Yes, we’re going to talk about history this time. But, the difference is that now we’ll be talking about a history which probably most of us chose not to study about. For quite a long time, the history of World War II became my main interest. Any documentary about WWII never failed to plant my back onto the couch with my eyes glued to the television. Now, I have turned my attention to the history of South India, also from where my ancestry can be traced back. Ok, let’s skip all the intro’s and get to the topic.
If you have watched the Tamil movie “Ayirathil Oruvan” , then probably you know which king or empire that I’m going to talk about. Yes, it is the Cholan empire. But why the Cholan and not any other dynasty? The reason for my choice lies behind the construction of the Tanjavur temple ( Tanjai Periya Kovil or Brihadeeswara temple). Trust me people, this is a magnificent piece of architecture, probably as good as Angkor Wat.
What is so great about this temple? Well, if you want to build such a structure or even something bigger than that at present, it won’t be that tough. But what if I send you 1000 years back, where there is no crane, no hard iron, no metal chain, no computers/softwares, no calculators, no drawing boards, and definitely no architects submitting design proposals for the temple. The things you have are pure solid granite stone quarry, soft iron, an army of skillful craftsmen, and not forgetting wild elephants.
Here are some facts about the temple that makes it a world heritage.
1. Construction was completed in the year 1010 AD (exactly 1000 years ago)
2. The temple was built by The Great King Rajaraja Cholan (I) during the peak of the Cholan empire. It stands out as a towering monument proclaiming the glory of Cholan empire and their commitment to art and culture.
3. Built using pure granite rock, one of the hardest types of rock to exist. In modern world, granite rocks are cut using cutting blades fitted with diamond (hardest material ever known). I wonder how they managed to cut and shape huge chunks of granites 1000 years ago.
4. The granite rocks were crafted using soft iron (hard iron was not discovered at that time). Soft irons against one of the hardest types of rock, I guess you can image how it is like :D
5. The temple tower (Goburam) is 66m high (among the tallest of its kind in the world). But, how did they manage to lift up huge granite rock as high as 66m above ground without any cranes or cables?
6. Total amount or granite used is approxiamately 130 000 tonnes, enough to build the pyramids.
7. The statue of the sacred bull (Nandhi) standing at 16ft long and 13ft high was crafted with a SINGLE piece of rock. How did they transport those rocks?
The massive granite rocks were quarried using large pieces of soft iron, and then by using wild elephants the rocks were pulled on logs to the location. From then, it is up to the master craftsmen to shape the granite blocks into sculpture. In other words, the Cholan craftsmen conceived like giants, and finished like jewelers (Fergusson, True Art Historian).
Follow the link below to check out pictures of this magnificent Cholan architecture.
good pondering.
ReplyDeletelets walk into little hindu myths.
to build a temple, hindu believes the King or rishis or almighty can summon buthams(buthagananggal - including the buthams of 5 elements)/"giants" to help em out in a construction.
to commemorate that the depictions of buthams carrying pillars are still crafted on temple gopuras.
but, theoritically, Cholan ruled huge empire where he claimed lot of slaves to help him built the Great temple.
for the questions on how it was cut and transported, you have lot of hypothesis made by archeologists.