.Amad Sha built a mahal , emptying the coffers of the country, to exhibit his passion for lovely lady. Hoe many poor starving slaves has toil for building the Mahal, to lay the dead corpse of first lady of the empire, while they would have had to dare the heat of the sun in the sandy desert, be beaten by the Sand storms and lay bare to Chilly winters
What difference does it make a more human activity or less cruel at exhofbitat cost, if the scenario changes. An imaginary god or goddess in place of Shahina. to glorify a royal hose to satisfy their self aggrandisement.
Not necessary to speak of any worldly good, even it be the Thanjai periya Koil. Let us recall thesloka in "Sivananda Lahri" where Sahankara enunciates tha bakhtha need not seek god in Shrines on mountain top, on river fronts,sea shores or inside forests, but into the cave of his heart. We celebrate Shankara jayanthy in grat pomp forgettung his guide lines for good living withot ostentation.
On the other hand, how many thousands of people got direct and indirect employment because of this and how the local economy would have boomed...how many families would have settled well and got a livelihood.
if it takes an avg or 20 years to build a temple or any structure, thousands of people got almost Permanent jobs in the skills they excelled. What good an emperor do to his country men, than creating job opportunities and improving the economy of the country, unlike our current day politicians :)
I do not disagree entirely Sir. The Dhaka ( Taj ) or the Big Temple would have provided employment hundreds of workmen for 20 yrs ( ?)
But we have answer two questions,
1. Taj or Big Temple, will they be further productive ? For example a dam, a school or hospital. 2. Any records that the labour was treated humanly, proper wages and welfare
In recent history we saw hhhowKrishna Raja Udiyar built KaNNambaadi on Kaveri at Mysore, under the advice andguidance of Sir.M.Viswesvaraiya.
There is story, told proudly by Tamil Hisyorians that Raja Raja cholaon on his westernexpedition attacked and destroyed a dam on Kavery at upper Kavery.
Very huge structures becme unmanageable unles thy attract funds lie Thirumala or Palani hill' temples.
There was a legend that the big Temple earned the curse for Brammahaththi and for a long time till recently daily Pujas were not conducted. C an you find out the veracity.
Any monument like, Valluvar stantue a cape, . Valluvar Kottam, vivevekananda Memorial on the rocks at the cape, long line of Samadhis at Marina.
How can a so called spiritual country waste peoples money on such dead monuments.
Fantastic ....a new kathai on the big temple ..... Brahmmahatthi. Have not heard of this till now. Can you explain where you came up with this one ?
How a temple galvanises an economy, forms the core of a village etc - without even going into the spiritual angle. I guess we need to take a crash course on economics for that.
Regarding labour , treatment etc - these are all legends - like the artisans of the taj having their hands plucked out or eyes gauged out !! As regards the big temple - and working with stone and art - not sure if you have ever created a thing of art - You dont do it for money. You do it for your heart. and you will put your heart into it only if you embrace the cause.
a) An administrative centre (in the case of temples) b) A place for the performing arts c) Storage and emergency facilities during disasters (natural or man-made) d) A place for people to meet and gather
Basically, they performed the same role in those days as our community halls and administrative buildings do today. This, incidentally, was the same with the churches of Europe. Even today, in many places, birth and death records are maintained in the churches, for the congregants of that particular church.
As far as the humane treatment of labour goes, as Vijay says, these stories of cut fingers and gouged eyes are unsubstantiated; in fact, all the documentation we have seems to go against these claims.
If we keep going on like this, questioning the value of these things, do we start saying that all art (and all science) is bad because it doesn't have an immediate benefit for the people? Or do we accept that such things are an investment in the soul of the people and the nation, with a value beyond the material and monetary?
Temples in cholas days were an institution by itself with their own assets and funding covering Worship Social gatherings Support for natural calamities Granary Stage for performing arts Medical support Even used as fortifications ( on later days)
This is far more evolved than the Christian church setup across Europe at that period
This is one of the legacies cholas have left us
This has been degraded due to later year invasion post independence HRCE Dept. Even now many temples have huge assets but not getting revenue or rentals for sustenance.
Sivasankar Babu Gmail Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel
"As far as the humane treatment of labour goes, as Vijay says, these stories of cut fingers and gouged eyes are unsubstantiated; in fact, all the documentation we have seems to go against these claims " Shashwath.
sir please withdraw such unchaitable remarks and opinions. DON'T THRUST THEMin to my mouth. Did I ever said such thingsn?
your assumptions that these giant structures like Taj or Bjg temple will be used as Community Hall orRecord Roomsis blatant andgross under utilisation . Over spending for any purpose is bad.
I was aregular visitor to Ramakrishna Mutt. Library and the meditation Hall with a beautiful ,real size painting in oil of Ramakrishna for inspiration,inthe old building.
The new Big temple ? Why for what purpose, The main hall almost looking empty.I FELT VERY SAD. i THOUGHT R.K.MUTT CULTURE HAS CHANGED ! Aggrandisement means thinking power has become muddy.
Dear vijay, at my age I neednot go arond spinning stories.etter you verify with authorities like Balakumaran or Adeenam. Don't jump at me. I have read that story. You can verify with some 85+ of age lived long 7n and arund Tanjore.
Was there any Brammahaththi curse on RR Chola? In fact I do not hvae such superstitions. But it reflects tha some of his contemporaries were pretty angry with the Chola. So it must be researched.
There are inscriptions indicating a people's uprising. yyyyYou may also verify with Marxist writers onSocialogy.
Authority ? You put up something totally ridiculous n when questioned take refuge under age !
If you can source the proof let it be put here. Don't say its inside the safe of an adheenam.
You talk of proper wage for builders. Do you want to discuss the big temple inscriptions where rrc listed the 400 dancing girls, the assortment of muscians right form their names , address n then their wages and not only that..he also put the system to balance the debit with a credit as well, by endowments...
Reg the brahmmahatti which you claim, why as per udayarkudi the throkigal who killed ak where not given capital punishment ?
Contemporaries upset with chola ! These grandmom tales continue to amuse. Till 1910 it was believed karikalan built big temple.
The same hearsay stories also talk of the king making tamboolam for his sculptor !
So do you pick n choose to throw rubbish on a great ruler ! Kudos to you
I am also a Tanjorian who studied at Kalyana Sundaranar School. I also in my young age heard that story. The Chief Silpy who constructed that Big temple after completing that temple, who was the reason to sacrifice many lives, Bull, Human etc., atlast jumed from the Gopuram and committed suicide!
In all the Sivan temples entrance is from south side only and here in big temple it is very much in East!
On those days the Temple agamas were followed strictly but here there is no Agama but the calculations are very much there. It is a triangle that will connect Linga, gopura kalasam and Nandhi head and regarding flag post no accounts.
YOU ARE MISTAKEN ! THAT BIG WALL IS CONSTRUCTED TO ACCOMMODATE LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE DURING CELEBRATION DAYS ! BESIDES, IT IS USED AS A "DHYANA MANDAPAM" IN THE NORMAL DAYS ! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS HALL AS LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE VISIT THE TEMPLE !
"I was a regular visitor to Ramakrishna Mutt. Library and the meditation Hall with a beautiful ,real size painting in oil of Ramakrishna for inspiration,in the old building."
Temples like Big temple, are community buildings, in the sense that they can be utilized for the welfare of the community.Let us suppose tsunami in Chennai of greater proportion than the prev. one, and then RKMath will be one of the best options for refuge, not to speak of the Mission's relief operations.
In Japan, people were accommodated in schools and large buildings, during the recent calamity.During the recent tsunami, velankanni church was a refuge for some time.Is this not a practice ? Why grudge community projects that provide food for so many labourers, and later opens their arms for anyone and everyone?Just consider the number of devotees, during pradosham in Big Temple now as also Shivrathri pooja in the RKMath now.
Swami Vivekananda:EXPANSION IS LIFE: CONTRACTION IS DEATH!
Please understand that in those days - there were not much jobs. Constructing big buildings was also providing job and developing economic activity. Those Kings constructed temples instead of big palaces for themselves. Temples served for multiple purposes right from being the local panchayat.
Our ancient rulers built temples to last for ever, but spent less time resources on their personal dwellings/ palaces. Perhaps that is why none survives. Even during wars, temples were left alone, but palaces were not so lucky. It is really a mystery, why no palace of that period survives. Sampath
Any three points will define a triangle and a plane. What is special about this triangle - equilateral, isosceles, Pythagorean or anything unique? Similar jokes were in circulation in our student days - the bright topper who boasted - sir, I joined the two points and I got a straight line; or the physics lec who boasted to his wife - today, I threw light on the subject (he was operating the projector). Sampath