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News18
10 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
Why PM Modi's Visit To Gangaikonda Cholapuram Irks Dravidian Exclusivists
Because the Shiva temple and lost city are a testament to the greatest southern emperor Rajendra Chola's reverence for the sacred northern river Ganga Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Brihadeeswarar temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram last weekend, how many Indians knew about its existence? How many clever ones thought he had visited the one in Thanjavur (with the same name) and just got his geography mixed up? How many know/knew that Emperor Rajendra Chola had conquered territories northwards right up to the Ganga and built a temple and capital to commemorate it? Cheerleaders of the cynical ideological campaign to assert that north and south India have no common cultural and religious beliefs and were only artificially united by the Mughals and then the British would want ignorance to prevail. They would want more people to believe that there was no 'India" before the British—or at least not before the Mughals. Modi's visit there, however, has turned the spotlight on some facts that bust that long-standing divisive narrative. Gangaikonda Cholapuram, even though it is now just a nondescript town in Tamil Nadu with one majestic temple jutting out into the sky, is a testament to the importance of Ganga—a sacred north Indian river and deity—even in Dravidian south India. The current dispensation in Tamil Nadu will also not be pleased by Modi focussing attention on a place and a king whose reverence for a northern Indian entity bespeaks a cultural confluence contrary to its political stance. But while it was there, it was magnificent. There are references in Tamil literature of multistoried palaces, grand gateways, avenues, and even highways named after Rajaraja and Rajendra Chola connecting the city with other parts of the kingdom. And every Chola ruler thereafter was crowned there, even if he decided to rule from elsewhere for some time. And the grandest assertion of the widespread power of the Chola dynasty was the creation of Cholagangam. KA Nilakanta Sastri, in his seminal book The Cholas, cited the Tiruvalangadu Copper Plates to assert that Rajendra Chola commissioned a 'liquid pillar of victory"—Ganga-Jalamayam Jayastambham—in his new capital in the form of the tank, which came to be known as Cholagangam. Contemporary Tamil literature chronicles that representatives of all the kingdoms he conquered were ordered to bring Ganga water in golden pots and pour it into the vast tank. The sanctified tank was created to serve the new imperial city, fill its protective moat, and irrigate nearby fields by diverting water from the Kollidam River. When full, it used to have a water spread of 130 sq km, but the grand manmade lake, the largest in the subcontinent for many centuries and a shining example of Chola engineering and water management, has now been bifurcated by a state road and lies depleted and choked due to neglect from the colonial era onwards. So it was no coincidence that a few days before last week's visit by the PM, Tamil Nadu's chief minister MK Stalin, suddenly woke up to Rajendra Chola's 'birth anniversary", celebrated as the Aadi Thiruvathirai festival, to announce a Rs 19 crore project to revive the water body and build tourism infrastructure there! The PM then also released a commemorative coin at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and announced statues of the father-son duo, Rajaraja I and Rajendra Chola. An imminent tug of war over the Chola legacy seems inevitable between the Centre and the aggressive Tamil Nadu state government, determined to assert Dravidian exclusivism and encourage a disconnect from all things north Indian. What the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)'s ideologues will find tough to brush under the dhurrie, though, is the huge importance of north India's premier and revered river Ganga for Rajendra Chola and all his descendants. For, as long as the Chola dynasty lasted—for the next 256 years—there was a powerfully symbolic Ganga in the south, albeit as a tank, in its capital city. And many copper plates and stone inscriptions of Chola rulers—and even those of the Pandya and Vijayanagara rulers who came later—record villages handed over for tax-free maintenance of the Gangaikondacholiswarar temple in the now-razed city. The lake was renamed Ponneri ('golden") later, during the Vijayanagara era. Shiva as Gangadhara—holder of the Ganga—has been praised in Tamil literature of that time, notably in the Thiruvisaippa compositions of Karuvur Devar, who lived during the reigns of Rajaraja and Rajendra Chola. Interestingly, in the war poem Kalingattuparani by Jayan Kondar, based on the victorious Odisha campaign of Kulottunga I (Rajendra Chola's grandson) in 1110, Gangaikonda Cholapuram is mentioned simply as Gangapuri. The river and the city were inseparable. There is no clarity on what or who caused that imperial city to be razed except for the temple, but more was lost than just fine examples of Chola architecture, obviously. Some will believe that the Pandya who vanquished the last Chola ruler and retook control of the region in 1279 destroyed the city, but why then would there be inscriptions of later Pandya donations to the temple? And why is there no epigraphic evidence of such a vengeful act by any of the Pandya rulers? A more plausible explanation, at least for the initial decimation of the temple capital, could be the marauding Islamic armies of the rising Delhi Sultanate, first by Malik Kafur in 1311, Khizr Khan in 1314, and then Mohammed bin Tughlaq in 1327. Even if everything had not been flattened, the temples and palaces would have been impoverished by the invaders carrying off their riches, and their primacy would never have recovered despite some later donations from the Vijayanagara monarchs. By the time the Nawab of Arcot's armies reached there during the 18th century, the magnificent multi-storied Chola palaces, commercial buildings, and public infrastructure had become mere piles of stones. No wonder the British East India Company's army used the temple premises as a garrison and also helped themselves later to the giant stones of the temple's periphery, the city's boundary fortification, and even the bund wall for their own engineering projects. The Tamil Nadu government is conducting excavations in the area surrounding the Gangaikondacholishwarar temple—now called Brihadeeswarar, like the one in the earlier Chola capital, Thanjavur—in Ariyalur to unearth the city Rajendra Chola built after capturing the Ganga. This probably has much to do with the designation of both Brihadeeswarars along with Airavateshwara in Darasuram as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as they are 'Great Living Chola Temples". top videos View all Hopefully, more inscriptions will also be found to add to the information already garnered from those on the walls of the Gangaikondacholishwarar temple and throw some light on how, when, and why the city around it was destroyed and/or left to crumble. And also, perhaps, reveal why the Cholagangam—a holy tank befitting its consecration by Ganga water—became merely Ponneri (golden) in a millennium, thereby obliterating a very evocative north-south cultural bond. The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. tags : Chola Dravidian ganga Tamil Nadu view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 31, 2025, 03:56 IST News opinion Opinion | Why PM Modi's Visit To Gangaikonda Cholapuram Irks Dravidian Exclusivists Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
a day ago
- Politics
- NDTV
How Cholas Laid The Groundwork For Microlocal Governance In Southeast Asia
The Chola Dynasty, which has often been relegated to cognitive oblivion, is back in the news. The debate on whether this resurrected focus is merely political or has some substantive value for historiographers is bound to stay. Nevertheless, its return to public discourse begs an analysis of whether - and to what extent - the Cholas truly deserve the credit of being the pioneers of democracy in South Asia and Southeast Asia. A Dense Historiography Public discussions around emotively volatile issues, like the one at hand, often undermine the fact that political and electoral rhetoric piggybacks - and even tends to conceal - on historiography painstakingly built by scholars whose names are overshadowed in ideological cacophony. A wide array of scholarship has examined the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of the Chola Empire. These include K.A.N. Sastri's The Colas (1935-37) and A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (1955) to R. Champakalakshmi's Trade Ideology and Urbanization in South India 300 BC to AD 1300 (1996) and R. Chakravarti's well-regarded lecture, 'The Pull of the Coast' (2011). These have been handsomely complemented by K.R. Srinivasan's Temples of South India (1972), Y. Subbarayulu's The Political Geography of the Chola Country (1973), B.D. Chattopadhyaya's Coins and Currency Systems in South India (1977), Jonathan Heitzman's Gifts of Power: Lordship in an Early Indian State (1997), Hermann Kulke's The Naval Expeditions of the Cholas in the Context of Asian History (2010), V. Sakhuja and S. Sakhuja's Rajendra Chola I's Expedition to Southeast Asia: A Nautical Perspective (2010), T. Sen's The Military Campaigns of Rajendra Chola and the Chola-Sri Vijaya-China Triangle (2010), and Rakesh Mahalakshmi's more recent, and highly instructive essay Chola (Cola) Empire, in the edited collection, The Encyclopedia of Empire (2016; edited by John M. MacKenzie). Unprecedented Territorial Expansion The Cholas ruled roughly between 850 and 1280 AD. They reigned over South India, present-day Sri Lanka, and coastal Southeast Asia. Under the reigns of Raja Raja I (985-1014 AD) and Rajendra I (1012-1044 AD), the Chola Empire charted an unprecedented territorial expanse, hitherto virtually unknown in India; from Bengal to the Malay Peninsula, as the saying goes. As has been argued on the basis of strong Vedic and Puranic scholarship, during the rule of Raja Raja I, the supposed location of the preeminent Ram Setu was possibly shifted from Korkai Harbour to its currently recognised location, at Adam's Bridge, to mark a ceremonial march by the ruler on the putative footsteps of Lord Ram. Further, the Chola polity's capital, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, established by Rajendra I in 1025 AD, whose name literally signified the city of the Chola(s) who had conquered the Ganga, was itself an extraordinary feat of public communication and political symbolism, arbitrated through urban planning and monumental architecture. It also signifies, then, that, at its peak, the Chola polity was structured as a highly centralised bureaucratic and military state. Nevertheless, there were several exceptions to this aura of the Cholas' governance. By the late tenth century, the Cholas had established an elaborate revenue and administrative apparatus. There were tentatively two broad classes of officials under the Chola regime, including proto‐bureaucratic elites (who wielded local influence) and state‐appointed bureaucrats ("nam karumam arayum", meaning, "those following the king's orders") who conducted state affairs. According to the pathbreaking research of Sastri back in the 1930s, at the apex of this hierarchy stood the 'vellala' (or the landowning elites) and Brahmin officials, bearing royal sobriquets like Muvendavelan and Brahmarayan. These appointments point to a governance model based on pedigrees determined by nobility and titles, whereby political and administrative power was consolidated in the hands of chosen kinships and elites who sided with royal authority. Blazing The Trail For Participatory Governance All the same, Chola models of governance played a significant role in opening up a participatory democratic structure within local contexts. For instance, every Chola 'nadu' (locality of peasants) and 'ur' (village or rural township) possessed assemblies, known as 'nattar' and 'sabha', constituted by local elites and Brahminical settlers. Chola inscriptions have left records of the method of elections of these assemblies ('kudavolai'), with nominations drawn from 30 wards ('kudumbus') culminating in a lottery-based selection. It is this electoral model that is likely hailed by some modern commentators as an early form of Indian democratic practice. Nonetheless, such assemblies functioned within strict parameters of centralised policies. The supervisory presence of state‐appointed nadu officials - such as the 'naduvagai ceyvar' (accountant) and 'kankani nayakam' (overseer of land transactions) - ensured that royal frameworks influenced local governance structures. During the later Chola period, the emergence of the 'madhyasta' office (meant for arbitration) can be seen as evidence of an increasing need for mediation, likely arising out of tensions between community-based decisions and centralised demands of state revenue extraction. This may be, in modern-day terms, somewhat loosely analogised to federal functioning crises. The Cholas are generally credited by historians for institutionalising temples as economic factors, alongside religion. Temple sabhas mirrored village assemblies. Their 'variyams' (specialised committees) oversaw the upkeep of tanks, stores, and treasury. Though ecclesiastical in origin, temple bodies managed land leases and grants, craft productions, and redistribution of deeds and gifts, testifying to the Chola penchant for integrating religion with administrative infrastructure. While fostering participatory governance, this ecclesiastical infrastructure also strengthened royally sanctioned hierarchical social structures, as temple nobles - often Brahminical elites - were seen to exercise control over agricultural and craft resources. This is all the more crucial since, by the tenth century, the Chola state's agrarian and fiscal policies had acquired great complexity, comprising a taxonomy of land classifications - one‐crop, two‐crop, wet, dry, and improved lands - subject to specific revenues. Local dues ('vettinai') required peasants to perform irrigation and maintenance work, which meant that fiscal obligations were enforced through communal labour rather than individual taxation. While such systems could be seen today as negotiated norms between state and society, they may not necessarily stand the test of modern-day standards of consent‐based taxation expected of democratic societies. An Early Blueprint For Panchayti Raj Institutions Even so, it would be an exaggeration to find fault with the celebration of the Cholas as pioneers of democracy. Mahalakshmi, for instance, invokes, "the office of the nadalvan, one who governs the nadu or region, appears to be conspicuous in the last stage of Chola rule, leading us to the conclusion that community-centric decision making had given way to individuals exercising power", especially the early thirteenth century onwards. But, if the revival of the Cholas' importance is seen in the spirit of an overdue recognition, their conceptualisation of structured village assemblies and lottery-based committee selections can carve a genealogy for postcolonial India's Panchayati Raj institutions. Strong evidence from archaeology - a discipline that gets a lot of flak in recent times for driving state-based narratives - also buttresses the existence of 'kudavolai'-type lotteries during the Chola reign. These nuances indeed support an emotionally persuasive narrative of microlocal governance in medieval India. Whether we call them experiments in local governance under the aegis of imperial frameworks or embryonic democratic models that were overshadowed by the colonial prowess of the Cholas, well-meaning commentators should observe caution lest they deprive Indians of this legitimate chance to cherish the legacy of a magnificent antiquity. One wonders, though, now that the Cholas of Tamil Nadu are back in the news, is it time for the Pala Dynasty of Bengal, who, too, have faced similar periods of oblivion in public memory, to be resurrected, too? [Arup K. Chatterjee is the author of 'The Great Indian Railways' (2017, 2019), 'Indians in London' (2021), and 'Adam's Bridge' (2024)]
News18
a day ago
- Politics
- News18
PM Modi Reignites India's Civilisational Sense Through Chola Legacy
PM Modi spoke of the Chola empire as being the 'cradle of democracy' Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tribute to the civilisational legacy of the Cholas was a significant and a profoundly symbolic moment for India as a whole. It concretised India's civilisational aspirations to emerge as a great and decisive power in the comity of nations. That aspiration is legitimate for any nation or people which have existed, on a civilisational scale and proportion in the past. The mighty Chola Temple of Gangaikonda Cholapuram has stood for a thousand years signifying that aspiration. It was an aspiration that led India, in the Chola era, to become master of the oceans and to disseminate her philosophy, thought, culture and coveted products across the Far East. Diplomat-historian KM Pannikar, in his analysis of the 'Determining Periods of Indian History', argues that there 'are some periods which shape the course of the future more than others, when events of far-reaching importance are crowded together so that the centuries that follow seem to be working out the ideas generated at that period…Also, it may happen that discoveries, achievements or decisions taken at such a crucial period mark so definite a change as to give a new character to the ages that follow. These are the determining ages of the history of a country, a region or a civilisation". The Chola era was certainly a 'determining period" in the flow and evolution of Indian civilisation. The apogee then achieved had a far-reaching and multifaceted impact. It was an impact that was not confined to India but was spread across a vast region covering large parts of Southeast Asia and the Far East. The Chola Empire's spread and influence contributed to a unique synthesis and blending which enabled the evolution of a rich cultural and religious diffusion across Southeast Asia in which Hindu deities such as Shiva and Vishnu were central and defining. One is reminded of the words of that profound scholar of India's civilisational past, D Devahuti, who argued that the spread of Indian culture happened through a 'continuous flow of forceful ideas, and institutions". The Chola era ensured a continuous flow of ideas and of institutions that had a lasting impact, visible even today. As one heard PM Modi speak, one was reminded of the words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, spoken a hundred years ago, 'Do you know your own mind? Your own culture? What is best and most permanent in your own history? You must know at least that, if you are to save yourselves from the greatest of insults, the insult of obscurity, of rejection. Bring out your light and add it to this great festival of lamps of world culture." While speaking on the greatness of the Chola legacy, PM Modi was, as if asking us similar questions, asking us to rediscover these defining epochs that shaped our civilisational consciousness of the past. For decades after independence, the 'best and most permanent" in our history was ignored, omitted and suppressed. Eras recalling which would generate a collective national pride and self-esteem were relegated to the margins or dismissed as over-readings and false projections. Take the case of those legions of Indian scholars, in pre-independent India, who painstakingly traced sources and tracked new findings to establish the impressions of civilisational India left behind in lands that lay beyond India. However, in a free India these scholars, historians and thinkers, each formidable through their own achievements, were forgotten. The saving of ourselves from a history of rejection and insult that colonisation brought in its wake, the talking back that could be done, standing on legacies such as the Cholas was not done. The Chola legacy could certainly reinstate that civilisational sense and consciousness and yet, successive governments, especially in Tamil Nadu, ignored its symbolism and its pan-India appeal. It is an appeal that can also move the vast Indian diaspora across the same region that came under the Chola spell in the past. The Bay of Bengal was referred to as the 'Chola Lake' – Chola Samudram, because of the Chola control of sea routes and trade. The Chola empire was truly civilisational in nature. Its expanse, its reach, its cultural spread and trade outposts turned it into a formidable power and presence across India and vast swathes of Southeast Asia. The Cholas also played a significant role in the spread of civilisational India's cultural footprints, leaving India's cultural and religious expressions and traces all across this region. While addressing the Adi Thiruvathirai Festival at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, PM Modi made several significant remarks about the essence and the foundational ideals of the Chola empire. These significance from the past must drive our present national quest for the rise of a civilisational India. The Chola age was indeed a golden era of Indian history. PM Modi spoke of the Chola empire as being the 'cradle of democracy". He was alluding to the unique Chola era Utthiramerur inscriptions, in Kanchipuram, which elucidated the democratic rights and duties of the people, of the elector and of the elected, a thousand years ago, making it the first such a democratic document. In many ways Rajendra Chola can be considered to be the first global Indian monarch. Military, naval and cultural strength defined the reigns of Rajaraja and Rajendra Chola. In his classic 'Hindu Colonies of the Far East', RC Majumdar observes how Rajendra Chola controlled ports along the entire East Coast of India, and of how the 'mastery over the ports of Kalinga and Bengal gave the Chola king well equipped ships and sailors" which could ply across oceans and establish Chola presence and outposts. The Chola empire's control, under Rajendra Chola, of 'almost the whole volume of maritime trade between western and eastern Asia" and its control of regions across Sumatra, Malay peninsula, and Kedah, known in ancient Tamil lore as Kadaram – earning him the sobriquet of 'Kadaram Konda" – one who has won Kadaram, remains a significant and historic record of Chola naval prowess. While listening to PM Modi's inspiring address on the essence, the richness and the enduring grandeur of the Chola legacy, when he spoke of the 'Chola heritage, deeply rooted in unwavering devotion to Lord Shiva" as having become 'immortal," one could not but help think that had it not been for the Chola impact, civilisational India's presiding deities Shiva and Vishnu would not perhaps have become integral to the civilisations of Southeast Asia. Several leading scholars have attested to the spread of the cultural ideals of civilisational India through the medium of Shiva and Vishnu. Raghuvira, a leading scholar-philosopher of civilisational India observes that 'Visnu and Siva have a long history, both in India and outside India" and of how 'they have inspired mighty monuments in brick and stone, in bronze and ivory and in the fashioning of hearts and actions of men". In Kedah – Kadaram, for instance, KA Nilakanta Sastri, writes of the traces of a Shiva temple whose architecture and style represented the transition from Shiva temples found in South India to those which eventually evolved in Java. PM Modi's reiteration of the centrality of Shiva worship in the Chola era, brought these links to mind. The closing years of Rajendra Chola's reign, Sastri points out, 'formed the most splendid period" of the Cholas, 'the extent of the empire was at its widest and its military and naval prestige stood at its highest." Intense worshippers of Shiva, the Cholas were also patrons of Buddhism. RC Majumdar records, from Chola inscriptions, that in or around the 21st year of Rajaraja Chola's reign, at the start of the 11th century, king of the Sailendra empire, around present-day Sumatra, Chudamanivarman, 'commenced the construction of a Buddhist Vihara at Nagapattana, modern Negapatam" [Nagapattinam], when a village was granted by the Chola king for its upkeep." King Chudamanivarman, 'died shortly after, and the Vihara was completed by his son and successor, Sri-Maravijayottungavarman." The symbolism of a mighty Indian monarch, an ardent Shiva worshipper, granting villages for the construction and upkeep of a 'Buddhist sanctuary, erected in India by a Sailendra king", was significant. The deepest symbolism was when PM Modi brought the sacred water of Ganga from the north and offered it at Gangaikonda Cholapuram. It was a reiteration of the fundamental and essential unity of India, the civilisational state. The same act in the past, of Rajendra Chola's expedition to the north, to the banks of Ganga in Bengal, and the march back to his capital, of his erecting the 'liquid pillar of victory" – 'Jalamayam Jalasthambham" in the 'form of the tank of Colaganga" was an unprecedented moment in the history of civilisational India. PM Modi's reiteration of that civilisational act from the past, was a reiteration of the fundamental unity of India – cultural and spiritual, which remains undiluted and unbroken. For any nation aspiring to recover its civilisational status and self, such moments are assertively reinvigorating. top videos View all Of the Chola era, its most famous chronicler Nilakanta Sastri writes, that it was the 'most creative period" in the history of South India, during which 'in local government, in art, in religion and letters, the Tamil country reached heights of excellence never reached again in succeeding ages". The height achieved in maritime activity and foreign trade, was also unprecedented. Narendra Modi at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, was redirecting our collective consciousness towards that past, with the intent of letting its memory and sense propel our future quest towards a comprehensive national and civilisational resurgence. The author is chairman, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, and a member of the National Executive Committee, BJP. The views expressed are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 30, 2025, 14:55 IST News opinion Opinion | PM Modi Reignites India's Civilisational Sense Through Chola Legacy Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
a day ago
- General
- The Hindu
Tracing the route of King Rajendra Chola's 1000-year-old Gangetic expedition
The gala celebrations of the millenary of Rajendra Chola - I's Gangetic expedition has turned the spotlight on how his might army traversed vast swathes of eastern and northern India in the 11th Century CE, overcoming several powerful kingdoms along the way to reach the Ganges and fetch water for the monarch's glory. Contrary to the popular belief that Rajendra Chola personally marched towards the Gangetic plains, inscriptions on the Tiruvalangadu copper plates reveal that one of the ablest generals of the king had commanded the military expedition towards the Ganges. The monarch had stayed back on the banks of the Godavari. With the help of voluminous historical works such as The Colas by K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Pirkaala Sozhar Sarithiram (History of Later Cholas) by T.V. Sadasiva Pandarathar, and The Palas of Bengal by R.D. Banerji, The Hindu attempts to reconstruct the path traced by Rajendra Chola's army. These accounts reveal the Chola forces defeated kingdoms in the eastern Deccan, coastal Odisha, and eventually clashed with the Pala dynasty in Bengal. Venginadu The actual campaign began not from the Chola's capital in the South, but from the northeast of Venginadu that spread across the Godavari and Krishna rivers. Venginadu at that time was ruled by kings (Eastern Chalukyas or Chalukyas of Vengi) loyal to the Cholas. Due to Vengi's close ties with the Cholas, and since all the regions to its south were already under Rajendra Chola's empire, the expedition began north of Vengi, with the first conquest in that campaign being Chakrakottam. Chakrakottam is situated eight miles from Rajapura, on the southern bank of the Indravati River. In modern times, the place is known as Chitrakootam (Bastar region in present-day Chhattisgarh). After the fall of Chakrakottam, the Chola army marched towards the green fields of 'Masuna Desam' or 'Masuni Desam' under the control of brave rulers of the Chindaka family who identified themselves as belonging to the Naga lineage. Nilakanta Sastri, while citing a Tamil Prasasti, says the region of Maduramandalam, Namanaikkonam and Panchappalli, all fell under the 'Masuni Desam'. He said Maduramandalam was destroyed in a trice by the Chola army. Namanaikkonam with dense groves and Panchappalli, whose warriors bore cruel bows, were also conquered by Rajendra's commander. Indraratha's defeat Following that, the Chola commander marched further northeast, defeated Indraratha at Adinagara, and captured the regions of Odda (Odisha). His campaign took a westward turn with the capture of the Kosala kingdom. The region of Kosala referred to here is Dakshina (southern) Kosala, also known as Mahakosala. Having consolidated control over central-eastern India, the next target was Dandabhukti to the east, ruled by Dharmapala. Dandabhukti comprised the southern and southwestern parts of the Midnapore district in Bengal. Therefore, it likely stretched along both banks of the Subarnarekha River. Bengal From there, the Chola forces advanced towards Bengal. After defeating Dharmapala, Rajendra's army marched towards Dakshinaradha (Takkana Ladam in Tamil), ruled by Ranasura. 'Radha' (also spelt as Ratta or Lada) was the ancient name of a part of Bengal, which was bounded on the north by the Ganges. Dakshinaradha refers to the area comprising today's Hooghly and Howrah districts in Bengal, while Uttararadha (Uttara Ladam in Tamil) refers to the regions comprising Murshidabad and Birbhum districts. The Ganges With southern Bengal subdued, the commander passed eastwards, crossed the Ganges, and reached Vangala Desam (Eastern Bengal), which was then ruled by Govindachandra. Following the conquest of Eastern Bengal, Rajendra Chola's army turned westward and defeated Mahipala. The commander reached the Ganges, fetched water from the river, and brought it to his sovereign lord, Rajendra, whom he met on the banks of the Godavari during the army's retreat. Though the fetching of the Ganges water was perhaps part of the original objective, the true motive was undoubtedly an exhibition of the Chola empire's power and a demonstration of its strength to the rulers of northern India, says Nilakanta Sastri. Rajendra then returned to his kingdom with his victorious general. In great joy, the emperor accepted the sacred objects brought back. During his return journey, he visited various temples and made offerings, as mentioned in several inscriptions. One such inscription was found in Thriloki (modern-day Thirulogi near Thiruppanandal in the Thanjavur district), located about ten miles southeast of Gangaikonda Cholapuram, notes Sadasiva Pandarathar. According to the Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy for the year ending March 31, 1932, 'A fragmentary record engraved in Tiruloki makes an interesting reference to the incident of the king worshipping the sacred feet of the Lord at this village, which is only about 10 miles from Gangaikonda Cholapuram, while returning with the waters of the Ganges. (Rajendra-Choladevar Gangaikondu elundarulukinra idattu tiruvadi tolu[du]).' The ancient name of this place was given as Trailokyamahadevi-chaturvedimangalam. According to Sastri, such expeditions were undertaken by all powerful monarchs in India and were enjoined upon them by the political code of the country. The aim of the expedition was not merely to bring down the water of the Ganges to the Chola capital, but to do so after establishing a right of way across territories outside the empire by a strong show of force. This becomes clear from the statement that at the end of the expedition, Rajendra erected a 'liquid pillar of victory' (jalamayam jayastambham) in his capital with the waters of the Ganges, in the form of the tank Cholagangam. Banerji says the invasion of the Chola king did not change the political divisions of the country, but it left one permanent mark in the shape of a body of settlers, who occupied the thrones of Bengal and Mithila as the Sena and Karnata dynasties during the latter days of the Palas.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Facts and myths intersect at the National Museum's new glass rotunda installation
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox SINGAPORE – In one popular myth passed down in Malay folklore, tidal changes are explained by a massive crab that resides among the roots of a magical tree named pauh janggi. The tree is above pusat tasek – or 'navel of the ocean', in Malay – and the crab's daily forays in and out of this gaping hole in the ocean floor are said to cause the rise and fall of the seas. This myth will be one of the stories told with the use of animation at the National Museum of Singapore's (NMS) Shaw Foundation Glass Rotunda, which re-opens on Aug 8 after closing in October 2024 for a revamp. The glass rotunda's new permanent exhibition, Singapore Odyssea, traces about 700 years of Singapore's history, culminating in a transition zone between the rotunda and the Singapore History Gallery. In addition to pauh janggi, three other myths are presented in this zone: Sang Nila Utama, the Palembang prince who supposedly named Singapore; the swordfish attack that gave Bukit Merah its name; and Raja Chulan, a Chola king who is said to have explored the waters near Singapore in a diving bell. Multidisciplinary artist Brian Gothong Tan, Singapore Odyssea's creative director, said the display incorporates myths as they are the lifeblood of civilisations. Brian – whose experimental film Waking The Fluorescent Lion was screened in the rotunda as part of the NMS' opening festival in December 2006 – said Singapore Odyssey goes beyond the traditional colonial understanding of the city by mixing ancient maritime history with myths. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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'Before the written word, this was what communities and people held onto, and what enabled them to understand what's going around them within the region, and help them to understand who they are, in the past and present,' she said. A designer from local animation studio CraveFX working on the designs for pauh janggi, a mythical tree. ST PHOTO: LUTHER LAU Ms Chua said that Singapore Odyssea is designed to be an immersive multimedia experience that creates a 'visually inspiring depiction of Singapore's history', with an emphasis on visuals. 'It's meant to be experiential, rather than artifacts,' said Ms Chua. 'We wanted visitors to have a 30-minute teaser of Singapore's history, before they enter the Singapore History Gallery to see the actual objects that depict the country's history.' The glass rotunda's coming re-opening marks the completion of the first phase of an ongoing overhaul of the NMS' permanent galleries . The Singapore History Gallery will admit its last visitors on Nov 16 before undergoing a year-long revamp, while the five level two galleries closed in September 2023 for a refresh. These galleries are slated to re-open in 2026. Ms Melissa Chan, Singapore Odyssea's art and design director, said the display begins by showcasing Singapore's maritime connections with the world through a new LED-covered sphere that represents the globe. An artist's impression of the new LED sphere in the National Museum of Singapore's glass rotunda. PHOTO: CRAVEFX, GSM PROJECT, KIN PRODUCTIONS AND NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPORE Referencing the glass rotunda's previous exhibit Story Of The Forest – designed by Japanese firm teamLab and displayed from 2016 to 2024 – Ms Chan said the only major physical change is Singapore Odyssea's new sphere, which helps to highlight the geometry and structure of the rotunda. After passing under the sphere, visitors will make their way down a sloping ramp, alongside projections that depict Singapore's history in reverse chronology. Mr Joshua Tan, the new exhibit's multimedia director, said this gives visitors a sense that they are digging deeper into the past, while their walk downwards on the ramp brings across the idea of excavation. In conceptualising the narrative for this section's projection, creative director Brian said the team looked at 'trauma points' in Singapore's history, such as separation from Malaysia and colonisation. He said that the design of projections here was inspired by temple reliefs in places such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The team that worked on Singapore Odyssea includes (from left to right) National Museum of Singapore principal curator Priscilla Chua, creative director Brian Gothong Tan, art and design director Melissa Chan and multimedia director Joshua Tan. ST PHOTO: LUTHER LAU At the end of the ramp, visitors enter a space within the rotunda where they can view vignettes of Singapore's history, before moving into the transition zone where the four myths are showcased. Multimedia director Joshua said that while the visuals displayed in the zone are animated, artists drew inspiration for them from real-life examples. For instance, he said, the team went on intertidal walks to conceptualise the animations for the transition zone, where the team presented pauh janggi as a mangrove tree, and also incorporated locally-found species into their designs, such as hawksbill turtles, ribbon jellyfishes and gold-spotted mudskippers. This, he said, makes the display a mix of myths and reality, while Brian said that the depiction of wildlife nudges visitors to consider humans' relationship with the natural world, especially as Singapore has lost much of its natural landscape during the colonial era. An original soundtrack that incorporates sound recordings from around Singapore was composed for Singapore Odyssea. Mr Zahin Anwari, the display's lead sound designer, said the soundtrack also includes singers from as far away as Bulgaria and Egypt, who were sought for the tonality and exoticism of their voices. Ms Chua hopes the 'travel back in time' experience that the rotunda offers will pique visitors' curiosity about Singapore's history. 'The concept of time travel has always had the allure of mystery, excitement and adventure and that's precisely the kind of experience we want to create for visitors,' she said.
