Great Living Chola Temples

The Great Living Chola Temples are important Hindu Kovils that were built during the 10th through 12th centuries CE in the south of India, and together have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The kovils are the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur, Brihadeeswarar kovil at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the Airavatesvarar Kovil at Darasuram. The Brihadeeswarar Kovil was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvarar kovil were added as extensions to the site in 2004. The site is now known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".

The celebrated Saiva kovil at Thanjavur, appropriately called Brihadisvara and Daksinameru, is the grandest creation of the Chola emperor Rajaraja (AD 985-1012). It was inaugurated by the king himself in his 19th regnal year (AD 1009-10) and named it after himself as Rajesvara Peruvudaiyar. Architecturally, it is the most ambitious structural temple built of granite. It has been regarded as a ‘landmark in the evolution of building art in south India’ and its vimana as a ‘touchstone of Indian architecture as a whole’. The temple is within a spacious inner prakara of 241 m length (east-west) and 122 m breadth (north-south), with a gopura at the east and three other ordinary torana entrances one at each lateral sides and the third at rear. The prakara is surrounded by a double-storeyed malika with parivaralayas. The temple with its massive proportions and simplicity of design provided inspiration for future designs in constructions not only in south India but also in south-east Asia.

The sikhara, a cupolic dome, is octagonal and rests on a single block of granite, a square of 7.8 m weighing 80 tons. The majestic upapitha and adhishthana are common to all the axially placed entities like the ardha-maha- and mukha-mandapas and linked to the main sanctum but approached through a north-south transept across the ardha-mandapa which is marked by lofty sopanas. The moulded plinth is extensively engraved with inscriptions by its royal builder who refers to his many endowments, pious acts and organisational events connected to the temple. The brihad-linga within the sanctum is 8.7 m high. Life-size iconographic representations on the wall niches and inner passages include Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Bhikshatana, Virabhadra, Kalantaka, Natesa, Ardhanarisvara and Alingana forms of Siva. The mural paintings on the walls of the lower ambulatory inside are finest examples of Chola and later periods which depict the contemporaneous scenes with legendary ones.

Sarfoji, a local Maratha ruler, rebuilt the Ganapati shrine. The celebrated Thanjavur School of paintings of the Nayakas is largely superimposed over the Chola murals. The temple is rich in iconography as well as inscriptions which provide an account of events showing achievements, financial arrangements, donations and bearing an impression of contemporary society. Two great Chola Temples of the 11th and 12th centuries have been added to the 11th century Brihadisvarar kovil of Thanjavur, inscribed in 1987. The Great Living Chola Temples were built by kings of the Chola Empire, which stretched over all of South India and the neighbouring islands. The site now includes the three great 11th and 12th century Chola Temples: the Brihadisvarar kovil of Thanjavur, the Kovil at Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvarar Kovil at Darasuram.

The Kovil at Gangaikondacholapuram, built by Rajendra I, was completed in 1035. Its 53-m vimana (sanctum tower) has recessed corners and a graceful upward curving movement, contrasting with the straight and severe tower at Thanjavur. It has six pairs of massive, monolithic dvarapalas statues guarding the entrances and bronzes of remarkable beauty inside. The Airavatesvarar kovil complex at Darasuram, built by Rajaraja II, features a 24-m vimana and a stone image of Shiva. The kovils testify to the Cholas brilliant achievements in architecture, sculpture, painting, and bronze casting.