GANGAIKONDA CHOLISVARAM (GANGAIKONDA CHOLAPURAM) History Rajendra Chola (1012-1044 A.D.) built this temple to commemorate his victory in the north, which earned him the title "Gangaikonda Cholan". He also brought water from the Ganges and poured it in a well. He built this big temple around the well and named it Gangaikonda Cholisvaram. Sacred tank(s) 1. Temple tank Present status of the sacred tank The tank is located opposite the temple. People use the water for bathing and washing clothes. Water from the Ponneri river is diverted to the tank and the outflow is led into a small canal called Karuvaattu Odai. The quality of water is very poor and the tank is also not maintained properly. A number of huts have been erected on the banks. Special features The well has the figure of a lion carved at the top, it is called the `well of the lion' or Singakeni. Such wells can be seen in Tiruvidaimarudur and Virinchipuram. The main deity, a monolithic Linga, is 10 ft tall. The vimana of the temple is similar to that of the Tanjavur Brihadeeswara temple, rising upto 186 ft. This ten tiered tower is so constructed that the shadow of the topmost tier falls within the base of the tower. 242 There is a famous monolithic stone carving of the Chariot of the Sun. It is drawn by seven horses with Aruna as the charioteer, Surya (sun god) seated in padmasana posture in the centre, and the remaining eight planets stationed in a circle.
Thanks for your wonderful contributions. recently got a nice experience on sea from Parangipettai to tarangmpadi on sea with experienced fishermans launch fitted with GPS .
we identified few karuppu area spotted by IRSA .survey started by students in different clusters between parangipettai to tarangampadi on archealogical traces through my Historical Links research Foundation .