We are now about to turn to page thirteen, the final account of the Tanjore trip. Let’s see details about paintings , sculptures and photos of sculptures on this page .
On this page there is a replica of a mythological story painting of history with Sundarar. As much as I am interested in knowing our history, I am less interested in mythological stories. I have only heard about Sundarar at that time who had a very close relationship with God due to his spiritual strength. There is also a photograph of a painting of the royal women of that time wearing a lot of jewels around their necks and necklaces.
There is a photograph of a painting of Rajaraja Cholan with his three wifes having darshan of the Swami in the Raja Rajeeswaramudayar temple in Tanjore. In this painting, Rajaraja Cholan looks very majestic with a big mustache and beard. His three wifes are depicted as wearing different colored clothes and all three in different color schemes representing their complexion. It is uniquely shown in this painting that the first person is white, the second is brownish and the third is dark.
This painting is said to be in the basement of the Tanjore Great Temple. But now permission to go there is denied and they say that it can be seen only with the help of those in authority. So I am trying to visit these paintings in person on my next trip.
Next, in the same temple, there is a replica of a painting of Rajarajan asking his guru Karur Devar for advice. But there is no inscriptional evidence to confirm that Rajaraja and Karur Deva could be the people in this painting. It is seen as a conjecture to this day.
The information board placed next to it gives very clear details of the musical instruments of the ancients. It mentions that stringed instruments , wind instruments , metal kanjak instruments and leather instruments are used as instruments to express different types of music in the Muthamil line of natural music .
One of the most important references here is the reference to the sculptors who built the Thanjavur Temple. The names of the sculptors who created the Tanjore Peruvudayar temple are marked in the inscription. The chief sculptor was called Thachasaryan.
Veeracholan Kunjaramalla Irajaraja Perunthatchan is marked as Thachacharya in this temple. Nita Vinota Perunthachan as Gunavan Madhuranthakan and Kandaraditha Perunthachan as Latich Sadaya are working to help him.
Sculptors who build temples nowadays are called Sthapathi. We know from many inscriptions that he was great at that time with the title of Perundatsan . There is an information board with notes that there is no doubt that Thachasarya, whose name Rajaraja was called Pundu Rajaraja Perunthachan, was undoubtedly the master sculptor of Tamil Nadu who created the magnificent Thanjai Big temple.
Next there are ancient sculptures like Shiva Lingam , Nandi Thavai , etc. I have never seen these sculptures in other temples. But looking at the facial structure of these idols, it does not look like they were carved by sculptors from Tamilnadu. For example , idols like Thavvai , Tirumal , Dancing Mangaiyar are seen slightly differently. Perhaps these were idols brought from the Northern invasion. Subsequently, an idol of Lingeswaran was carved inside the lingam. It was very very unique and magnificent.
Many of the inscriptions here are Kalinga sculptures. As I said earlier, the Chola generals, when they invaded the North, destroyed the temples there and brought the sculptures with the intention of pleasing their king. This is a huge mistake. It is my guess that this action would have earned the anger , rage and curse of the Tanjore sculptors of the Cholas. So this may be one of the reasons why the Cholas downfall started soon after this.
This museum also houses the idol of Mahavira which the Chalukya kings worshiped. This worship of Mahavira existed only during the Chalukya period. This must have been brought during the Chalukya invasion by the Cholas.
Next there are references to Kongu Chola kings. After Aditya Karikalan conquered Kongu country, he appointed many deputies to manage the country. Later it emerged as a separate dynasty. Details about it were also featured on this notice board.
We have heard about Bhairava, the deity of Kalinga Nadu. But we never heard of Bhairavi. It is a female deity. Only a copy of this sculpture exists. There is no mention of where this statue is located. It is said that all the idols brought by the victorious forces of the Ganges invasio to Gangai Konda Cholapuram. People there said that it should not be brought into the Gangai Konda Cholapuram, and the sculptor Nitta Vinotha Thachar refused to let it in. That is why the statue is kept outside and the statue is now in the museum there. The day we visited was a public holiday so we couldn’t see the statue.
Replicas of various statues and sculptures are kept here. But there is no clear indication of where these idols are. Whereas the sculptures found in the ruins like Bhairava and Dwara Balagar may have been brought back during the northern invasion. No details about this are clearly mentioned.
Here, several iron chandeliers and beautifully carved pillars found in the ruins are housed in a separate glass case.
There is also a model of Raja Raja Cholan Mani Mandapam in the museum. This mandapam is very beautifully designed in the style of Rajaraja Chola’s Palli Pada Kovil.
Outside this palace there is a majestic statue of Rajaraja Chola galloping on a gold-plated horse.
We are told that there is a tradition of erecting statues of warriors usually on horseback. If all four legs of the horse are down, the hero is said to have died a natural death , if one leg of the horse is raised , then the hero is said to have been wounded in battle and later died , and if both forelegs are raised , then the hero is said to have died a heroic death in battle. But there is no evidence to confirm this.
With this, the Tanjore Peruvudayar temple research trip has come to a conclusion.