Biograph
History- Personal
I was 18. I was on one of the then obligatory 'family temple tours'. These temple tours were dreadfully boring exercises in ‘holidaying’ which involved traveling for almost a week, up and down the Tamizh state as a familial group in a cramped up wagon. The few times you got to step out of the vehicle, you were ushered in to a crowded place where you elbowed everyone to try to get a glimpse of a dark idol wrapped in dhotis and/or silk saris, lit dimly by the flicker of the aarti of a money grubbing priest.
On this particular trip, I was in the midst of teenage existential angst and rebellion. I had decided to sulk through the entire trip by sleeping in the back seat when all at once the vehicle passed by an old and semi abandoned temple standing uncared for, in the middle of a non descript village.
This ruined and abandoned affair which I had to convince the entire family to pop in by, turned out to be Gangai Konda Chozhapuram. There was hardly anyone there amidst the gargantuan ruins and the sole priest/ in charge narrated the history of this ruined city. I fell in love. To my mind, forever fixated on the romance of ruins and ancient stones, this was my own paradise.
I must have run around the place with my jaw down for a long while, until I was pulled out to fight out the next crowded temple. I promised myself that I would keep coming back.
After 10 years of dreaming about it, I managed to get back again this week. After the same ten long years my mother tricked me into a temple tour again. But this time, I fixed the itinerary (Chennai - Pondy- Chidambaram- Sri Rangam ) and made sure that it included Gangai Konda Chozhapuram. And to be doubly sure, I volunteered to drive the 650 odd kilometers involved, in the two days of leave I had from work.
On the breath taking-ly picturesque rural ‘by-pass way’ dotted with sunflower fields, lotus ponds and Village deities from Chidabaram to Trichy I drove by a curiously lonely temple in the midst of one more of the hundred odd villages on the way. I had stumbled upon Gangai Konda Chozhapuram again!
History
Gangai Konda Chozhapuram is a proclamation of an astounding victory. The ruthless Chozha armies had conquered all land till Bengal under the reign of Rajendra Chozha. The Chozhas, thus, controlled quite a huge territory around 800 AD from Sri Lanka in the South to Orissa and Bengal in the North- East.
To celebrate this victory, Rajendra shifted his capital from the traditional Tanjavur to the new city that he built for the “Conquerors of Ganga”. This city of Gangai Kondan continued to be the Capital for close to 8 generations of the Chozhas. All that remains of it now are some scattered ruins and this magnificent temple. The temple itself was built to rival the great Brihadeeswara at Tanjavur, built by Rajendra’s father Rajaraja. Gangai Kondan’s imposing tower is shorter than Brihadeeswara’s but wider. Rajendra was inspired by the Sun Temple of Konarak, newly under his realm, to incorporate design elements of the ‘Chariot of the Sun” prototype.
I was 18. I was on one of the then obligatory 'family temple tours'. These temple tours were dreadfully boring exercises in ‘holidaying’ which involved traveling for almost a week, up and down the Tamizh state as a familial group in a cramped up wagon. The few times you got to step out of the vehicle, you were ushered in to a crowded place where you elbowed everyone to try to get a glimpse of a dark idol wrapped in dhotis and/or silk saris, lit dimly by the flicker of the aarti of a money grubbing priest.
On this particular trip, I was in the midst of teenage existential angst and rebellion. I had decided to sulk through the entire trip by sleeping in the back seat when all at once the vehicle passed by an old and semi abandoned temple standing uncared for, in the middle of a non descript village.
This ruined and abandoned affair which I had to convince the entire family to pop in by, turned out to be Gangai Konda Chozhapuram. There was hardly anyone there amidst the gargantuan ruins and the sole priest/ in charge narrated the history of this ruined city. I fell in love. To my mind, forever fixated on the romance of ruins and ancient stones, this was my own paradise.
I must have run around the place with my jaw down for a long while, until I was pulled out to fight out the next crowded temple. I promised myself that I would keep coming back.
After 10 years of dreaming about it, I managed to get back again this week. After the same ten long years my mother tricked me into a temple tour again. But this time, I fixed the itinerary (Chennai - Pondy- Chidambaram- Sri Rangam ) and made sure that it included Gangai Konda Chozhapuram. And to be doubly sure, I volunteered to drive the 650 odd kilometers involved, in the two days of leave I had from work.
On the breath taking-ly picturesque rural ‘by-pass way’ dotted with sunflower fields, lotus ponds and Village deities from Chidabaram to Trichy I drove by a curiously lonely temple in the midst of one more of the hundred odd villages on the way. I had stumbled upon Gangai Konda Chozhapuram again!
History
Gangai Konda Chozhapuram is a proclamation of an astounding victory. The ruthless Chozha armies had conquered all land till Bengal under the reign of Rajendra Chozha. The Chozhas, thus, controlled quite a huge territory around 800 AD from Sri Lanka in the South to Orissa and Bengal in the North- East.
To celebrate this victory, Rajendra shifted his capital from the traditional Tanjavur to the new city that he built for the “Conquerors of Ganga”. This city of Gangai Kondan continued to be the Capital for close to 8 generations of the Chozhas. All that remains of it now are some scattered ruins and this magnificent temple. The temple itself was built to rival the great Brihadeeswara at Tanjavur, built by Rajendra’s father Rajaraja. Gangai Kondan’s imposing tower is shorter than Brihadeeswara’s but wider. Rajendra was inspired by the Sun Temple of Konarak, newly under his realm, to incorporate design elements of the ‘Chariot of the Sun” prototype.
No one is quite sure how such a great city fell to ruin. Most attribute it to the vengeance wreaked by the sudden but brief resurgence of the Pandyas; some others to the usual earthquakes and disasters. It seems that almost all of the existing houses in Gangai Kondan were built with ancient bricks pilfered from the ruins- a still extant practice that has been on for centuries!
Religion
Religion
The imposing sculptures all around Gangai Kondan are an intoxicating mix of religion with personal history.
Sample this piece representing the crowning of Chandikeshwar. Who posed as Chandikeshwar here is anybody's guess.
The most awe inspiring sight for me in all of Gangai Kondan is the Shiva Lingam in the inner sanctum. Alone in its gigantic presence, the prismatic form of the idol is unspoiled. With less than 5 people around at any given time, the imposing figure resides in an ancient stillness. I offered the priest the white lotus my mother had plucked at a nearby village pond. The flower sat alone on the cusp of the Lingam as its sole adornment.
4 comments:
Its a really beautiful writeup. I wish I could visit the place myself now.
Nice one! Better to be tricked by your mom. You might find up few more paradises
Did you shoot the displayed images or are they taken off from other sites? I found a chopped version of the image posted in a garment store in Madras. The temple's architecture resembles the Tanjore temple in many ways . Hope you like that one too.
Heard people say that you get a sense of belonging or association in certain places/people . It may be attributed to connection in previous birth cycle. Don't know how far such things are true. May be you had connection with this temple in your previous incarnations.
You have so many architecture marvels in Tamil Nadu. Hope your thirst for travel takes you to such divine destinations apart from your trekking tours
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