OBJECT AS HISTORY WEEK 12

23 th MARCH 2020

In todays class we discused about the Cholas and their iconography. The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty of southern India, one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the world’s history . The earliest datable references to the Chola are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE left by Ashoka, of the Maurya Empire The capital of the Cholas was Thanjavur and the most famous temple built by them was the Brihadeshwara temple.The Cholas were known for their famous bronze sculptures. so in todays class we focused on the Bronze sculptures and traced the different elements and iconography in Chola sculptures.Brihadeshwara Temple: It was built by the Chola king Raja Raja Chola in 1010 AD.The Brihadeshwara temple was an ancient temple in Thanjavur.It was built like a fortress on the shores of the river.This temple is over a 1000 years old and was built by the king to grace his empire. The temple took 7 years to finish and at the time was the tallest temple in India. the tower that is 216 ft. tall, which is built above the sanctum of the temple. This temple is known by several other names such as Rajeswara temple and Periya Kovil.The Brihadeshwara temple was an ancient temple in Thanjavur The principal deity in this temple is lord Shiva, in his dancing pose also known as Natraja

For several deities we saw sculptures that belonged to different era’s, this also helped in realise how culture influenced sculpture.Upon studying, the main features that i noticed and learnt about was the use of lotus in almost all the different sculptures. The lotus signified the highest level of purity reached by Hindu gods and goddess.

We saw several sculptures in class, All the different sculptures showed iconographic symbols through which one could identify them. One feature was that all the deities were showed in an enlarged form, compared to the other elements in the sculpture.different forms of deity such as Durga , Parvati. Natraja; Shiva, parvati and Kartike. In the one with Durga and Parvati, the main difference one could highlight was the way Durga was shown compared to Parvati, Durga was shown with weapons and jewelry, there was also a difference in their posture specially the face structure . In the one with Shiva, Parvati and Kartikey; Shiva being shown as the biggest figure amongst the three could also be a symbol of power.