Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The temples there are older than Thanjavur ... They are so big that it takes one a whole day of bicycling in the hot sun to cover the 26-km circumference of the main temple complex. Intricate kalvettu there too.
How about visiting this place in our overseas trip?
I am with ICICI Group. I will talk to ICICI travel jini people and also another guy who does all the foreign travels for the contest winners on behalf of ICICI about this trip. He has very good contacts at Thailand. I will get the cost say for a group of 20, 30, 40, 50 etc. from chennai, mumbai to whatever places we all decide.
Once I get it, we can relax, as he would take care of travel, visa, stay etc. including shopping at Thailand.
Dear All Sorry mailed it before I had a chance Dear Chandra and Diwa ,Easwar and freinds... I think enough is said..we all mean the same thats having fun having a great group and holding our chest high and say We ve accomplished this....
We have a few feats We have a few big names who have left us for various reasons but My request is to have a moderate balance
Just a humble request I see you guys are infront of your compuers Chandra nad Diwa can you check out the templates we have in the files section and give your valued and esteemed comments
Diwa are you the resaon for alll these Mazhai in Tamilnadu
now that sri mentioned the rain.......... did you notice all the names we read about in ps are making headlines daily( for wrong reasons) they are talking about viranam, arasalar, vadavar, kudamurutti in every bulletin. as of now the danger to srirangam seems to have been controlled. but with excessive rain in karnataka it might take off again. viranam is not accepting new flows as it is already full. I have been trying to reach the gurukkal at malapadi for the temple is on the bank of kollidam but calls are not going thro.
ungaloda nakkalukku alave illaiyaa????? chandra sir oda comments wud no doubt be valuabe and esteemed..... ennoda comment ai poi valuable and esteemed nnu solreengaley.... idhellaam adukkumaaa????
regarding mazhai.. enakkum adhukkum enna sir sambandham?? may be usiroda africa laerndhu thirumbi vandhirukennu mazhaiyaaa???
IT is not easy to see paintings in Tamil Nadu prior to those of the Vijayanagara period. Why? This is because they are either situated in remote places far from the tourist beat, (like Sittannavasal), or are in a terrible state of disrepair that very little is visible (like Pannamalai) or are locked up and visitors kept out (as in Thanjavur). Thus the two books photographed, designed and produced by C. Nachiappan (now Sri-la-Sri Nachiappa Swami of Koviloor Mutt) with assistance from the Rukmini Devi Foundation and published by Kalakshetra Publications, Chennai, are a valuable documentation of the great Tamil heritage of painting. The first book records the paintings at Sittannavasal, Panamalai and Thanjavur, covering the early Pandya, the early Pallava and the early Chola periods respectively. These sites, which are not easy to visit, were photographed 50 years ago by the Koviloor Swamy. He used an ancient 5"x4" Linhof camera for the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) and sent the transparencies to Saraswathy Press in Calcutta for exposing. But they got burnt under powerful lights and were never printed. The Swami retained a set of transparencies that were enhanced by computer technology, recreating the colours that would have brightened up the temples once upon a time. The text is written by the eminent scholar Professor P.R. Srinivasan, although he has quoted extensively from earlier works. Sittannavasal is an "elongated mass of granite", a remote village 15 km beyond Pudukottai town, not far from the early Chola temples of Narthamalai, consisting of the Eladipattam, a natural cave on top of the hill with beds and pillows cut into the stone floor for use by the monks, and Arivarkovil or the Temple of the (Jaina) Arihants. There is a First Century Tamil Brahmi inscription on a cave bed, and a Ninth Century inscription on a rock nearby informing us of the renovation of the temple. The cave temple has simple pillars and sculptures of Jaina Tirthankaras. The paintings currently visible probably belong to the Seventh Century, since they have Pallava features and are reminiscent of later Ajanta paintings. The paintings include a dharmachakra on the ceiling, a lotus tank with frolicking animals, creepers and lotuses, young men collecting flowers, dancing apsaras and a barely-visible king and queen, bringing to life the Jaina philosophy of ahimsa and harmony in nature. One apsara, with her right hand in the pataka mudra and the left in the danda hasta, is reminiscent of the bronze figures of the dancing Balakrishna and Balasubrahmanya, while the other is performing the bhujangatrasita karana, associated with the dance of Shiva at Chidambaram. The base of the Sittannavasal paintings is well consolidated, firm yet thin lime plaster, also used for the binding. The painted stucco is made up of three layers: rough plaster, fine plaster and a covering layer of paint. Little remains of these paintings today, making their appearance in the book a valuable contribution to South Indian art history. As a frequent visitor to Sittanavasal, I have seen the paintings gradually disappear, thanks to the pollution from the stone quarries, which is also probably weakening the hill. The lone watchman belies the archaeological importance of the site, surrounded by ancient dolmens and sacred groves with enormous and elaborately decorated terracotta horses. The Talagirishvara Temple at Panamalai is rarely visited, but is notable for the single remnant painting of an exquisite female figure, her leg gently bent and resting against a wall, standing beneath a royal umbrella, wearing a tall bejewelled kirita and jewellery typical of the Pallava period. The figure has been shaded to make it appear three-dimensional. This single figure is one of the most beautiful paintings in India, reminiscent of the women of Ajanta, and the photograph brings out all her glory. She resembles Parvati of the Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram, and the Ajanta frescoes. There are traces of painting elsewhere in the temple, but nothing identifiable. The fresco secco method was used here as at Sittannavasal. The best paintings are, of course, those found inside the vimana in the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjavur. The delicate nature of the paintings and the gradual erosion due to pollution have resulted in the ASI locking them up. Today they can only be seen by special permission. The paintings depict scenes from the Shiva Purana. But the elaborate tableaux of domestic, public and palace scenes are an excellent source of information about the Chola period and the court of Rajaraja, who commissioned them. The paintings are huge and animated, bringing alive the greatness of the Lord who destroys evil and ensures peace. There is a barely-visible Dakshinamurti beneath a banyan tree on which monkeys are playing, while rishis and animals live together in the forest. There is a stillness of body and reverence on the face of the sages worshipping Dakshinamurti, in contrast to the vivacious animals. Flying apsaras and gandharvas complete the scene of palatial proportions. The Sundaramurty Nayanar story depicts a magnificent Cheraman Perumal on a bejewelled white horse, while an angry Sundaramurti Nayanar wears a white coat! Shiva, in this scene, is an old man. A beautiful tableau is that of Rajaraja listening to his preceptor Karur Devar, the two faces a study of intense concentration. In another panel, dancing apsaras �� their faces a study of abhinaya �� and Rajaraja and his wives watch in awe the magnificent ananda tandava, the dance of Nataraja performed in the golden mandapam of Chidambaram. Exquisite jewellery, jasmine-bedecked hairstyles, and beautifully featured people with eyebrows like a bow and compassionate eyes bring alive the massive compositions in bright colours.
The best painting is that of Tripurantaka, Shiva as the destroyer of the demon Tripura. With wide-open eyes and raised arms, Shiva prepares to slay the demon. An animated Durga seated on her roaring lion prepares to attack the demon's hordes with her raised sword. Brahma is a charioteer, while Shukracharya leads the asuras (demons). What is significant about the Chola paintings of Thanjavur is that there is great emotion in all the faces, whether it is the compassion of the guru counselling Rajaraja, or a contemplative rishi, a devout queen, an animated dance
Dear All Its great to read about our side in a leading daily on the same note it also pains to see that members have chosen to ignore the fact that the site was still in evolving phases and we did not want the public to see it till it was a bit more organised
We were planning on tamil version and translations are going on but the daily has said it would be nice to have it in tamil as well
Can who ever did this with good intentions please refrain or atleast ask the group please before publicising...
This is fantastic news. I guess this is the beginning of our site reaching out to everybody. We should also attempt at finding out newsgroups that are into cultural and ancient monuments and post news about our website there. Iam sure it will reach out to the world very soon.
Under construction will gave a very immature opinion of us...nnu nenaikarane. :-(
Pazhayaaraiyaar avargaley, whoever gave the information...paravaa illai. adhuvum nalladhukkudhaan. Lets not worry about what was written, afterall they have said it in good spirits. Shall we send them a Thank You letter for publicising the site and their suggestion? We can even explain that the translation work is already going on.
pathirikkaigaludan nalla rapport vechukkaradhu eppavumey nalladhu. adhuvum nammai pathi article vandhaa Thank you letter ezhudhina oru reporter padum sandhosham alaadhinaanadhu. Thamizh version launch panninapparam innoru article Dinamalar varardhukkum vasadhiyaa irukkum. ;-)
I have a suggestion. If Dinamalar has a "Letters to the Editor" type of forum, we can send them a letter that can both accomplish the task of thanking them as well as publicise the fact that the translations are on their way.
Hi Sri, I am ready to resume the translation work. If you say to start again, me and Seenu will coordinate with each other and finish all the translations within a week's time if you want. any updated English pages can be sent to us, so that we will update it time to time. What say, Mr.Seenu? Chandra
Dear All I think with the tamil side of things ready for launching we should do things slightly differently.. We should have a staging site where people can upload contents using the CMS and once we have approval from the editorial team then each page goes live
So to begin with We can have the
Welcome page Meikeerthi RRC Weblinks Books and Editorials Chola frescos
Can Seenu Chandra and Vijay coordinate that Krupa are you free to lend us a hand
If we move in the right speed we ll have the Tamil version ready for Tamilar thirunaal
Now heres a thought nobody can be more tamil chuavinistic than me...We tell the world with English...Do we proudly tell india with HINDI???Thats food for thought
Chandra, Vijay, Sorry for delayed reply. We shall split the work. I think I shall start translate for the pages RRC and Chola Frescos. Suggest me please. Seenu.
congrats everybody.....u have done an amazing job.......i visited the website sterday and the work was splendid.....will i be of any help to you increating the tamil version or in any other work?
Hi Vijay, Between PS members, I think asking apologies are like hitting each other!! Most of us are busy in our profession and that's not a crime!! Once your CMS for Tamil web site is ready, just inform us, we'll start uploading. This should not take much of time.Seenu had already contacted me. We'll coordinate and finish. Cheers! Chandra
Have you ever looked at your daily drudgery in humourous light? Have you ever found a sterotype of the workplace you go to everyday?
Theres a lot of humour to observe for the willing-eye. To quote Madonna (of all people to quote), "You only see what your eyes wan to see".
Am sure all of you have gone through that sometime or the other. In my endeavour to capture the unique character of the Indian IT professional, I plan to write out a series of short-stories. Most of them might look funny, but am sure you would find somebody like you deep under those characters.
Well, these stories will appear, one per week, at...
Hi i am poomagal dear friends, i am interested in knowing more about raja raja chozhan . if anybody knows about the great can mail me who ever it is i offer you a very great and warm welcome. thank you with love poomagal
I am GSK from Bangalore, I am one of the admirer of that Song sung by The Great saivate sant Thirunavukarasu swamigal when he was waranted by the ruling Pallava Monarch ca 615 AD. i enjoy typing and conveying the Message to you and our group.
ie., "Namarkum kudiyallom Namanai Anjom Narakaththil Idarpadom Nadalaiyillom Yemappom Piniariyom - Panivamallom Yennaloom Thunbamillai Enbame "........... a very beautiful Tamil Narration of his Mental Emotions.
21st Century Tamil
I am not a subject of any ruling King, I am not afraid of Yemadharman I have nothing to do with Naragaloga, I won,t oblige the conspiracy of Jains always Happy .No worry at all when iam with Lord Shiva.
orissa played role on kamboja kingdom through palur port
palur was the major port for indian kingdom.
kongoda mandala which banpur was the capital is 60 km from palura on sailabodeva period, may be associate with pallava origins.
Orissa sea traders are called saduvans/vyabaris even from 3 rd century BC
having enough document in text from
sending some sample here with ;
The Matharas
Soon after the invasion of Samudragupta a new ruling power named Mathara raised its head in Kalinga. The earliest known Mathara king was Vishakavarman who started his politial career as an humble ruler of a small territory round about modern Parlakhemundi. He was succeeded by Umavarman who declared himself as Lord of Kalinga by his 30 th regnal year and made Singhapura his capital. He ruled for about 35 years and was succeeded by Sankaravarman in about 395 A.D. Maharaja Sankaravarman died after a short rule and was succeeded by his son Maharaja Saktivarman in about 400 A.D. Saktivarman was a powerful ruler who had extended his kingdom from Mahanadi in the north to the river Krishna in the south. He transferred his capital from Singhapura to Pishtapura in South Kalinga. He died in about 420 A.D. and was succeeded by his son Anantasaktivarman who ruled up to 450 A.D. Anantasaktivarman could not maintain the integrity of the empire inherited from his father. The Vishnukundin king Madhavavarman occupied South Kalinga as a result of which Anantasaktivarman shifted his headquarters from Pishtapura to Singhapura.
It appears that after the death of Saktivarman there was internal quarrel between his two sons Anantasaktivarman and Prabhanjanavarman which contributed to the weakness of the Mathara dynasty. Anantasaktivarman was succeeded by Chandravarman who was probably his son. He had a premature death after which Prabhanjanavarman, the brother of Anantasaktivarman came to the throne. He attempted to recover South Kalinga but could not succeed in bringing back the lost territory. He was succeeded by Nandaprabhanjanaverman. During his rule the Mathara power declined steadily. By that time the Eastern Gangas appeared in the Trikalinga territory and extended their power over the Kalinga Regions. The Mathara rule in Kalinga ended in 498 A.D. which was the initial year of the Ganga era.
The Eastern Gangas
The earliest known Ganga king of Kalinga was Indravarman I whose capital was located at Dantapura. He is said to have defeated the Vishnukandin king Indrabhattaraka. He was the first great ruler of the Ganga dynasty and started the Ganga era. His Jirajingi copper plate grant was issued in Ganga year 39, i.e. 537 A.D. The next king was Samantavarman whose grant is dated in the year 64 (562 A. D.). Like his predecessor Samantavarman assumed the title of Trikalingadhipati. He was succeeded by king Hastivarman who claims to have defeated his enemies in many battles and declared himself the Lord of all Kalingas (Sakala Kalinga). Hastivarman transferred his capital from Dantapura to Kalinganagar. He was succeeded by his son Indravarman II and the latter was succeeded by Indravarmanan III who is known to be a powerful ruler. He claims to have acquired proficiency in various sciences and arts. The next king was Devendravarman who had mantradikshya from Patangashivacharya who was learned in Veda, Vedanga, Itihasa and Puranas. He greatly patronized Brahminical religion and culture. He was succeeded by his son Hemantavarman I after whom his two sons Nandavarman and Devendravarman II ruled over Kalinga one after the other. The next important ruler of the family was Anantavarman II who did many works of public benefit. He was succeeded by his brother Devendravarman III who patronized a Brahmin poet (the name is not known) who was the son of the door-keeper of his palace. He was succeeded by his son Anantavarman III and after his two of his sons Rajendravarman II and Devendravarman IV became kings one after the other. The next ruler was Satyavarman, son of Devendravarman, who was a war like ruler. After his short rule his brother Anantavarman IV came to the throne. He was popularly called Vajri or Vajrahasta I. The next Ganga king was Maharaja Bhupendravarman. After his two sons Anantavarman V and Devendravarman V ruled one after the other. Anantavarman assumed the epithet Maharajadhiraja and was known as Vajrahasta II.
The Nalas
Before the rise of the Eastern Gangs the Nala dynasty had established a kingdom in Trikalinga region comprising parts of the modern districts of Bastar, Koraput and Kalahandi. The capital of the kingdom of the Nalas was at Pushkari. The Podagarh rock inscription indicates that pushkari was situated close to the site of Podagarh in Koraput district. The earliest known ruler of the Nala dynasty was Vrishadhvaja who is known from a seal discovered at Bhita. It is suggested that the seal was carried to Bhita when Bhavadattavarman, the grandson of Vrishadhvaja, went on piligrimage to Prayaga where he donated grants to Brahmins. The date of Vishadhvaja may be fixed from circa 400 A.D. to 420 A.D. The next king Varaharaja was probably the son of Vishadhvaja. He was a powerful and independent ruler and had a prosperous reign. Out of 32 gold coins of the Nala kings discovered at Edenga in Bastar district, seven large size and twenty-two smaller size coins belonged to Varaharaja. He had been assigned to the period from circa 420 to 440 A.D.
Bhavadattavarman also called Bhavadattaraja was probably the son and successor of Varaharaja. During his rule there was conflict between the Nalas and the Bhakatakas and Bhavadattavarman defeated the Bhakataka king who has been identified with Narendrasena. The Bhakatakas capital Nandivardhana was occupied by the Nalas. Bhavadattavarman issued grants in favour of a Bhrahmin named Matradhyarya and his eight sons when he was at Prayaga with his queen. He was a powerful and a generous king. He was succeeded by his son Arthapatiraja. The Bhakataka king Prithvisena II, son of Narendrasena, defeated Arthapatiraja and ousted the Nalas from the capital Nandivardhana. He invaded Pushkari, the Nala capital, and destroyed it to a great extent. King Arthapati was probably killed in the battle. About 480 A.D. Skandavarman, the brother of Arthapatiraja, succeeded to the throne and
orissa going to play a major role for rewriting our (orissa - Tamilnadu )history.
before 1950 orissa was very very backward state withought and facility for scholors. even today
like S.N rajguru,kedarnath mahapatra,HK.mahatab,kc panikrahi,NK,sahu,Rp mahapatra,sterling,v.ball,jaiswal,vasu,r.subramaniam and very few people worked on that, othere maximu did treasure hunt and sitting on researchers shoulders.
even today it is very difficult to enter in to mountain and forests.
how in 1920 to 1950 our krishnaswami ayingar and nilakanta sasatri and jaiswal are entered oriss for research.
really its amazing for me.
but any how i am respectable to our historians.what i want to say is now present world is Gps & remote sensing world we can add some more on the above works
now for the last 10 years maximum infrastructure is going on in orissa. one way copperplates are taken away by the scrap traders and other hills are dominated by the heavy earht moving machineries and blastings on minerals and stone crushers people.
unfortunately i was in the maintainace of hearthmoving industry as a maintainanace engineer , seeing this fatel without any knowledge from 1989 to 2002 at orissa.
now last 5 years realising the educated fools mistakes towards enenvironment and our cultural heritage
If any of those copper plates are found ( recently they found a copper plate in Madurai as reported by Prof Rasu )I'm willing to pay a huge price for it and donate it to a museum...rather than sending it to a scrap dealer.
Please contact me immediately, if anything authentic is reported.
I remember seeing such instruments in many temples and specifically remember the trip I made along with varalaaru team and Dr.KKvn during 2005. If I remember right, the boodha gana in Kailasanather temple Kanchipuram and Sundara varadha perumal temple in Uthiramerur had such instruments and Ram was discussing with Dr.Kkvn as what that instrument is? Though not concluded, Ram and Dr.Kkvn were convinced to some extent that it must be depiction of veena.
Now the mystery is cleared, I suppose. Request Ram to throw more light on this.