INDE SUD - GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM - Temple Brhadisvara (94)
SOUTH INDIA - GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM
Gangaikondacholapuram, 70 km from Tanjavur (Tamil Nadu), is a former capital of the Chola Empire built by King Rajendra I around 1025 to commemorate his victory over the Palas of Bengal and the Ganga dynasties of the East.
Its name means ‘The city of the Chola who brought back the water of the Ganges’ and refers to the legend of its foundation: it is said to have been built to commemorate victories in Bengal, with Rajendra ordering the sacred water of the Ganges to be transported to his new capital, where he had a huge reservoir built to store it.
The city survived until the 13th century, when it was destroyed by the Pandyas of Mysore. Only the Bradishvara temple remains today.
The structure of the Bradishvara temple at Gangaikondacholapuram makes it one of the most emblematic of South Indian Dravidian architecture. It is one of the most complete temples of the Chola period, and its sculpture is also remarkable.
This architecture is characterised by very large temples with immense portal towers or Gopurams. The entrance portal, which in this case has lost its gopuram, is followed by a large statue of the bull Nandi, wearing a collar and facing the sanctuary, which is followed by a small Nandi, blackened by offerings.
The heart of the sanctuary, square in plan, is surmounted by a pyramid-shaped tower called the Vimana, with increasingly smaller storeys. Here, the sanctuary rises to a height of 52 m, with a base measuring 32 m on each side.
A remarkable monument.
INDE SUD - GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM - Temple Brhadisvara (94)
SOUTH INDIA - GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM
Gangaikondacholapuram, 70 km from Tanjavur (Tamil Nadu), is a former capital of the Chola Empire built by King Rajendra I around 1025 to commemorate his victory over the Palas of Bengal and the Ganga dynasties of the East.
Its name means ‘The city of the Chola who brought back the water of the Ganges’ and refers to the legend of its foundation: it is said to have been built to commemorate victories in Bengal, with Rajendra ordering the sacred water of the Ganges to be transported to his new capital, where he had a huge reservoir built to store it.
The city survived until the 13th century, when it was destroyed by the Pandyas of Mysore. Only the Bradishvara temple remains today.
The structure of the Bradishvara temple at Gangaikondacholapuram makes it one of the most emblematic of South Indian Dravidian architecture. It is one of the most complete temples of the Chola period, and its sculpture is also remarkable.
This architecture is characterised by very large temples with immense portal towers or Gopurams. The entrance portal, which in this case has lost its gopuram, is followed by a large statue of the bull Nandi, wearing a collar and facing the sanctuary, which is followed by a small Nandi, blackened by offerings.
The heart of the sanctuary, square in plan, is surmounted by a pyramid-shaped tower called the Vimana, with increasingly smaller storeys. Here, the sanctuary rises to a height of 52 m, with a base measuring 32 m on each side.
A remarkable monument.