Now we will look at the research results of Tanjore Peruvudayar Temple on the third page. The Vimana, located on the top of the Raja Gopuram of the Tanjore Peruvudayar Temple, weighs eighty tons. Was the plane made of a single stone ? Or is it built by combining different stones ? It remains a mystery till date. Some say that it was made of four very large stones and bound together , and some say that it was made of many small stones.
I photographed the beauty of Tanjore Great Temple Gopuram from many angles. You can see the beauty of that art treasure yourself in the websit. There were beautiful statues of Nandi here and there , and statues of warrior Maras with swords and shields in hand.
Statues like this are what I’ve been looking for the most. Because there is no evidence in our country of what kind of clothes our ancestors wore and what kind of weapons they used a thousand years ago .
But in the case of the Chinese, they started searching have archived information of their ancestors and preserved ancient manuals and artifacts in the museum to explore their history and given importance to them and take them to the next generation.
This kind of historical documentation is missing in India Even a poetic style does not clearly mention what kind of clothes they wore. But instead one can guess from the idols in the temples and humanoid idols in Garbha Graha.
Because during that period, our ancestors were depicted as gods in the temples and worshiped them as gods by casting them as idols according to the clothes, ornaments and weapons they used. Thus bases on the statues it is only a guess they must have dressed,worn ornamanents,carried weapons in that manner.
Many statues of warriors with bows and shields can be seen in many places in this large temple complex of Tanjore. But here I did not see any idols wearing body armor. For example , I did not see statues of warriors wearing body armor as seen in movies like Greek soldiers and Ponni’s Selvan. I did not find any evidence when I searched for it. Is it still available ? remains a question mark.
Looking at the statues with bows and shields in this temple, they may have been the most important army commanders during the Chola regime. These sculptures may have been modeled after the army commanders themselves. Because every sculpture in it is different with every facial structure.
An important point is that we have heard that the Tamils of that time used to have big mustaches. But here it is very common to see idols without moustaches. I don’t know why the mustache was not given importance while carving the sculptures. I don’t understand whether they made the idols like that because of the difference between the idols of God and the idols of men. .
Sucessive invaders like Nayaks, Marathas and mainly British damaged and destroyed historical treasures like temple sculptures , walls , copper plates and stole various kinds of priceless items. That’s why we don’t get any evidence. During their rule, they have ruined our lives and ruined our historical symbols as well.
The sculptors of that period excelled in the art of architecture with great intelligence and imagination beyond our imagination. The space between each stone of the temple building is tightly bound with a mixture of lime mixed with mustard and black pepper. It is amazing to think that every sculptor of the day was an engineer by choice.Next, if you see the structure of a pillar on the third side, a pillar has been placed in the front hall of the temple and on top of it, the four sides have been designed and balance to support the rooft.The Tanjore Great Temple is a temple with a small foundation base. But till date it has been built in such a way that it has survived many earthquakes as it is built on a Engineering model of large base which narrows down to the top .The simple example is the Tanjore Doll which pushed from all ends bounces back to stability.
The statue of Dwarapalagar in the sixth row on the third side is realistic as done in marble. Looking at the body , chest , arms , legs and structure, it looks like a living statue. Here and there many idols of Yazhi can be seen on the pillars and on the walls of the temple. The massive tower resembles a pyramidal structure when viewed from below.
As far as this Tanjore temple is concerned, the entire temple is full of beautiful carvings without leaving even a small space.
The temple is a historical temple and hence entry to Swami is allowed only after paying a fee for darshan or research.
The temple is under the control of the Department of Archaeology. That is why the temple complex is so clean. But the temple workers are rude and irresponsible towards the people who come there. They are like officials in government offices. They do not know the responsibility of working in a historic place. They seem to be working only for the pay at the end of month.
While we were walking inside the temple, an exhibition accidentally caught our eye in a corner. It was an information center located in an inconspicuous place. There was a lot of information in that information center. For example , there was information about how the temple was dilapidated in the 1950s , and how it was renovated after the year 2005, along with photographs .
Even the Pandyas who invaded this land of Tanjore and conquered the country and brought Tanjore under their rule did no damage to the temples and monasteries built by the Cholas. It is a fact that everyone can accept that they respected the places of worship. Similarly, even when the Cholas ruled the Pandyan land, Meenakshi Amman Temple was not damaged in anyway.
The atrocity of the Nayaks , Marathas , and Britishers who came across our Tamil soil is the most regrettable. They have tried to destroy our historical treasures with the intention that the later generation should not know about them and thus tried to write off Tamils from the History books.
The Cholas were devotees of Shiva. Nayak period paintings were painted on top of the Tripuranthakar painting, which was painted during the Chola period, showing all the facial signs of Shiva, with the aim of hiding the history of the Tamils. But they didn’t know that Tamils have the power to extract that too. Now a Tamil scholar has brought it out.
The temple is full of paintings, idols and art in praise of Lord Shiva. Even after a thousand years, the painting of Lord Shiva still looks beautiful even today and the colors given had not faded away. But it is heartbreaking that Tamils are so easily forgetful and do not take much effort to preserve the past.
Even today, the first honor in the Tanjore Great Temple is given to those of Maratha descent. What is the relationship between the Maratha kings and Tanjore ? Why them when there is no significant contribution by them to the Tanjore Teampl ? The Tamils did not have the same unity then and now. The same situation continues even now. No one has the feeling of being a Tamil except they take turns beating each other and dig their own downfall.
One says that Tamil Moothati Avayar is his grandmother and Murugan is my father. But he was actually a Christian. Being a Christian, he comments Tamil temples and Tamil scholars as if he is an expert on Tamils. This is not correct in any way. Tamil youths today are relying or trusting these type of guys..