Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia

6. Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram, the Imperial Capital of Rajendra Chola, and Its Significance

96 96 S. Vasanthi 6 EXCAVATION AT GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM, THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL OF RAJENDRA CHOLA, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE S. Vasanthi The emperor Rajendra Chola (1012–1044 CE) was the illustrious son of the great Chola King Rajaraja I (985–1014 CE), who shouldered the task of building, extending, and maintaining the Chola empire. The foundation laid by both Rajaraja I and Rajendra I paved the way for the existence of Chola power for about 250 years, making the Cholas the most powerful dynasty in Asia in the medieval period. Rajendra I was a great warrior and assisted his father in numerous expeditions to project the Cholas to supreme power. He conducted various expeditions: the Gangetic expedition, eastern/western Chalukyas, the wars against the Cheras, and Pandyas, the Ceylon expedition, and the Kadaram expedition, etc. Rajendra assumed the title of Gangaikonda Chola and the city Gangaikondacholapuram (which means the town of the Chola who captured the Ganges) was founded by him to commemorate his victorious march to the Ganges. He also constructed the Siva temple named after his title as Gangaikkondacholeswaram, and soon thereafter, the Chola capital was moved from Thanjavur to Gangaikondacholapuram. The city of Gangaikondacholapuram was probably founded by Rajendra I after his sixth regnal year, that is, c. 1020 CE. 96 06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6 11/4/09, 12:53 PM 96 97 Excavation at Gangaikondacholapuram 97 Gangaikondacholapuram, once the flourishing capital of the imperial Cholas, is now a small forgotten village devoid of its ancient glory in Udyarpalayam taluk of the Ariyalur district. This district is a centrally located inland district of Tamilnadu which was trifurcated from the erstwhile composite Tiruchirappalli district. The district is bounded by the Cuddalore district in the north, Tiruchirappalli district in the south, Thanjavur in the east, and Namakkal and Tiruchirappalli districts are in the west. South India has was always been noted for the art of building temples which were constructed with blocks of granite stones. The medieval period kings built permanent structures for the gods while their dwelling places were constructed with mud and bricks. Hence, only the ruined remains of their living quarters were exposed in the excavation. Rajendra I and his successors built a big palace at Utkottai, which is about 1.5 km away from the BrihadisvaraTemple in Gangaikondacholapuram, where even now a mound is called Maalikai Medu (palace mound). The capital itself has disappeared, the place where the emperor dwelt does not exist, and the ruins are marked by brick debris, which the nearby villagers even today take for the construction of their houses. Most of the Chola kings who succeeded Rajendra were crowned and lived in the palace that was located here. Contemporary literary works such as Muvar Ula and Kalingattupparani, describe the city and palace complex. To some extent we can assume that the description of Ayothia by Kambar and the description of the cities by Sekilar in his Periyapuram can be attributed to the city of Gangaikondacholapuram. Muvar Ula gives an account of almost all the important places of Gangaikondacholapuram, namely the palace building, entrance towers, streets, pavilions, temples, windows, big halls, etc. From the remains it can be concluded that it was a large city, carefully planned and laid out in accordance with the architectural treatises to suit the needs of a capital.1 THE PALACE SITE The city appears to have had two fortifications: one inner and the other outer, and the latter was probably wider. The remains of the outer fortification can be seen as a mound running all around the palace. The outer fortification built of burnt bricks was about six to eight feet wide and the bricks were made of well burnt clay and fairly large in size. From the inscriptions it is understood that the outer fortification was known as Rajendra Chola Madil (named after the founder of the city, Rajendra I) and the inner fortification that was built around the royal palace, Utpadi Vittu madil. 06 Nagapattinam_Ch 6 11/4/09, 12:53 PM 97 98 98 S. Vasanthi The strengthening of the fortification and additions to the city in the reign of Kulottunga I (1070–1120 CE) were probably necessary due to inland uprisings and frequent neighbouring wars. During the reign of Kulottunga Chola the fortifications were renewed and the city underwent some alteration and additions. An epigraph refers to the fort wall as Kulottunga Cholan Thirumadil after the name of Kulottunga Chola, who might...