Krishnadeva Raya : India’s Temple

Krishnadeva Raya, the ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, constructed The Vithala Temple at Hampi. it has a magnificent stone chariot in the courtyard of the temple. The large ranga mandapa is very impressive as it has 56 musical pillars, which resound with musical chimes when struck. The temple has variety of styles that is characterized in the shrines within the temple courtyard and in the delicacy of the carvings that embellish them. The temple stands over a large rectangular enclosure. The three lofty gopuras on the east, north and south sides are now in a dilapidated condition. The gopuram on the south is most ornate.

A pillared colonnade is surrounded all along the interior of the enclosing wall. The main shrine is in the center of the enclosed courtyard along with mandapa, amman sanctum, the kalyana mandapa, an utsava mandapa, a hundred-pillared mandapa and a stone ratha. There was a originally a lofty kipa-stambha, measuring 12.2 m in height, in front of the east gopuram. But now it is broken condition and lies on the ground. The main shrine was dedicated to Vishnu in the form of Vithala.

Hoysaleshwara Temple : India’s Temple

The Hoysaleshwara Temple at Halebid stands on a platform like a casket. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. it has two shrines connected by the pillared walls. Each of the shrine has the lingam of Hoysaleshwara and Shanthaleshwara. Ketumalla who was the chief of the staff of Vishnuvardhan built the temple in 1121 AD.

The temple is richly ornamented with most intricately detailed scrollwork in stone. Outside there is figure of Nandi or the Bull, the mount of Shiva outside the shrine over a hillock. The figure of mortals and immortals are larger here in comparison to Belur. They are beautifully chiseled in shining black stone. The walls of the temples are embellished with variety of sculptures of the gods and goddesses, animals, birds and dancing girls.

Brihadeswara Temple : India’s Temple

The Brihadeswara temple at Thanjaur is within a huge compound with walls rising above 15m. The temple is made over a 29 m square base and has a soaring vimana and a stunted gopuram. The inner sanctum and the gopuram were constructed over a period of 12 years. it was constructed from a single piece of granite weighing around 80 tones. The dome was hauled into place along a 4-km earthwork ramp in a manner similar to the Egyptian pyramids.

The lofty sanctum tower known as the Srivimana, is enclosed by a rectangular prakara or corridor consisting of two squares. The inner wall of the garbhagriha or the sanctum sanctorum has sculpted 108 dance poses called karmas performed by Lord Shiva himself. The Shiva lingam is called Peruvudaiya, Rasjarajeshwaramudvya. it is a huge lingam, which is set in a two-storeyed sanctum. Rajaraja Chola crowned it with 12.5 ft tall finial of 9.25 kilograms of choppers plated with 800 grams of gold.

A huge statue of Nandi measuring 6 m length and 3.7 m in height faces the inner sanctum. The statue of Nandi was created from a single rock piece and weighs 25 tones. it is in fact one of the largest statues of Nandi bulls in india. The temple also has a spacious ground, number of pillared halls, shrines and 250 lingams.

Shore Temple : India’s Temple

Mamallapuram was once a port city of the Pallava rulers, located 50 km from the south of Chennai on the shores of Bay of Bengal. The temples and rock cut sculptures of that period create a unique blend of history and natural beauty. The monuments of Mamallapuram are excellent specimen of Dravidian temple architecture and Pallava art.

The Shore temples at Mamallapuram were built during the reign of Rajasimha in the 7th century AD. The Shore temples are the example of zenith of the Pallava art and architecture. The temple is perched on a rocky outcrop and presides over the shoreline. Percy Brown has remarked that it served as ‘a landmark by day and a beacon by night’. it was designed to catch the first rays of the rising sun and to illuminate the waters after dark. Thus the temple has an unusual layout.

Rajasimha who ascended the throne in AD 674 built the Shore Temple. The Shore Temple was the first Pallava structure to be built of stone rather than being hewn out of stone like the older temples. The greatest improvement in design is in the shikhara or spire, which has altered from the rounded vihara design to a soaring, tiered style. Elements like the vimana or spire, the gopuram or gateway and animal figures that were to become trademark features of Dravidian architecture can all be seen here. And it is largely the use of dressed stone, which gave the architects greater creative freedom.
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Fort St. George

The British soldiers headed by Francis Day and Andrew Cogon, landed at the Coromandal Coast on 20th February 1640 AD. They laid the foundation of Fort St George at a village of the fishermen, named Chennaipatnam exactly after 2 months on 23rd April 1640. A boundary wall was raised in a 100 sq m land. The city of Madras was thus founded. The fort was named after the patron saint of England, St. George.

The city of Chennai is divided into 3 parts. River Kayum creates the boundary on the north of George Town, i.e., Fort St. George or the administrative and commercial complex of the city. The Paris Corner is on the right side of the city. It is the busiest section of the city. Chennai Central lies between River Kayum and River Adiyer. Mayalpur, an old Portuguese colony is towards south.

Fort St. George marks the beginning of development of Madras (Chennai) as a modern city. It looks more like a complex of the well-maintained colonial mansions then a fort. It houses a place where Lord Clive – the establisher of British rule in India used to live. Fort St. George houses the tallest towering flagstaff in India. The building had been constructed in a typical English style of architecture of the 17th and 18th century AD. It has beautiful stained glasses, church benches made of teak, ornate marble walls, frescoes and plaques. A moat was built around the fort to keep the locals at a distance. It once housed the British regiment mess and later the lighthouse.
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Chettinad Palace

The 110-year-old Chettinad Palace is an outstanding specimen of the Chettinad architecture. The oldest surviving building of this style, the Chettinad Palace was built by Dr Annamali Chettiyar, founder of the indian Bank and the Annamalai University in Chidambaram. Dr Chettiyar was given the honorary title of “Raja” as he was the owner of 90 villages, which comprised the area called Chettinadu. Chettinadu extended 25 km from the north to south and 15 km from west to east.

The Chettinad Palace was designed by Dr Chettiyar and given the form by the local masons. The basic style of architecture reflects traditional architectural style of Chettinad. The construction material, decorative items and furnishings were mostly imported from East Asian countries and Europe. The marble was brought from italy, chandeliers and teak from Burma, crockery from indonesia, crystals from Europe and wall-to-wall mirrors from Belgium. The woodwork and stonework was inspired that of the houses in France and other European destinations.

The verandah is just next to the iron-gate and was converted into the waiting area for the visitors. The flooring of the waiting area is done with white marble.

The meeting hall is decorated with several pairs of tusks; one of them is over 8 ft long and shipped from South Africa. There are also the portraits of family members and a collection of colored crystal. The ceiling has artistic patterns in vegetable dye over roofing plates made of copper soldered with a special variety of aluminum. The walls are made 1.5 ft to 3 ft wide to keep the interiors cool without the use of any electronic equipment like the air conditioners. The no cementing agent was used in the construction and the bricks are bound together with a paste of egg white, the extract of an unripe medicinal fruit found in the hills of Kadukkai and lime grind.
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Gangaikondacholapuram, Tanjore : India’s Temple

King Rajendra Chola, son of Rajaraja Chola built the Gangaikondacholapuram as the capital city. The temple is called the second Brihadeswara temple and is known as the Gangaikkondacholeswara temple. it lies right next to Kumbakonam. Gangaikondacholapuram was constructed as an attempt to build a temple, which excels in architectural splendor than the temple made by his father. The capital has now disappeared and even the palace of the emperor does not exist. There are ruins marked by debris of bricks around 1.5 km away from the temple. The place is now known as Ulkottai, where there is a mound called Maligaimedu or the palace-mound.

The temple was built during the period, which can be described as the ‘golden age’ of the Cholas. Rajendra Chola inherited a vast reserve of wealth from his father. The Cholas were invading and conducting successful campaigns in the northern territories of india. Rajendra Chola conquered Madurai and Ellam.During one of his campaigns to the north, Rajendra Chola brought the water from the Ganges River in a golden pot and sanctified the reservoir of Ponneri or Cholaganga. As a result, he was given the title of ‘Gangaikondan’ meaning ‘The One who Brought the Ganges’.

The king wanted to build a temple comparable to the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur in grandeur. The temple at Gangaikondacholapuram was constructed between 1020-1029 AD. The temple has intricate carvings on the vimana of the temple. The Northern Chalukyan Kingdom influences the style of this temple. The temple is built on a hard southern granite stone and displays the beauty of the carvings of the temple leaving behind the simplicity gracefulness and elegance of the Pallava and the earlier Chola empires.

A ruined gopura can be seen the at the temple complex, which is in the inner compound-wall of the temple. The outer and largest wall having gopuras have been pillaged long ago. One can see the huge bull beyond the bali-pitha on entering through the gopura. it is not a monolithic unlike its counterpart at Thanjavur. The height of the temple is 54.86 m and it follows the arrangement of the temple at Thanjavur. The Brihadeswara temple at Thanjavur is still standing in a stately manner, suggestive of strength but this temple is shorter with more graceful and delicate contour more and a little feminine in its lack of angularity.
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