Gangaikondacholapuram Temple

Rajendra I (AD 1012-1044), the illustrious son of the great Chola king Rajaraja I (AD 985-1014) chose this location to build a new a great capital city for the
Chola Empire most probably during the first quarter of 11th century in order to commemorate his conquest over northern territories. Nonetheless, he not only built
a city, now in ruins and excavated partially but also a great temple for Siva. The Brihadisvara at Tanjavur had influenced this temple in many ways like the vast
conception of the lay out and massive proportion of the elevation.

The lay out – the sanctum with its axial units, the Chandikesvara shrine, the cloister mandapa with the subsidiary shrines and a gopura is similar to Tanjavur. The
location of two smaller shrines – The South and North Kailasa (now the Amman shrine) are different. But the architect of this edifice has shown remarkable
intelligence to correct some of the shortcomings in the design of the Brihadisvara at Tanjavur like the provision for erecting a wooden scaffolding in the masonry
of the sanctum, the pleasing elevation by appropriately changing and placing the hara elements etc.

The inscription recording accurately the donations to the God of the temple is missing here. In fact, there is no inscription of Rajendra himself. The earliest
inscription is that of his son, but recording the donations of his father.

The temple has sculptures of exceptional quality like the dancing Ganesa, Ardhanari, Dakshinamurthi, Harihara, Adavallan (Nataraja) (on south wall niches),
Gangadhara, Lingodhbhava, Vishnu, Subrahmanya, Vishnu-anugrahmurthi (west wall), Kalanthakamurthi, Durga, Brahma, Bairava, Kamantaka (north wall). But
the most outstanding sculptures are found in the niches by the side of the northern entrance steps to the sanctum. They are the Chandesanugrahamurti and
Sarasvati. The bronzes of Bhogasakti and Subrahmanya are masterpieces of Chola metal icons. The Saurapitha (Solar altar), the lotus altar with eight deities is
considered auspicious.