Rajaraja Chola II - Socio-Religious Achievements

Socio-Religious Achievements

One of the most important achievements of Raja Raja-II was that despite being considered a weak king, it appears that he did enjoy periods of calm and peace especially during the later half of his 26 year rule. It was during this period that he initiated construction of the very famous Airavateswarar Temple at Darasuram near Kumbakonam. This royal Siva temple, which is one of the trinity of the Great Living Chola Temples along with the Brihadeeswarar Temple Temples at Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram all of which are World Heritage Sites. The Airavateswarar (pictured above)Temple was begun later than at least the Halebidu Temple but was completed earlier, either by the time the rule of Raja Raja-II ended or during the initial period of his successor, Rajadhiraja-II. The Airavateswarar Temple is considered an architectural marvel of the Later Chola period and this tradition was carried on by Kulothunga-III who built the Kampahareswarar Temple at Tribhuvanam in commemoration of his conquest of Madurai, Kalinga, Karuvur and his defeat of the Hoysala King Veera Ballala II. This temple contains innumerable miniature freezes containing stories from Ramayanam, Periya Puranam and other stories devoted to Siva-Parvati, Vinayagar, Karthikeya etc. The temple is also a symbol of continuing architectural tradition of the Chola craftsmen for it also has musical stairs called the Saptasvaras near a small shrine for Ganapati. The Muhamandapam or the Mukhyamandapam of this temple is a real architectural marvel containing many great architectural specimen and was a continuation of the Later Chola tradition of building temples in the shape of giant elephant-driven Rathas or Chariots as like as in Melakadambur siva temple built by kulothunga I, which was also carried on not just by later Chola kings such as Kulothunga-III but also by the kings of Kalinga and culminated in construction of the Sun Temple of Konarak by Eastern Ganga king Narasinghdeo. This is one of the later Chola temples which have remained unparalleled in terms of architectural excellence to date, that left a lasting impression on the succeeding dynasties to the Chola rule.

Raja Raja-II also made numerous grants to the temples at Tanjore, Chidambaram, Kanchi, Srirangam, Tiruchy as well as to the temples at Madurai. He was also believed to be a regular visitor to the temples in Parasurama's country (Kerala), which were also recipients of his grants. During his time the chola navies did remain dominant in the western sea as well as eastern sea.

Overall he was a benevolent king who did putup good management processes, as evidenced by his relief measures to the people during the times of both the famine and civil unrest, which though did take some effort to subdue, but which finally ensured that he retained the loyalty and respect of his ministers, commanders and the general sections of the populace.