In the recent Kumudam issue I read the question answer column by the legendary music direction Ilayaraja on Raja Raja chola
He says that he jumped from the vimanam of the Big temple and committed suicide and after that the curse-any king visits this temple will be out of power-came into.
" தஞ்சைப் பெரிய கோவிலைக் கட்டிய மாமன்னன் ராஜராஜனுக்கு ஒருமாபெரும் மனக்குறை. இத்தனைப் பெரிய ராஜாவாக இருந்தாலும், பெரிய கோவிலைக் கட்டினாலும் தனக்கு ஒரு ஆண் வாரிசு இல்லையே என்பதுதான். அப்போது ஒரு நாள் அவன் கனவில் சிவ பெருமான் வந்து, நீ என்னதான் பெரிய கோவில் கட்டினாலும், எனக்கு இந்த மலையில் ஒரு சிவாலயம் எடு என்று சொல்ல, மாமன்னன் ராஜராஜனும் ஒரு கோவிலைக் கட்டினான். அதன் பிறகே அவனுக்கு மஹா வீரனான ராஜேந்திர சோழன் பிறந்தான்.
We have discussed several such misconceptions earlier and London Dr. Sridhar has been motivating us to write to correct certain such misgivings even in the UNESCO related web-sites and we did mail to them.
However for the benefit of new members - as desired by you Sir - we summarise the following :
1. RAJARAJA & KARUVUR THEVAR unlikely to be of the same Era.
Dr. Nagaswamy has written extensively in his tamilarts academy comparing several details.
Karuvurar's " Injee soozh thanjai rajarajeswaram " - famous Thiruvisappa - for which Dr. Padhma Subramanian & her Troup danced in the Big Temple - during the 1000th Year of Rajarajecharam in 2010 - also mentions of Gangai Konda Cholapuram !!
There is no mention of Karuvurar in any of the Thanjavur Big temple inscriptions.
2. RAJARAJA was sick with some incurable illness etc : absolutely false.. Paintings in the Big temple show Rajaraja sitting in front of Peruvudayar and performing poojas with his wives and relatives !!
PS Sriraman (now in Agra) has brought out a nice volume on the Chola Murals and published this Photograph !!
And there is every possibility that these paintings were done by Rajendra .. another misconception that there was some misunderstanding between Rajraja and Rajendra...
3. Cheraman perumal reached kailasam with the help of Sundara... as seen in the big temple paintings - which preceded Sekkiazhar's PERIAPURANAM.. since Rajaraja could not reach Kailasam with his human-body, made every effort to MAKE REPLICA OF KAILASAM.
For details read The Brahadeswara, Dr. Nagaswamy. we have discussed extensively on the details earlier too.
There is no need for RRC to commit suicide... Big Temple is equated with Mount kailash... abode of Lord Siva by RRC and his followers !!
4. WE HAVE ALSO DISCUSSED that Bahadeswara Mahathmiyam of Sarfoji period was the only literature known to have existed re Brahadeswara temple and according to the non-Tamil sanskrit version (translated from marathi) - the big temple was constructed by one karikala !!
the word KARI kala - only lead to several such speculations !!
It is the Archeologist Hueltz during the British regime first made efforts to decypher the Tamil language inscriptions in the later of 19th Century and brought out :
" NAAM EDUPITHA THIRUKKATRALI RAJARAJECHARAM .. by Korajakesari Sri sri Rajaraja .. !! "
Thus all those speculations which predated Hultz or South Indian Inscriptions Vol II - are speculations not supported by valid Historical data.
Legends like Ilayaraja - whose renderings on Thiruvasagam is unparallel - were not furnished apporpriate details which is why we have been insisting that the UNTWISTED HISTORICAL FACTS SHOULD BE PROPERLY RECORDED AND REACH EVERY COMMON MAN .. and school books also need to be updated !!
Sir - Rajarja was practicing the life of Sivanadiyar in his last days... Kalki was aware of this.. so he made Narasimha pallavan as elderly sivanadiyar (drawing reference from Panchothi - his commander later turned Siruthondar).
Rajaja was King Turned sivanadiar..
Rajendra performed Rajaraja's last rites as Sivanadiar and then turned King again !!
which is the reason why Vijay corrected - Rajendra was co-ruler in 1012 AD and not Emperor !!
Also clarify the members that the story circulating that "Rajaraja's Statue was not allowed inside the temple." There is a Utsava moorti of Rajaraja in the temple and is under worship. The statue in question is a modern one which is kept outside.
There is a processional moorti of Rajaraja in the big temple.
Apparently time travel (for Rajendra to be born *before* the building of the big temple) included for free...
All of this just goes to show that someone who's an expert in one field may not have any clue in others; in general, it's better to listen to experts in *that* field... ;)
This indeed goes to show how much of our history has been carefully wiped off..intentionally or otherwise.. and the indifference of bringing it out into the mainstream. Indeed it was a study of Ponniyin Selvan after being allured by Maniam's art I got myself introduced to the glory of our past. After reading this and learning more about the grandeur my dream was to visit the Big Temple. earlier I thought a visit to Giza, and Rome was the holy grail.(I am not ashamed of it, but angered by the educational system that ignored completely our glory and glorified the Ghoris,the Greeks , the Egyptians and the Europeans maybe for their plunders and such). When I did visit the place, I was blown away. there are no words to describe the experience of such splendour..and I kept thinking ... this mega engineering marvel, stood the test of time and was standing there all along, so far into the past when those large and mighty countries were yet to be born.
It is appalling to me when I hear folks say .. "look at those pillars in that temple...wow..look how they are aligned perfectly.. did they have colleges, or engineers in those days.. how did they do it?".. How shallow and ignorant that is! Of course there were colleges, of course there were engineers, there were more.. architects, model makers, apprentices, I mean its a sham by the "invaders" to make us all look like some primitive "natives". The barbarians who conquered, had no clue and wanted to make us all believe that Gravity and Apples falling down did not exist before Newton.
I am not aware of content of current textbooks, but I hope there will be dedicated subject matter on the grandness of the past, their affinity to the arts, the understanding of the spirit (otherwise we would not have been lucky to enjoy the architecture) and the inclusiveness of their reign. When I was in school (80s) we used to study poems such as Agananuru, Purananuru etc.. whcih sort of gave glimpses of the past, but the difficulty of the language helped little in craving to know more. I think we need to have necessary readings in the life and times of the past. we should even include practicals such as drawing , sculpture making etc in the traditional sense, make temple visits for sketching etc, apart from reading Calculus, Wren and Martin and Android development which we eventually will do anyway! If anything we should make Kalki's works, or the abridged works by some of the authors here as necessary reading at the high school level. so that the next generation need not "discover" the past, and the glory will be a natural part for them.
In this context, Kalki's work is indeed priceless!