Gangaikonda Cholapuram

Thanks to my recent allure to my camera, recently, I did happen to visit this ancient, but spectacular temple of Gangaikonda Cholapuram. I have been to Thanjavur many times, but seldom did I care to visit this historical site, which I have read about a lot in my school history lessons.

Just a couple of hours drive from Thiruvaiyaru on the way to Chidambaram, right on the highway, you have Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Today, this historical place is nothing but a small hamlet by the roadside. Except for the majestic temple, you get to see few petty shops and tiny houses spread across the village.

Thanks to the UNESCO and the Archaeological Survey of India, this temple is now one of the protected heritage sites. The temple premises are so darn tidy with lush green lawns sprawling across the few acres.


Other than the historical significance, somehow the deity has not caught the religious fervor of our folks and no wonder there was hardly any crowd to be seen inside the temple. The day I went, the priest came running towards us, for not to lose the rare visitors and the change that he gets after performing the aarti.Though the main vimanam, looks similar to the Big Temple in Tanjore, it does lack the majesty of the Big Temple and so does the sandstone nandhi. Could not believe my eyes, that all these figurines have survived the travails of over 1000 years!

More difficult would be to survive from the hands of our fellow Indians. Typical of any of our historical sites, many of these sculptures carry the insipid scribbling of the visitors and their names.

If you were to believe that, this place once was the magnificent capital city of the great Chola emperors, right from Rajendra Chola and followed by the Kulothunga Chola, it is extremely painful to believe, looking at the sad state of this town.

Other than the petty shop that sells candies and thirst quenchers, there is hardly any humanity. For the curious buff, I did find a tiny book in the petty shop, narrating the history of this once illustrious kingdom.

Where did we lose sight of our history and heritage? I kept wondering, what would it take for us to attract the crowd towards us and relive our grand past, similar to how the visitors throng the sites of once Roman and Greek might?

Do visit Gangaikonda Cholapuram if you happen to be near its vicinity. You sure will walk down the memory lanes and relive some of the history lessons of your school days.