He is the single largest composer among the nine authors of thiruviSaippa He has sung ten padhikams one each on kOyil (thillai), thirukkalandhai adhiththEchcharam, thirukkizkkOttUr maNiyambalam, thirumukaththalai, thirailOkkiya sundharam, gaNgaikoNda chOlEchcharam, thiruppUvaNam, thiruchchattiyakkudi, thanychai iracharachEchcharam, thiruvidaimarudhUr.
adhiththEchcharam, sounds interesting. any idea where it is?
> > " thirailOkkiya sundharam " - THIS ALSO DRAWS MY ATTENTION. > > Thrialokkiya Madevi - Queen title - > > did not figure prior to RjC's Queens.. > >
Dear Sps thirailOkkiya sundharam, NEAR THIRUPANANTAL( koil history talks about a queen of rajaraja called thirailokiya madevi,in kalvettu it is called virutharaja payangara manni naattu thailoki sathurvedhi mangalam)
The Tamil text Karuvur Puranam(1) is a legendary account of Karur, especially connected with the Siva temple, Pasupatisvara. The name of the author of the text is not known - but its date of composition is given in a verse in the introductory chapter mentioning that it was composed in the year 1540 - saka corresponding to 1618 a.d.
The other important event in the life of Karuvur Devar is his visit to Tanjore. According to this legend, the Chola, a great conqueror, constructed a great temple with a lofty gopura, and Sri Koyil that resembled the Meru mountain(25).
( rajaraja is not mentioned by name, the king is called chola or abaya)
INTERESTINGLY There is an 18th cent. Sthala purana of Tanjore, which ascribes the construction of the temple to Kulottunga Chola and a certain sage Haradatta is said to have helped the king to select and establish the Linga in the great temple(27) Abhaya is a name found for Kulottunga Chola. Obviously the Tanjapuri Mahatmya has been inspired by the Karuvur punana in which the name of th6th cent onwards the legend that a siddha was responsible for the consecration of the great linga of Tanjore was in circulation. The Tamil Tradition assigns it to Karuvur Devar and the later tradition to Haradatta acharya.
to discover how this amnesia on Rajaraja began or happenned we need to track what happened to tanjore after him these events need to be dated
rrc's death shifting of capital to gkc pandya invasion turkish invasion vijayanagar invasion establishment of independent naik kingdom establishment of maratta kingdom establishment of british rule
interesting - was going through ASI review 1955 -56
BRIHADISVARA TEMPLE, TANJORE.-A strip of earth, 30 ft. wide at the top, 18ft. wide at the bottom and 8 to 9 ft. deep, was removed around the compound-wall of the temple, built in two storeys, with a view to exposing the lower storey bearing inscriptions and the original Chola level (pls. L and LI). In the operation an image of the saint Karurar, 1 ft. 7 in. high, and two small copper coins of Rajaraja were found, besides cannon-shots and ceramic pieces of the East India Company period in the upper levels. The work is in progress. Framed wire-mesh was provided in the opening of the second gopuram.
http://www.poetryinstone.in “*Here the language of stone surpasses the language of man*” – Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore
Long time back, I had written that over many years there daily pujas were not conducted in Brahadeshwara alyam. I said an opinion prevails that it was due to Brammahaththi dosha. Members got agitated. Not minding it I went on enquiring with my friends hailing from Tanjore. Mr.Ramachandran reminded us about the suicide of the chief shapthapthi ( Sculpturer ) My friend from Tanjore gave this version. Rajaraja cholan did not make any document or Sasanam about temple affairs. He thought he may live longer, as most rich parents do even to day. So no one could take or give directives. Thins went hay wire. “ thadeduththavan thandakkaaran “ Was it Kuloththungan, or who else , for the subsequent neglect of the up Keep? VKR
The king didn't respect his chief stapathi ( that he inscribed their names etc must not be considered) and so he went to the top of the vimanam and commited suicide !!
Because of that the king got everything from common cold to black leprosy !!
All this was miraculosly revealed to our friends when they sat in a thinnai and an old man who has lived for 1000 years recited this to them !!
> The version I heard is that this is the reason that politicians can't enter > the temple without losing their positions. (of course, never talking about > the Tanjore Nayak and Maratha kings who donated to the temple, and who's > dynasties ruled for a generation or two at least, after, or for that matter,
the last nayak king of tanjore was executed(beheaded or hanged?)by the nayak of madurai for not giving hi daughter in marriage to the latter. but not before he put all his family members in the palace and shifted the entire gunpoder at his disposal inside and lit the fuse. not a glorious end of course. then came the marattas On the death of Shivaji II, due to the absence of a legitimate heir to the throne, the kingdom was annexed by the British East India Company as per the Doctrine of Lapse.
Making it more political, How many CM's in TN has been in Power in consecutive terms? To my knowledge it is Kamarajar and MGR. Leaving the sentiment it all boils down to the bad governance rather than going in to temple for not being able to be in consecutive terms.
We can't force them to go in. I'm not _asking_ them to go in. My objection is to people believing in such doshams, and propagating them as the reason for politicians losing power.
It doesn't help when you're trying to figure out what Rajendra did when he transferred the donations out, when people start throwing unsustainable ideas around, and confusing the issue. That's my objection, and I felt that it needed to be challenged.
the point is there are so many legends about the big temple. i remember there was a long standing legend of RRC dying in parangipettai near chidambaram even before he completed the madala pujai. why he should leave tanjore before that is a possible question. and today we can realise all these legends of RRC came up after 1920 or so.
I think the shadow not falling on the ground has evolved.
If I remember correctly, the claim was that the shadow does not fall outside the base when the sun is at the pinnacle (noon) on all 365 days.
This is likely to be true (but needs to be verified) as the base of the gopuram is quite wide and also the angle of the sun does not go beyond 30 degrees from the vertical even on December 21 when the sun is shining over the tropic of capricorn.
The reason for not conducting the poojas could be another one - As was the practice in ancient times, even RRC could have been buried beneath the temple ! When I checked with some sivacharyars they said that those days kings were in the habit of installing
a shiva idol over the very burial place to enable the citizens to pay respects to the kings as well as to their beloved deity! Even today when somebody is dead what we used to say -
Avar iraivanadi serndhaar (reached the feet of God) ! Ancient Kings could have also wished
that they should be remembered by the people even after their death ! Normally people
won't be willing to pay respects in a burial ground which is not considered sacred. So when
people don't visit a burial ground then which is the best place ? Two birds in one stone !
we saw the panchavan madevi pallipadai which rajendra built for his step mother the later people had ethched out the word pallipadai ( perhaps because people were afraid to visit) the point of big temple being a pallipadai or atleast RRC's pallipadai being somewhere within the compound cannot be termed as wishful thinking.
For one thing, remember our last meet and the discussion on pallipadais? There are specific rules and rituals for pallipadais, which don't seem to exist for the Big Temple...
For another, it was completed and the kumbabhishekam done during RRC's life; that's something for which we have direct inscriptional evidence! Would that have been done if he were buried underneath? I mean, we're talking about Indian kings, not Egyptian Pharaohs who built their own pyramids for twenty years...
Also, remember that Panchavan Mahadevi's pallipadai directly has the word pallipadai in its inscriptions (even if etched out). Of the hundreds of lines of inscription in Tanjore, there's not _one_ mention of the word! On the contrary, typical Shaiva Agama worship seems to have been carried out; donations of various puja materials and temple bronzes speak to that...
There's no doubt about it - RRC's pallipadai may end up being at Udayalur, or elsewhere, or maybe not exist at all, but the Big Temple is very obviously a normal Shaivite temple in which there was continuous worship during both Chola and later (Nayak/Maratha) times. Probably with the exception of the interregnum between Cholas and Nayaks, and then later, after the Marathas lost their power. Any other theories to the contrary have to bring their own evidence.
i definitely agree with you sir. kings of those days indeed wished for a linga idol to be placed on top of their burial spots. there is proof in Udayalur - believed to be RRC's burial spot. i was fortunate to visit that great king's final resting spot and see his linga. (picture attached)
Good point - need to investigate further - the Pandya divine origins are painted in the big temple ( Nayak period) - from the birth of Ukrama Pandya to Meenakshi to him throwing a spear into the ocean
It is not saligrama sivalingam but spatika lingam. 5 lingams were presented to lord Siva himself to Adisankara. 1. One is installed in Kanchi Sankara mutt, Second in Sringeri Sankara Mutt, Third in Chidambaram ( Abishegam is performed in uchi kalam and arthajamam) Fourth in Rameswaram and the fifth i could not recollect the place. I dont think the story by the priest is right
Tanjai's lattitude is 10:47 and max inclination of the sun during winter solstice is 34deg 17 mins. So if a line is drawn from the tip of the kalasam at 34:17 to the vertical, then the shadow of kalasam will fall within the base if the line intersects the base within the boundary. If the vimana's shadow must not fall outside the base, then a 34 degree tangent to the vimana must fall within the base. In fact, most of the gopurams are squat - bottom heavy; hence this criterion will be easily met. But this gopuram is special - it is sleek and narrow. This might have contributed to the "legend!" that its shadow does not fall on the ground. We were taught in school that during noon the shadow of the vimana falls within its base. As first order of approximation, if the gopuram's outline is within an isosceles triangle with a base angle of 56 deg and a vertex angle of 68 deg. It should not be difficult to decide mathematically the veracity of the 'legend' if the dimensions are known. Sampath
The pictures are taken in the late afternoon, I guess. A photo taken at noon on 23rd December will help in removing some doubts. Of course one need not wait for 23rd dec, if it can be proved that vimana's shadow falls outside the structure on any day at noon. This joke was in circulation in our IIT days. The physics prof. boasted to his wife - "Today I threw more light on the subject", only to get a prompt response from his wife "Did you operate the projector?" Myths and legends are necessary to keep traditions and interests alive. Temple shadow problem is solvable both in theory and in practice. Sampath
If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin, Into his nest again, I shall not live in vain. Emily Dickinson
Long time back, I had written that over many years there daily pujas were not conducted in Brahadeshwara alyam.
I said an opinion prevails that it was due to Brammahaththi dosha. Members got agitated. Not minding it I went on enquiring with my friends hailing from Tanjore. Mr.Ramachandran reminded us about the suicide of the chief shapthapthi ( Sculpturer )
My friend from Tanjore gave this version. Rajaraja cholan did not make any document or Sasanam about temple affairs. He thought he may live longer, as most rich parents do even to day. So no one could take or give directives. Thins went hay wire. “ thadeduththavan thandakkaaran “
Was it Kuloththungan, or who else , for the subsequent neglect of the up Keep?