Later Chola Temples
by S. R. Balasubrahmanyam | 1979 | 143,852 words
This volume of Chola Temples covers Kulottunga I to Rajendra III in the timeframe A.D. 1070-1280. The Cholas of Southern India left a remarkable stamp in the history of Indian architecture and sculpture. Besides that, the Chola dynasty was a successful ruling dynasty even conquering overseas regions....
Temples in Tirunaraiyur
The Siva temple at Tirunaraiyur, which is at a distance of about 10 km. southeast of Kumbakonam and gets its name from the sweet fragrance of the flowers grown here (— sweet smell), has been dealt with in my Early Chola Temples (p. 178). It is an Early Chola temple reconstructed in the days of Uttama Chola.
Siddhanathasvamin temple
The mandapa in front of the central shrine however seems to be an addition made in the days of the Later Cholas. There are six inscriptions (ARE Nos. 125 to 131 of 1931-32) all belonging to the days of Vikrama Chola, three of them dated in the fifth year, and the other three are also presumably of the same date though in the inscriptions the dates are lost. They are all records of gifts, mostly of twilight lamps. These lend credence to the possibility that the mandapa came into existence either late in the reign of Kulottunga I or in the early years of Vikrama Chola’s reign.