RSS FeedOn the Chola trail
Apr 14, 2011 Guest Post, Tamil Nadu, Temples
This is a guest post from an avid traveller and travel writer Lakshmi Sharath. Always ready to travel out on drop of a hat, Lakshmi writes about her journey to the Chola temples to Thanjavur, Darasuram and Gangaikondacholapuram. First one of the five guest articles.
This is a story that is set 1000 years ago. A story about kings and queens, about battles lost and won under the aegis of Gods and Goddesses. A story about forgotten towns that were once flourishing, palaces that were razed down, and a city that has completely disappeared. My trail took me down the eons of history as I went looking for Gangaikondacholapuram, the erstwhile capital of the Chola Dynasty during Rajendra Chola’s reign in the 11th century. The town does not exist, but the only testimony to its existence is the Brihadeshwara Temple built by the king here which is similar in scale to the big temple built by his father Raja Raja Chola in Thanjavur, the seat of the Cholas before Gangaikondacholapuram was even founded.
We started our journey on one sunny afternoon and drove down to Thanjavur from Chennai. The landscape was hardly what one would describe as spectacular. One nondescript hamlet followed another. And then, suddenly without warning the scenery changed dramatically and the roads gave way to a green fabric of paddy fields. Situated on the deltaic region of the river Cauvery also known as Ponni in Tamil Nadu, it is believed that every inch of soil here is equal to an ounce of gold. Pon in Tamil means gold and the river yields “pon” or gold in the form of paddy.
We stopped by to take in the fresh air and saw women cultivating paddy in the fields. This was the short term crop Kuruvai which would be ready for harvest by November. Almost ankle deep in water, the women were tending to the long term crop, which constitutes about 60 % of production called Samba. It had been sown in August and would be harvested between January and March. The farmers soon gathered and we learnt that paddy cultivation happens across four seasons and the crops were either short term or long term depending on the harvest period.
As we continued our journey, sculptures of fierce mustachioed deities looked down upon us from the fields. Idols of horses and elephants were placed around along with weapons such as tridents, spears and swords. We passed by several such road side shrines and learnt that these guardian gods were called Ayyanars. They protect the village from the malevolent forest spirits and punish the guilty and are often feared by the villagers.
The Big temple of Thanjavur
It was quite dark and the lights from the big Brihadeshwara temple beckoned us. We gaped at the 216 feet high Vimana which is taller than the outer Gopura and the temple remained fortified. We stood in awe as throngs of tourists and devotees flooded the temple and decided to return here the early morning.
The Big Temple or the Brihadeshwara temple was built in the 11th century by Raja Raja Chola 1 and it is today part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got there just after dawn as the sun was caressing the Vimana. The Gopura looked quite dwarfed. A few shops had opened and a couple of priests were entering. We were stopped by a tall Dwarapaalaka with four arms who points towards a sculpture of a snake swallowing an elephant positioned below his leg. Another hand points towards the God. “If you think this is big and I am bigger, look at the Lord who is the biggest”, said a voice. We turned around to find Raja, the guide who explained the significance of the sculpture. He said that there were 150 musicians, 430 dancing girls and more than 600 staff who were employed here. The details were etched in inscriptions on the walls of the temples.
Raja Raja Chola was inspired by the Big Buddhas in Srilanka and hence the scale of this temple. Each sculpture is massive, the Nandi here is the second largest in the country. The sculptures from Indian mythology, the frescoes, the dance Karanas – some highlighting Shiva dancing are the unique aspects of this temple.
Darasuram – a part of the trilogy
We moved on from Thanjavur to Kumakonam and reahed Darasuram which is just 5 kms away. The Airavateshwara temple built by Raja Raja Chola 11 in the 12th century is another World heritage site and an architecture marvel. If the temple in Thanjavur symbolises all things massive, Darasuram celebrates the miniature. We found a local who reluctantly agreed to show us around. According to a legend, Airavata, the white elephant of Indra, worshipped Lord Siva in this temple, hence the deity was named Airavateshwarar. According to another story, the God of Death, Yama was cured from a Rishi’s curse by the presiding diety after he took a bath in the sacred tank called Yamatheeratham. The exquisite sculptures narrating the stories from the Puranas and the sanctum which is in the form of a chariot are some of the unique features here.The carvings depict vignettes of social life in a village, acrobatic and dance poses by artistes. There is even a sculpture depicting a pregnant woman giving birth as other women help her.
In front of the temple, a small ladder with three steps take you to a mandapa. The steps are musical as the stones resonate with different musical sounds when tapped.We spent a few hours enjoying the silence and and continued our journey towards Gangaikondacholapuram.
Onward to Gangaikondacholapuram
The state highway soon gave way to empty stretches of wasteland. A few fields lay scattered. There was no town or village. And then we saw it. Looming in the distance and standing tall was the 160 feet high Vimana of a temple announcing its existence in this otherwise dead capital city which had controlled all of South India, Orissa and Bengal and even overseas like Malaysia and Srilanka for over 250 years. This is the Brihadeshwara temple built by Rajendra Chola 1 in 11th century to commemorate his victory over the rulers of the Gangetic Plain.He left Thanjavur and founded this capital city Gangaikondacholapuram which literally means the town of the Chola who the Ganges. The defeated kings were forced to carry the water as a tribute to the Chola king Rajendra who built a huge reservoir. A large sculpture of a lion in brickwork stands in the temple where a flight of steps lead inside like a tunnel into the huge well known as Simhakinar. Rajendra apparently ensured that Ganga water was always there to perform the rituals in the temple.
A few gardeners were tending to the lawn while we soaked in the ambiance. It was sheer poetry. The sculptures were massive and almost an exact replica of the temple in Thanjavur. One particular sculpture catches the attention. The Chandesanugraha murthi panel, depicts the king being blessed by Siva and Parvati suggesting that all his laurels were dedicated to his lord.
An ASI official gave us some more information. The incriptions show that the city was well planned and the palace was built at Maaligai Medu near a small village called Ulkottai. Smaller villages close by are testimonies to this one time big city. A tank called Tottikulam, another called Tirthakulam, a reservoir called Ponneri which probably stored the water from the Ganga and a village called Vaanadipattam where the fireworks for temple festivities were prepared are what exists today. We saw the ruins of the palace as recent excavations have unearthed some priceless treasures which are now sheltered in a small hut near the temple complex where the State ASI’s museum remains. A visit to this humble museum enriches you as you learn that the city had been fortified and the outer fortification called Rajendra Chola Madil is mentioned in the inscriptions. A painting of the emperor and a map showing his dynasty held me spell bound. Here was a great warrior who had once controlled all of India and even overseas, but was forgotten along with his city. The temple is just a mute spectator for the rise and glory.
Getting there:
The Chola trail includes the trilogy Thanjavur – Gangaikondacholapuram and Darasuram. Kumbakonam is the central point to get there. From Chennai, Thanjavur is 350 kms and you could drive via Kumbakonam which is just 36 kms or take a train. Tiruchirapalli is the closest airport to Thanjavur at 54 kms if you choose to fly. From Kumbakonam, Darasuram is 5 kms and Gangaikondacholapuram is 36 kms and can be done in a day.
Photographs by Lakshmi Sharath.
Escape to the Mountains – Day 2
Mar 5, 2011 Tamil Nadu, Trek
An old post (drafted in Jun 2006) long lost in drafts. Read here the first day’s story.
When we woke on day two, we were already behind 2 hours as per our plan. Breakfast was at Kotagiri and also we got our lunch packed. By the time we reached our trek start point Kodanadu viewpoint, it was already 10. With Sun blazing above our heads we started down to Thengumarahada. The descent started from an altitude of 2000 meters to 350 meters and a total distance of 16-17 KMs.
After a long 30 KMs trek the previous day from Bikkapathimund to Siriyur and back to Ebbinad, our legs were not coping with us. As we dragged ourselves down the zig-zag path through the slopes covered with grass, heaps of elephant dung welcomed us. The excitement of the pachyderms present somewhere around us alerted us and in a way made us to forget our tiredness. But that didn’t last long when the forest gaurd told us that they are more than a week old and the elephants are long gone from that area. Within few minutes, a pair of horns rose up from the tall grass some 50-60 meters away from us. A lone Gaur (Indian Bison) was staring at us. After few seconds of exchanging glances, the Bison disappeared into the slopes. Rest of the descent got most of us involved in most of the people narrating their experiences.
Slowly the slope turned into a flat ground and a small river was infront of us. After a leisurely bath and lunch by the river side, we took off to our end point Thengumarahada. With tired legs & heavy stomach we moved in snail’s pace giving every silly excuse to sit/take rest. Both us and the Sun reached our destinations almost at the same time. After dinner, it was time for a night safari as we heard from the forest officer that there were couple of elephants and a leopard in the vicinity. We managed to get a glimpse of the leopard from our vehicle, not once but twice. Content and tired, then it was bedtime.
Next day was the return journey where we also happened to visit BR hills. Thanks to my sleeping skills, I managed to sleep most of the journey and missied sighting of few animals in BR hills.
Trek to Parvathamalai
Jan 27, 2009 Pilgrimage, Tamil Nadu, Trek, Weekend Getaway
Most of my travels are limited to Karnataka and when I came to know that there is trekking plan in Tamilnadu, I jumped in. Parvathamalai, a pilgrimage near Polur in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu was our destination. Since it takes 4 to 5 hours to climb up, we left Bangalore on Saturday morning to reach Thiruvannamalai by noon. After visiting & roaming around the Shiva temple, we started towards Parvathamalai. It was past 2 in the afternoon when we started climbing.
Parvathamalai is more of a pilgrimage than a trekking spot. We saw pilgrims of all age – from as young as 3-4 years to as old as 70-75 years – climbing up & down the hill en route our trek. There is a temple of Shiva at the top, which the hill is approximately 3500 ft above sea level & is in Thiruvannamalai district of Tamilnadu. There are two routes to reach the peak – one from village Thenmathimagalam which is lengthy but easier and the other from Kadaladi village which is shorter but steep. We took the latter for both climbing up & down.
The path from Kadaladi village starts off like a jeep track and soon narrows down to path where one has to walk one behind the other. Most part of the hill is shrubs with trees scattered all around. That means you can be under a shadow only now and then. The shrubs in the initial stretch were dry & full of thorns. Three fourth of the hill is a steady climb and can be covered without much fuss. The final part is the steep climb on rocks, which is not so difficult if you are there on a bright sunny day. But that will be challenging if you have to climb that stretch after Sun has gone done in the west, with a surprise drizzles making the rocks completely slippery.
We reached the top around 7.30, after the tough final climb. Apart from the visit to the temple & packed dinner which we carried, it was just talking, talking & talking till we slept. Coming down the hill was easier, thanks to gravitational force. We took little over 2 hours to reach Kadaladi. A nice bath in cold water was refreshing before we boarded the vehicle back to Bangalore.
Few things to keep in mind, if you are planning to vist the place and/or stay overnight at the peak – there is no water available at the peak. Every drop of water – be it for drinking or any other purpose has to be carried along. It’s better to carry food, though food is provided at the temple. Reason, most of the devotees climb the hill without bringing food. Last, but most important, please don’t litter.
Photo Credits – Srik. I lost all the photos of the trip as the memory card of my camera got corrupted.
A day in the unknown neighbourhood
Apr 17, 2007 Tamil Nadu, Travel
Saturday started too early for me. Chennai central railway station, I was running on the platform number 4 at around six in the morning to catch Sapthagiri express. Somehow managed to jump in which had just started and slowly moving. As all seats were occupied(it wasn’t a reserved ticket) in the coach, I stood near the door looking out enjoying the cool breeze. Thus started my first leg of the lengthy journey, little did I know that I’ll be travelling in a train, buses, truck, auto, moped, bicycle and by walk, same day in a span of 14 hours.
It all started when I thought of spending my weekend in a different weekend. During my stay at Chennai, my usual weekend used to be (if I’m not visiting my hometown) get up late + brunch (breakfast & lunch) + window shopping at Spencer’s + a movie at Satyam complex. With prior flop shows of waiting for co-travellers, I decided to travel alone. More than 90 percent of the time, people will say they will join for the trip and at twelfth hour they drop out. Being alone was an advantage, I had the authority to chose the place. With plans of visiting a less known place, I ruled out all major tourist destination. Finally I zeroed in on ‘Arahantagiri’, a Jain pilgrimage in Tamilnadu.
All I knew about the place was its name. A call home to get info on how to get there was not fruitful. With the hope of getting details from the other possible resource, I spent a good 2 hours searching in ‘Google’. At the end I had just two links staring at me, all they had were just the name of the place. Finally mom did her homework by contacting few relatives and I had the postal address of the place. Bulletin board at office helped me get further more details from other co-workers. I was to goto Polur, a small town near Thiruvannamalai and ask local people for directions to my destination. Thus started my journey to the unknown neighbourhood on May 1st, 2004. Apart from not knowing the place, I had another major problem. I didn’t know Tamil – ability to read/write = 0%, to speak = 5% and to understand = 10-15%.
On that Labour’s day, I reached Polur without much hassles. After getting down at Katpadi railway junction and changing two busses, I reached the small sleepy town. Now was the big confusion. I was asking for directions to Thirumalai, more common name to ‘Arahantagiri’, and people showing me the bus going towards Thiruvannamalai. I tried clarifying thew same to them – first in English, then Hindi, and broken Tamil, but all in vain. What the heck? If they don’t understand those languages, why not try Kannada? I thought. And luckily it worked. There was a guy who was able to understand me and he gave me the directions. But, I had missed the direct bus to my destination while I was trying to establish the communication with them. For the next bus, wait time was 3 hours. The same guy came to my help again. He gave me an option – take a bus to Vadamathimangalam & catch an auto or any other vehicle bus going to Arahantagiri. Five minutes later, I was on the bus going to Vadamathimangalam.
Half an hour later, after another confusion-filled communication & a short drive in an auto, I reached my final destination. ‘Arahantagiri’, is a small sleepy village & a Jain pilgrimage. There is a 18ft statue of Bhagawan Neminath, the 22nd Tirthankar on top of a small hillock & a temple at the foot of the hill just next to the village. One can avail rooms to stay there in the Jain mutt which acts as care-takers of the temple architecture though it comes under archaeological department. The same Jain mutt also runs a boarding school free of cost for the local kids.
After a much needed bath, I roamed around the place. Sat under a tree on the hill-top for half an hour, enjoying the view. The whole place won’t take more than 2 hours to see. A resident of the mutt suggested to visit other near by Jain temples and agreed to come with me as a guide. To my luck, Kumar, the guide was a Kannadiga staying there for the past 8-9 months & knew little bit of Tamil. After a heavy lunch, I took off to Ponnur malai with Kumar leading the way.
A short ride on the bicycle back to Vadamathimangalam, a bus from there to Chetput and another bus to Ponnurmalai. It was 3PM, visiting the two Jain temples didn’t take much time. I climbed up the small hill, paid a visit to another shrine of Kundakundacharya, a Jain monk. By 3.45, I was back to the bus stop, thinking of how to reach my den in Chennai. Then came another Kumar, a resident of Vandavasi, who knew only Tamil. Kumar, the guide came in handy this time. Enquiring him about my journey back, he suggested me to take a bus to Vandavasi & then another to reach Chennai. But next bus to ferry me to Vandavasi was at 5.30PM.
While I was thinking about ways to kill time, Kumar (second Kumar, let me call him TVS Kumar) flagged down a speeding truck which was heading towards Vandavasi. He asked us wait for him near the bus stand till he comes there by his TVS moped. Truck cabin was full with passengers & we had to climb to the trailer of the truck. The truck was going empty after unloading sand and was full of dust. Before we were able to settle down, soul of Michael Schumacher got into the truck driver’s body and we were speeding towards Vandavasi. We got down from the truck with dust covered all over our body, just before the city limits as it was taking a deviation. By the time we got cleaned ourselves, TVS Kumar came on his moped. Asked him for directions to the bus stand, thanked him for the help and started walking towards the stand. After two minutes, he came back and told about another old Jain temple very near to Vandavasi. Kumar the guide translated whatever TVS Kumar said. I came here by chance & don’t know when I will be here next time, I thought. Hence decided to visit the place. TVS Kumar offered to takes there on his moped.
All three of us on that 50CC moped, started towards the place (forgot the name, sure it’s tongue twister) which was around 6-7 KMs from Vandavasi. The moped broke-down and we were still some 1-2 KMs to the place. Kumar the guide & myself decided to walk to the temple while TVS Kumar started fixing the moped. We reached the temple tired. Spent a good half an hour in that peaceful place. TVS Kumar came tottering on the moped. We sat there for another 30-40 minutes talking. TVS Kumar was talking continuously about the rotten politics & politians of Tamil nadu, with Kumar the guide as translator. TVS Kumar had a good sense of humour (I was able to understand a bit of his humourous comments) & was a fun-filled conversation.
It was time for me to leave. Reached Vandavasi on the moped riding triples. Exchanged our phone numbers, thanked both. Bid adieu to both the Kumars. And we parted – TVS Kumar to his home, Kumar the guide to Arahantagiri by bus & me towards Chennai. Reached home by 1AM, tired after an adventurous journey.
PS: Shruthi’s post tickled my grey cells & made me recount this 3 year old journey.
PPS: I lost all the photos of this trip when my hard-disk crashed. I know its long & boring, without photos.
PPPS: TVS Kumar called me after a couple of months to invite for his marriage. He even took my postal address & sent the invitation. But, I wasn’t able to make it :(
Technorati:
