Hi Guys,
If you are interested in knowing more about History,you would find this post interesting.
Recent visit to the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Tanjore in the Indian state of tamilnadu is an inspiration for writing this post.
Tanjore is the favoured capital of Chola Empire( 985 - 1014).
The Chola Empire florished between 9th - 13th century on the banks of river cauvery.
The Chola empire was expanded as far as Sri Lanka in the South and Orissa in the Norteast.
Karikala Chola was famous among early Chola Kings,while Raja Raja Chola,Rajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola were notable emperors of medieval period.
Below is the statue of Raja Raja Cholan
The Empire is known for its Military,Economic and Cultural power in Asia.
MILITARY
ARMY
KINGS(With Body Guards)
INFANTRY(Foot Soldier with spears)
HORSE MAN
ELEPHANT
Image Courtesy : http://www.tamilspider.com
NAVY
By using his navy Raja Raja Cholan extended his rule to Malay peninsula,Sumatra,Java and Borneo.
Below picture is the depiction of Chola Navy.
Chola Wars :
War against Vengi
Kalinga Conquest
Western Chalukya wars
Ganga Wars
Northern Wars
Southern Wars
Naval Conquest
Eventhough The cholas are known for their power to conquer.They established them self as a good administrators.
Administration System :
KING (Head of Government / Empire)
| ---- Empire is divided into provinces
GOVERNORS (In charge of each province)
| ----- Province divided into villages
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (Elected by drawing lots)
Architecture :
The Chola emperors were great builders and resulted in great architecture. Temple is is used not only for worship but also as
- Centers of economic activity.
- Functioned as School.
- To safeguard people during war.
- Center for social and cultural gathering.
Brihadeeswarar Temple is a 1000 year old temple,build between 1003 and 1010 AD by Raja Raja Cholan - I called as Emperor Arulmozhivarman.
Image courtesy : http://www.southerntrails.in
The temple was maintained and expanded by different rulers at different century.
Below are the emperors who has contributed:
Raja Raja Cholan
Pandyas
Delhi Sultanate
Madurai Sultanate
Nayaks
Marathas
Some interesting facts about the temple
1.Temple Tower (Vimana) is 216 ft high.
2.Top most stone weights 80 tons(It was brought into position by building a ramp of four miles and elephants were used to pull the stones up).
3.Statue of Nandi(Sacred Bull is carved out of single rock) is 13 ft high and 16 ft long.
4.World first granite temple (More than 1,30,000 tons of granite).
5.Designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Dam Kallanai called as Grand Anicut is considered as one of the oldest water structure in the world still in use.
It was built by the Karikala Cholan one of the great Chola King.
Image Courtesy : http://myclicky.blogspot.in
Paintings in Tanjore Temple
Image Courtesy : www.moreindia.in
The age of Chola empire is known as Golden age for Tamil literature.
Great writer Kamban flourished during the reign of Kulothunga Chola III.His Ramavataram,popularly Known as Kamba Ramayanam is a great epic in Tamil Literature.
Seevaga - Chintamani by Thirutakkatevar and
Soolamani by Tolamoli are great writings during chola period.
Trade was encouraged between Chola empire and China.Cholas used their ships to carry goods from West asia and Africa to China.
In the beginning of 13th Century Chola dynasty started to decline due to rise of Hoysalas in the North and Southern Pandyas.Rajendra III was the last ruler to witness the fall of the Chola Dynasty.
Will try to update this post with more information on Chola Dynasty in future.
If you are interested in knowing more about History,you would find this post interesting.
Recent visit to the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Tanjore in the Indian state of tamilnadu is an inspiration for writing this post.
Tanjore is the favoured capital of Chola Empire( 985 - 1014).
The Chola Empire florished between 9th - 13th century on the banks of river cauvery.
The Chola empire was expanded as far as Sri Lanka in the South and Orissa in the Norteast.
Karikala Chola was famous among early Chola Kings,while Raja Raja Chola,Rajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola were notable emperors of medieval period.
Below is the statue of Raja Raja Cholan
The Empire is known for its Military,Economic and Cultural power in Asia.
MILITARY
ARMY
KINGS(With Body Guards)
INFANTRY(Foot Soldier with spears)
HORSE MAN
ELEPHANT
Image Courtesy : http://www.tamilspider.com
NAVY
By using his navy Raja Raja Cholan extended his rule to Malay peninsula,Sumatra,Java and Borneo.
Below picture is the depiction of Chola Navy.
Chola Wars :
War against Vengi
Kalinga Conquest
Western Chalukya wars
Ganga Wars
Northern Wars
Southern Wars
Naval Conquest
Eventhough The cholas are known for their power to conquer.They established them self as a good administrators.
Administration System :
KING (Head of Government / Empire)
| ---- Empire is divided into provinces
GOVERNORS (In charge of each province)
| ----- Province divided into villages
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (Elected by drawing lots)
Architecture :
The Chola emperors were great builders and resulted in great architecture. Temple is is used not only for worship but also as
- Centers of economic activity.
- Functioned as School.
- To safeguard people during war.
- Center for social and cultural gathering.
Brihadeeswarar Temple is a 1000 year old temple,build between 1003 and 1010 AD by Raja Raja Cholan - I called as Emperor Arulmozhivarman.
Below are the emperors who has contributed:
Raja Raja Cholan
Pandyas
Delhi Sultanate
Madurai Sultanate
Nayaks
Marathas
Some interesting facts about the temple
1.Temple Tower (Vimana) is 216 ft high.
2.Top most stone weights 80 tons(It was brought into position by building a ramp of four miles and elephants were used to pull the stones up).
3.Statue of Nandi(Sacred Bull is carved out of single rock) is 13 ft high and 16 ft long.
Image Courtesy : http://www.meriyatrra.com/
4.World first granite temple (More than 1,30,000 tons of granite).
5.Designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Dam Kallanai called as Grand Anicut is considered as one of the oldest water structure in the world still in use.
It was built by the Karikala Cholan one of the great Chola King.
Image Courtesy : http://myclicky.blogspot.in
Paintings in Tanjore Temple
Image Courtesy : www.moreindia.in
The age of Chola empire is known as Golden age for Tamil literature.
Great writer Kamban flourished during the reign of Kulothunga Chola III.His Ramavataram,popularly Known as Kamba Ramayanam is a great epic in Tamil Literature.
Seevaga - Chintamani by Thirutakkatevar and
Soolamani by Tolamoli are great writings during chola period.
Trade was encouraged between Chola empire and China.Cholas used their ships to carry goods from West asia and Africa to China.
In the beginning of 13th Century Chola dynasty started to decline due to rise of Hoysalas in the North and Southern Pandyas.Rajendra III was the last ruler to witness the fall of the Chola Dynasty.
Will try to update this post with more information on Chola Dynasty in future.
