PM Modi to release commemorative coin of King Rajendra Chola, Ilaiyaraaja to perform at Gangaikonda Cholapuram on July 27

The Hindu

18-07-2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate in a function in Tamil Nadu on July 27, 2025 being organised to commemorate the 1000th anniversary (millenary) of the conquest of the Gangetic plains by King Rajendra Chola I, who established the city of Gangaikonda Cholapuram and constructed the Brihadisvara Temple, in Ariyalur district.
Mr. Modi will also release a commemorative coin on the occasion, accepting a request made by R. Komagan, Chairman of the Gangaikondacholapuram Development Council Trust.
The temple town and its premises are being spruced up for the Prime Minister's visit. An exhibition showcasing the conquest, trophies and miniature sculptures of Saivite saints will be held at the temple premises between July 23 and 27. Music composer Ilaiyaraaja will perform a 20-minute concert in the presence of Mr. Modi.
A capital of the Cholas for 250 years, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, located on the banks of the Kollidam River in Ariyalur district, lost its glory with the fall of the Chola dynasty. A report in the Gazetteer of South India in 1855 — later included in the book 'The Colas' by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri — compared Gangaikonda Cholapuram to ancient Babylon.
'Immediately in its vicinity is a pagoda of a very large size and costly workmanship; and close by, surrounded by jungle, are some remains of ancient buildings, now much resembling the mounds and heaps which indicate the site of ancient Babylon, but in which the village elders point out the various parts of an extensive and magnificent palace,' the report states.
It also refers to the complete dismantling of the outer wall and the partial demolition of the inner wall by the British in 1832, during the construction of the Lower Kollidam Anaicut.
'When the Lower Kollidam Anaicut was built, the structure was dismantled of a large part of the splendid granite sculptures which adorned it, and the enclosing wall was almost wholly destroyed in order to obtain materials for the work,' the report points out.
Although local people did their best to prevent the 'destruction and spoliation of a venerated edifice,' they were punished for contempt.
'A promise was made, indeed, that a wall of brick would be built in place of the stone wall that was pulled down, but unhappily it must be recorded that this promise has never been redeemed,' the report adds.