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....
Chapter VII - Rajaraja II (a.d. 1146 to 1172)
Parakesarivarman Rajaraja II became the Crown Prince in a.d. 1146 during his father’s life time, and Kulottunga II must have lived on for some years after this date as the latest regnal year found in inscriptions of the latter is the seventeenth year. Like his father’s reign, Rajaraja II’s rule appears to have been peaceful and was a period of great literary activity. The extent of the empire remained unaltered, and abundant epigraphical evidence of Rajaraja II’s hold over the Gangapadi and Nolamba-padi regions as well as over the Vengi region is available. The feudatory Velanadu Chiefs still owned their loyalty to the Chola Emperor, though they seem to be growing in might and autonomy during this period. A number of inscriptions at Draksharama in the East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh attest Chola hold over Vengi. We have evidence of temple-building activity by a Kaduvetti chieftain, a subordinate of the Cholas in the Kolar district region of modern Karnataka State; Kongu and the eastern part of the Ganga country were still firmly in the hands of the Cholas, as attested by an inscription from Tagadur nadu, a part of Ganga nadu of Nigarilisola mandalam.
Gangapuri or Gangaikondacholapuram continued to be the capital of the Cholas. Rajaraja II, however, would appear to have stayed mostly in the subsidiary Chola capital of Palaiyarai alias Ayirattali; in the Rajaraja-solan Ula composed by the Court poet, Ottakkuttan, the capital city is referred to as Rajaraja-puri, which must have been a sprawling big city covering the present day villages of Palaiyaru, Mulaiyur, Darasuram and others. The name of his capital city of Rajarajapuri or Rajarajapuram is now borne in a corrupted form by one of the villages mentioned above, viz., Darasuram. What is noticeable is the absence of references in the inscriptions to the movements and tours of the king during this reign; we have noticed that during the Middle Chola period and even during the reigns of Kulottunga I and his son Vikrama Chola, the Chola Suzerain was constantly on the move to different parts of the empire. We find him at his palaces in various regions of the empire; but during the reigns of Kulottunga II and his son Rajaraja II, we notice a comparative relaxation of vigil, which possibly explains the growing power and autonomy of the various feudatories of the Cholas. We have already noticed the Kadava Chiefs becoming prominent; and the Velanadu Chiefs of Vengi were no less quick to grab local power retaining a semblance of loyalty to the overlord. The Kadava Chief during Rajaraja II’s reign was Kudalur Alappirandan Mohan alias Rajarajak-Kadavarayan, who may be the same Chief who finds mention during Koluttunga II’s reign, merely changing his name as was the practice of those days, to identify himself with the then Chola suzerain. Another Pallava Chief is also seen as a prominent feudatory, with his headquarters at Kanchi; for, we hear of him as building a temple of stone on a hill in the Kolar district, to which we have referred earlier. Yet another prominent Chief during this period was the Pallavaraiyar of Karigai Kulattur who built the stone temple of Rajarajesvaram Udaiyar at Pallavarayan-pettai; we shall see more of these Pallavaraiyar chiefs later, as they played a crucial part in fighting the cause of the Pandyan claimants to the throne of Madurai, the Sri Lanka king taking the opposite cause. In fact the closing years of the reign of Rajaraja II and almost the entire reign of Rajadhiraja II were marked by continued and savage fighting between the armies of the Chola kings and those of the Pandyas and of the Sri Lanka king Parakramabahu. The growing strength of the Sengeni chiefs, Nittavinoda Sambu-varayan and Rajanarayana Sambuvarayan alias Ammaiyappan Siyan Pallavandan is noticed during this period.
Rajaraja II bore other titles like Rajagambhira, Edirilisola and perhaps also Neriyudaichchola. In the Rajarajan of Ottakkuttan, he is called Cholendra Simha; in the dosing verses of the same Ula he is also called Viradhara and Virodaya.
The most common prasasti of the reign is the one beginning with pu maruviya tiru madtan; the others are pu maruviya polil elum; puyal vayttu valam peruga; and kadal sulnda paar maadar. The third one, occurring in a record of the fifth year of Rajaraja II, was later on adopted by Kulottunga III; similarly, the fourth one, occurring in a record of Rajaraja’s tenth year, is adopted by his successor Rajadhiraja II; and in fact, it becomes his chief prasasti.
We hear of the names of three queens of Rajaraja II, Avani-mulududaiyal, Dharani-mulududaiyal and Bharani-muludu-daiyal; they all appear to be titles and not the personal names of the queens.
Tamil literature received royal patronage during the reign of Rajaraja II and one of his prasastis beginning with pu maruviya polil elum refers to the flourishing condition of Tamil literature. The king is called muttamilukkuttalaivan, ‘the patron of the threefold Tamil’. In the Takkayagapparani, his descent is traced in the following terms: “he was the son of the son of the son of the king who abolished tolls”, an obvious reference to Kulottunga I who was thus the great-grandfather of Rajaraja II.
The Rajaraja-solan Ula and the Takkayagapparani, both sung by his court poet Ottak-kuttan, mention his temple building activities. While both Vikrama Chola and Kulottunga II concentrated their attention mainly on expanding and embellishing existing temples, construction of new temples being comparatively few, the reign of Rajaraja II saw the coming into being of some magnificent new structures; among them is the Rajarajesvaram Udaiyar or Rajarajapurisvara temple which he built at the secondary capital of Ayirattali (renamed Rajarajapuri) and named the deity after himself and the new name of the capital; this temple has now come to be called the temple of Airavatesvara at Darasuram. Another temple of importance also called Rajarajesvaram was built during this reign at Pallavarayanpettai; we have already seen, that this was-the temple that the Karigai Kulattur Pallavaraiyar built; apart from its art value, it contains a very important historical document in the shape of the famous inscription known as the Pallavarayanpettai inscription of much political and socioeconomic importance. We shall deal with these temples in the next chapter.
Rajaraja II ruled for 26 years and must have died sometime in A.D. 1172.