The Cholas
● Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, in eastern India → built mostly during the late
11th century
○ Harihara (main deity) of the temple
■ half-Vishnu
■ half-Shiva
● Temple building in western India ca. 10-12th Century
● Chandela lion icon (Chandelas = vassals of the Gurjara-Pratiharas)
● Shiva temple in Khajuraho
● Angkor Wat in Cambodia, built by the Khmer Emperors during the early 12th century AD
○ Harihara (7th - 8th century)
● Precious commodity = villages with people to do the work for you
● “Tamil Nadu” = place where Tamilians come from
○ Temple- tank complexes in Tamilnadu
Cholas
● Vassals of Rashtrakutas
● Idea to bring back holy sites from North
● 2 great emperors
○ Raja Raja Chola
○ Rajendra
● Madurai, Tanjore, Kanchi
● Rajaraja I defeated Pandyas, sacked Anuradhapura the largest Buddhist monastery in
Sri Lanka
● Fought with Chalukyas of Kalyani
● Rajendra I built the largest temples
○ Sacked the city of Kanauj
○ Brought back jars and jars of Ganges on the heads of defeated emperors
■ Cholas became known as “those who seize people by their heads”
● City of the seized Ganges
● Cholas battled Mahipala (Bengal) and Orissa
● Destroyed parts of Srivijaya Kingdom
● Great cupola of a Chola temple from a distance
○ Mainly used dancing Shiva as their mascot
○ Ananda Tandava
■ Fearful dance of bliss
○ Nataraja: Lord of the Cosmic Dance
● Gangaikonda-Cholapuram
● Cholas believed in plundering and bringing things to their own kingdom
○ I.e. deities
● Bhakti = devotion
● Shikhara = crown of the temple
○ Mimics crown that the King wears
● Tamil poetry = divided into Cangams
