Gangaikonda Cholapuram
The temple was built in the11th century, to commemorate Chola King's conquest of Ganges. It is a massive stone structure with so many small shrines inside. The town was the capital city of the Cholas till their fall in the 13th century. The temple resembles the one in Thanjavur, but the architecture is different.
The temple was built in the11th century, to commemorate Chola King's conquest of Ganges. It is a massive stone structure with so many small shrines inside. The town was the capital city of the Cholas till their fall in the 13th century. The temple resembles the one in Thanjavur, but the architecture is different.
The entrance tower remains half fallen and there are many structures destroyed by time, by invaders etc. The main architecture of the temple is the 9 storey temple tower that extends to the height of 185 feet. Added to that there are few other shrines around with sculptures and carvings. An ordinary look at the temple will tell the richness of Chola dynasty.
The whole architecture is made of hard granite stones. The main sculptors in the tower walls include figures of dancing Nataraja and peaceful Saraswati, Shiva-Parvati, Ardhanareshwar (the man-woman manifestation of Shiva) and Ganesha.
I was really excited to see this. Few years back, I was excited to see the Holy City of Aksum in Ethiopia, after that this is my next excitement seeing historical monuments.
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