This is a unique distribution. On the outer wall of the sanctum four series of sculptures are found.

a) Representing the Pancha Brahmans of Siva: Tatpurusha, Aghora, Sadyojata, Vamadeva, and Isana.

b) Various manifestations of Siva, which include figures like Bhikshatana, Nataraja, Ardhanari, Harihara, Gangadhara, Lingodbhava, Chandrasekhara and Tripurantaka.

c) Surya and Chandra in the east flanking the entrance.

d) And pairs of dvarapala flanking the openings as Ayuda purushas.

In the upper floor are a series of images with bows and arrows that represent Satarudas, the emanations of the Sun’s rays. The dvarapalas are a class by themselves, being made of one stone, rising to more than 12 feet. The ones that guard the main entrance of the sanctum are particularly beautiful works of art.

In the upper floor of the sanctum tower there is a sanctum immediately over the main sanctum and of the same size. The upper sanctum is now empty, representing the concept of akasa, or space, where Siva is said to have danced. The wall encasing the upper sanctum features the 108 dance poses, called Nritta Karanas, mentioned in Bharata’s Natya Sastra. With four sides of the sanctum provided with openings and its height exactly double its width at the base, the lofty tower fulfils all requirements of the Meru type of temple architecture. The dance sculptures strictly follow Bharata’s Natya Sastra articulations. The upper storeys of the tower, that was built brick by brick, show that the Chola architects were masters of building several storeyed buildings a thousand years ago.

On the walls of the main temple and gopura-s there are several inscriptions giving detailed information about Rajaraja’s contribution to worship, festivals, the number of bronze images he gifted, etc. The extraordinary jewels are made of gold and precious gems called nava rathnam.

Mention must be made of the King’s interest in Tamil Tevaram songs for which he appointed 50 Tevaram singers. Over four hundred accomplished young dancing girls were appointed to perform in the Great Temple. They were provided residences and land which would give them an annual income. Such a large number of dancing girls appointed in a temple is unique.

Over 250 musicians accompained the dancers in their performance, many of them from his army band. A retinue that served in the temple included guards, accountants, treasurers, jewellers, architects, astronomers, singers of Tamil and Sanskrit songs, etc. The administrative set-up he provided for the temple was unprecedented. He caused to be written on the walls the names of all those who made gifts to the temple. There were also drama troupes, including Chakkiyar, a group of artisans who now live only in Kerala. The name of the chief architect who built this monumental temple is recorded as Rajaraja Peruntaccan, which is a honorific rather than a name, so the mystery of who the master builder was remains.

This royal temple had a few structures added during subsequent centuries, like the Amman shrine, Subrahmanya shrine, Nataraja shrine and Ganesha shrine. The Amman shrine was built by a Pandya in 1400 CE, the Subrahmanya temple by a Nayak in the 16th Century, and the Nataraja and Ganesha shrines by a Mahratta ruler in 1800. Thus, it is a totally royal temple. Every structure in the temple is dated with the help of factual inscriptions.

An unsurpassed glorious temple is indeed the Great Temple of Tanjore. (Courtesy: Tamil Chamber of Commerce (TCC) Digest)