HISTORY OF

ARCHITECTURE- II

Topic- The Cholas

 TIMELINE

Start of Rajendra Chola End of

sangam age Vijayalaya becomes king becomes king Chola Empire
300 BCE 847 CE 971 CE 1279 CE

550 CE 947 CE 1206

End of Gupta dynasty Rajaraj I Delhi Sultanate
CE established
ascends throne

Early Chola Medieval Chola Later Chola

REGIONS
COVERED
• The Chola Empire was
based in the Kaveri River
Valley.
•At its height the Chola
Empire controlled Sri Lanka,
Maldives, Burma and some
parts of Malaysia, Combodia
and Indonesia.
 MAJOR EVENTS/ HISTORY

☆ The Chola Empire began in 300 BCE

☆ It ruled for more than 1500 years, the longest empire

in history.
☆ Around 300 CE the empire came to decline, but regained
power under Vijayalaya in 850CE.
☆ His son, Aditya I defeated the Pallavas and annexed Sri
Lanka.
☆ Rajaraj Chola and Rajendra Chola are the most famous Chola
Kings who further expanded the empire. They also built many
temples which are still thriving today.

☆ The empire came to an end in 1279 CE after suffering

defeat from Pandyan empire.
 IMPORTANT KINGS
Rajaraja Chola I
• He is the most celebrated Chola King.
• He engaged in many Naval expeditions
conquering Sri Lanka, Maldives and
west coast of Polynesia
• He was a devout follower of Lord Shiva
• He is credited for building many great temples.
 Rajendra Chola I
• He was the son of Rajaraja Chola.
• He defeated the Chalukyas, Rashtrakutaas,
Kalingas and expanded the empire to Assam
• To commemorate his victory in North India
he built the city of Gangaikondacholapuram.
•Later he conquered Java, Malaysia, Sumatra,Combodia and
Vietnam
ARCHITECTUR
E Temple Architecture
▪︎Dravidian
▪︎Early Chola Temples were made of
brick.
▪︎The temples are covered with
sculptures and frescoes.
▪︎Dvarapalas are at the entrance of
Mandapas
▪︎Medieval Cholas- Gopurams are
more elaborate and pyramidal shape.
▪︎Mostly granite was used.
 Major Features-

▪︎The temple is enclosed in a wall.

▪︎Pillars have been used very less.
▪︎A large water tank is present.
▪︎There are many subsidiary
shrines in Temple complex.
▪︎Greater emphasis given on sculptures.
▪︎Monolithic structures have been used a lot.
▪︎The entrance gateway is called gopuram, mostly pyramidal
shaped and on top is Vimana.
 FAMOUS TEMPLES
Brihadeeswara Temple
• Built by Rajaraja Chola I in 1010CE at Thanjavur.
• More than 130000 tonne of
granite used.
•The shadow of temple doesn't
appear at noon
• It is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• The temple has no foundation.
ELEVATION-

VIMAN
A
SHIKHAR
A
216 Feet

GARBHAGRIHA MANDAPA
PLAN- MURUGAN ENTRANC
SHRINE E FORTIFICATION

121 M
GOPURAM

GARBHAGRIHA MANDAPA NANDI STATUE

240 M
 Key Points-
• The temple is built on a 5m raised platform.
• The temple is built by interlocking stones and by putting them
one over other. There had been no use of any binding material.

• There are two gateways in the

Temple.
• There are two mandapas, and
only one is pillared.
• The sanctum is rectangular.
 MAIN TEMPLE

NANDI
MANDAPA
NATARAJA
MANDAPAM

MARATH
A
GATE
 • It is 13 feet high and 16
feet long
• It was a latter addition
built by the Nayakas.
• The Nandi mandapa is
surrounded by pillars with
beautiful sculptures.
• It lies in axis with the
garbhagriha .
• Just in front of Temple is Nandi Mandapa containing 25 ton
Monolithic rock carved Nandi statue.
Vimana-
• Built out of monolithic rock.
• It weighs 80 tons.
• Ramp used to put the vimana on top.
• The vimana is directly above the
garbhagriha and acts as a repulsive force
to keep energy flow in temple.

R a m p
6 KM
 • There are detailed inscription at
the temple, as lengthy as 107 Para.
• These tell us about the construc-
tions, rituals and gifts received.

Sculptures on Temple
• There are numerous paintings
on the wall of temples.
• The paintings belong to 3 eras-
• Chola
• Nayakas
• Marathas
 Brihadeeswara Temple

• Built by Rajendra Chola in

1035CE at Gangaikondacholapuram.
• It is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• It was built to celebrate victory over
Ganga region.
• The temple is 55m high and very
much similar to Thanjavur Temple.
• The lingam inside temple is 13 feet tall.
• The temple has no gopurams, they may have been
destroyed .
 AMAN LION
SHRINE WELL

MAIN
GATE
MAIN
TEMPL
E NANDI
GANESH STATUE
A
SHRINE

ARDHA MANDAP MAHA MANDAP

 • The inner sanctum is square with
external sides measuring 30m.
• The Mandapas measure 106m in
east-west and 30m in north-south.
• The entire structure lies on
east- west axis.
• Above the shikhara of temple is a circular stupa like
structure carved out of a single rock. It is topped with a
gold plated Kalasha.
• The temple complex also houses other shrines.
 • Statue of Nandi infront of temple.
• It is sculpted in stucco and fallen
stones.
• It is aligned with the garbhagriha
at a distance of 200m.

Dwarpala at
Temple
Entrance
 GANESH ARDHNARISHVA SHIV & PARVATI
BRAHM R
A A

Sculptures
On Temple
KALANTAK SARASWATI NATARAJA
A
 Airavatesvara Temple
• It was built by Rajaraj II in 12th century CE at Darasuram.
• It is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• It has been built with traditional
interlocking method.
• The main tower is 80ft tall.
• The front mandap is known as
Rajagambhiran tirumandapam and
it's back side is a huge stone
chariot drawn by horses.
 DEVANAYAKI AMMAN SHRINE

MAIN
TEMPLE

70 M

107 M

NANDI MANDAPAM
 Near the Mandapam are
a flight of stairs called
Balipeetham.

These seven stairs produce

music corresponding to
seven musical notes.

It is based on
Shilpashastra.
• In front of the temple is
Nandi Mandapam.
 • It is the main gate of temple filled
with equisite carvings.
• Many stories have been depicted
with sculptures and whole Shiva
family is featured on it.
RAJAGOPURAM

Nataraja Pillar of Gopuram Dwajasthambha

 Rajagambiram Thirumandapam
• Beautiful sculpture of chariot
pulled by horses.
• The sculpture is extremely
detailed.

• Next to horse and chariot is the

staircase with elephant sculpted as
balustrade.
• It represents elephant Airavat,
which gave the temple its name.
 Maha Mandapam-
• The Mukha Mandapam leads to Maha Mandapam.
Detailed carvings
showing dancer and
mermaid.

Chiseled pillars and

carved ceilings.

Shiv- Parvati wedding

carved on a pillar.
 External Facade-
• There are many sculpted statues of God's along with Sages.
• Along the lower tier are many miniature stories depicting
scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharat and Vishnu Puran.
• There are also some ancient murals that have survived till
now, they were done with vegetable dyes.

Sage Agastya Ardhanarisurya

Ram aims at Bali.
 Krishna eating Broken inscription
A faded mural curd

Corridor with
numerous carvings
of saints.
 Koranganatha Temple
• It is situated in Srinivasanallur
about 50 kilometres from
Tiruchirappalli
• The temple was constructed
by Medieval Chola and is
dedicated to God Ranganatha.
• It is an example of early
Chola architecture.
• The temple faces east and has a double storey vimana.
• The temple is 50 feet high.
 Plan- 50 Feet

25 Feet

Entry Gate

25 Feet
Main Temple Mandapa
• Makara Torana Shiva- Apsara
Dakshinamurti
Various sculptures have been depicted in niches.
 Valisvara Temple
• It is located in Thiruvalisvaram,
Tamil Nadu.
• Constructed by Raja Raja Chola I
in early 10th century AD.
• The main deity is Shiva, who is
depicted in Sukhasana pose.
• The artistic style slightly
resembles that of Pallavas.
• There is a beautiful garden at the backside of temple.
• There are many Chola and Pandya inscriptions on the wall.
 Sri Kampahareswar Temple
• It is situated in the town of
Thirubhuvanam.
• It was built by Kulothunga
Chola III in 1176 AD.
• The vimana is very high unlike
other Dravidian Style Temples.
• The temple is built on a
Square sanctum.
• The temple is facing east with 7 tiered Rajagopuram.
• The temple covers an area of 5.5 acres.
 SUMMAR
Y Brihadeshwara Temple
• Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore,
at Gangaikondacholapuram and Airavatesvara Temple
are collectively referred as The Great Living Chola Temples.
They are also UNESCO world heritage sites.
• The main deity is Cholan Temples is Shiva, but other gods
are also worshipped.
• The Cholas started building tall gopurams.
• Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore is the largest built
Chola Temple.
• Chola temples are highly decorated with equisite and
chiseled sculptures.
THANK YOU