Great_Living_Chola_Temples

= = =Michael Baker and Austin Kong=

**Pictures**


<[]> Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur



<[]> Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram

[] Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram

**Sources and Research**
1. Built by the kings of the Chola Empire. 2. Built in 11th and 12th century. 3. Located in Southern India, State of Tamil Nadu. 4. People of the Chola Empire were very good at art and architecture. 5. Chola people fought many battles and conquered and lost many islands during its period of about the 9th century to the 13th century. 6. Thanjavur capital of Tamil Nadu. Later on, King Rajendra created new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram. 7. Cola Dynasty was broken after a series of poor kings. It broke during the rule of Rajendra III. 8. Rajendra I built the Brihadisvara Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram. Finished in 1035 AD. Rounded edge up to the top of tower. 9. Rajaraja II built the Airavatesvara Temple of Darasarum. 10. Rajaraja I built the Brihadisvara Temple of Thanjuvar. Finished between 1003-101 0 AD. Straight tower. 11. Brihadisvara Temple of Thanjuvar was made out of granite and bricks. 12. Brihadisvara Temple of Thanjuvar mainly worshipped the god, Shiva. Smaller shrines worshipped different gods. Many forms of Shiva were represented from the statues. 13. Many murals and statues were added into the Brihadisvara Temple of Thanjuvar as time passed. 14. The Airavatesvara Temple of Darasarum worshipped the god Shiva and Ariavata. Yama, king of death, worshipped Shiva at this temple because he was cured of a curse by bathing in a sacred tank. Not a tower. Contained examples of great art from the Chola dynasty. 15. The Brihadisvara Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram contained many shrines.

"Chola Temples." //World Heritage Site//. 2004. 9/9/09. [] Searched "Great Living Chola Temples" on google. Thrid Result.

"Cola dynasty." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras//. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 9 Sep. 2009. < [] >. (Database) Searched "Chola Temple" on the database. Got Cola article. Used for background information.

"Great Living Chola Temples." //UNESCO World Heritage//. 9/10/09. 9/10/09. [] (Provided Source) Found out the three Great Living Chola Temples and description of the temples.

"Great Living Chola Temples." //Archaeological Survey of India//. 9/10/09. 9/10/09. [] Used the information gathered from UNESCO website to search Brihadisvara Temple of Thanjuvar to get to this website.

"Chola Temples." //Indianetzone//. 8/1/09. 9/10/09. [] Visited website where we found the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram picture. Got descriptive information of each temple.

**Summary**
The Great Living temples of Chola have much to do with the Cola dynasty.

Through all the battling and fighting going on during the Cola Dynasty in Southern Asia the Colas were well known for their art and projects. The Cola's greatest works of art would be their magnificent Hindu temples. The Chola Dynasty from the ninth century to the 13th century was involved in many battles or conflicts. The cola Dynasty through these battles gained territory in much of Southern India. The colas won many battles with the lead of King Karikalan who took an agressive march in taking over much of Southern India. Finally, the Cola Dynasty fell due to a series of poor rulers. The last ruler was Rajendra III. Throughout all these centuries of war and change in power the Hindu temples were seen as a place to pray and meditate. The nicest of the Cola Dynasty's Hindu temples were the Great Living Chola Temples. The Great Living Chola Temples expressed the extraordinary ability of the colas in artwork and architecture. The temples contained numerous statues of the gods they worshiped, especially Shiva. The temples also contained murals of the god and shrines. The two Brihadisvara temples were towers. The one at Thanjuvar was straight with pointed edges going up while the one at Gangaikondacholisvaram was rounded up the tower. The third temple, the Airavatesvara Temple of Darasarum, was less of a tower but contained the most artwork. All three the Great Living Chola Temples took extraordinary architects to make as well as artists and sculptures to make the statues and morals.

JD AND RS

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 * [[image:http://www.come2india.org/images/great-living-chola-temples.jpg width="384" height="329"]]

Sources** http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=23&entryid=602476&searchtext=chola&type=simple&option=allb []

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Research:

B. What we did to find our additional sites was, we started at a broader range to find information that would help us get an understanding of our topic. Then, once we had a better idea of what we were researching, we researched specific thing about the information we first found. At first, we researched the original name of our topic, "The Great Living Chola Temples." This then gave us multiple information about the Temples. Finally, what we did to really help us learn about the Temples, we researched specific thing from the readings that stuck out to us.

C. 1. The Temples were testimony for the Chola Empire who ruled southern India. 2. All three Temples are located in the state of Tamil Nadu. 3. They were all built during the 11th and 12th century. 4. The Cola / Chola dynasty ruled as an empire during the 9th - 13th centuries 5. Tamil Nadu is located on the southeast coast of India. 6. There were two different rules in the Cola / Chola dynasties, one was ruled by King Karikalan, and the others name is King Vijayalaya. 7. King Vijayalaya was king during the medieval age / period.

Built by kings in the Chola Empire which ruled from one side of India to another in the southern part. The temples were built in the 11th and 12th century. The Cholas were known for their art. They created beautiful statues and temples all over the southern part of India. The Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. These temples show how great the Cholas were at building marvelous things. The temples are located in Tamil Nadu. = =