GOPS CREATIVE ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY - CAPTURING THE SIMPLICITIES & COMPLEXITIES OF LIFE
Jan 20
by GOPAN NAIR in Indian architecture & Heritage 20 comments tags: airavat, Airavateshwarar, Airavatesvara, architecture, Chola, Darasuram, Dharasuram, Dravidian, gopan, gopan g nair, gops, gops photography, gops.org, Great, great living chola temples, heritage, hindu, india, Kumbakonam, Living, monument, mural, nayak, painting, period, photography, raja raja cholan, shiva, site, south, Tamilnadu, Tanjore, temple, Temples, Thanjavur, unesco, தாராசுரம்

THE GREAT LIVING CHOLA TEMPLES, PART 3 of 3 : DARASURAM (தாராசுரம்)

The Chola Dynasty (300 BC – 1279 CE) of Southern India were followers of Shaivism and great patrons of arts, literature & poetry . Chola Kings (Tamil : சோழர்) were one among the most prominent rulers of India, who built several Shiva Temples around the world, many of these are still in existence. ‘The Great Living Chola Temples’ the name given to a group of three architectural marvels built by the Chola Kings, still exist at Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram  and Darasuram  in TamilNadu.  These three temples are unique for their Dravidian architecture and incredible artistic skills. The mighty  Brihadeeswarar temple ( Read about it here ) at Thanjavur (Big Temple, Peruvudaiyar Kovil) was completed in 1010 AD by emperor Raja Raja Chola I (985–1014 AD) .  Brihadeeswarar temple which turned 1000 years old in 2010 is one of the biggest temples in India and a World Heritage Monument of UNESCO. Rajendra Chola-I (1012-1044 AD) son of the Great Rajaraja-I  who believed to have conquered the lands upto Ganga river in North was known as Gangaikondacholan . He was one of the most famous Chola Kings whose Kingdom spread across most parts of Southern India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Sumatra, Kadaram (now Kedah in Malaysia) and […]
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Jan 24
by GOPAN NAIR in Indian architecture & Heritage 4 comments tags: bahubali, bangalore, Bhadrabahu, Brahmadeva, cave, chandragiri, chandragupta, Chikkabetta, Doddabetta, gomateshwara, gomateswara, gopan, gopan g nair, gops, gops.org, hill, india, Indragiri, jain, jainism, maurya, monolithic, mysore, photography, pillar, route, SHRAVANABELAGOLA, south, statue, stone, tour, Tyagada, vindyagiri

A TRIP TO SHRAVANABELAGOLA

“THERE IS NO ENEMY OUT OF YOUR SOUL. THE REAL ENEMIES LIVE INSIDE YOURSELF; THEY ARE ANGER, EGO, PRIDE, CURVEDNESS, GREED, ATTACHMENTS AND HATRED” :- Lord Mahavir According to Jainism, Bahubali is considered the ideal of the man who conquers selfishness, jealousy, pride and anger. The 57 foot monolithic statue of Gomateshvara (Bahubali) at Shravanabelagola is one of the most important pilgrimage destinations for the followers of Jain Religion. Shravanabelagola literally means “White pond of the ascetic”, which lies between two hills. The bigger hill is Indragiri/Vindyagiri (Doddabetta) and the smaller one is Chandragiri ( Chikkabetta). One could witness 2000+ years of Jain history in this place. Emperor Chandra Gupta Maurya (340 – 298 BC) spent his final years as a Jain monk at Chandragiri. He had conquered several parts of Indian peninsula inclusive of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Balochistan and the Maurya kingdom flourished well under the guidance of great philosopher Chanakya and as well through their alliance with Macedonian king Alexander and his successors. In his later years, Chandragupta decided to embrace Jainism with the help of his spiritual guru Bhadrabahu and relocated to Shravanbelgola in 298 BC after renouncing the throne to his son Bindusara.  Chandragupta Maurya led the […]
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