Big Temple

தஞ்சையின் பெரிய ஈசன் 

  தஞ்சாவூர் பெரிய கோவிலில்  உள்ள லிங்கம் 12 அடி  உயரம் கொண்டது. ஈசன் எவ்ளோவு உயரம் கொண்டவர்  என்பதை கோவிலுக்கு வரும் பக்தர்களுக்கு உணர்த்த சிற்பி செய்த அற்புதத்தை காண்போம் .

பெரிய கோவிலின் தென் திசையில் உள்ள படிக்கட்டுகள் தான் சோழர் காலத்தில் உபயோகித்த நுழைவாயில்  ஆகும் . அதில் இருக்கும் துவார பாலகர் சிலையின் அடியை  உற்று நோக்கினால் இவ்வாறு காணலாம் .

இச்சிற்பத்தின் உட்பொருள் யாதென்றால், ஒரு பெரிய யானையை  (நம் மனதில் ஒரு யானையின் உயரத்தை கணித்து கொள்வோம் ) விழுங்கும் ஒரு மாபெரும் நாகம்(ஒரு பெரிய யானையையே  விழுங்கும் நாகம் என்றால் அதன் உயரத்தை கணித்து கொள்வோம் ). அந்த ராட்சத  நாகம் அங்கே இருக்கும் துவார பாலகரின் கால் விரல்களுக்கு சிறியதாக இருக்கிறது ,அப்படி பார்த்தல் அந்த துவார பாலகரின் உயரம் எப்படி இருக்கும் . இங்கே காவலுக்கு இருக்கும் நானே எவ்வளவு உயரம் என்றால் உள்ளே இருக்கும் ஈசன் உன்னால் கணிக்க முடியாத அளவுக்கு பெரியவர் அதனால் அமைதியுடன் சென்று அவரை வணங்குவாயாக என்று நம்மை பார்த்து சொல்லுவது போல இருக்கிறது இந்த அற்புத சிற்பம் .

Ponniyin Selvan - Kalki The real hero

Ponniyin Selvan - My Life changer 

    I am not here to review this Magnum Opus which was published before 60 years, as I am a great fan of this novel and I only wanted to share my journey with this.

A Time Traveling book

 "ஆதி அந்தமில்லாத கால வெள்ளத்தில் கற்பனை ஓடத்தில் ஏறி நம்முடன் சிறிது நேரம் பிரயாணம் செய்யுமாறு நேயர்களை அழைக்கிறோம். விநாடிக்கு ஒரு நூற்றாண்டு வீதம் எளிதில் கடந்து இன்றைக்குத் தொள்ளாயிரத்து எண்பத்திரண்டு ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முந்திய காலத்துக்குச் செல்வோமாக". The very first paragraph in the book.

   With more than 2400 pages divided into 5 parts, once you start reading it,you can't put it down. 
Adventure, Thrill, Suspense, Mystery, Twist, Romance, Friendship and Comedy everything mixed in a perfect ratio.

My Journey

   In the summer holidays before joining my college, I was introduced to kalki by his another famous historical fiction Sivagamiyin Sabatham. In those days I was not good at reading tamil, infact not at all good at reading itself. In school days I always felt reading books and novel was a waste of time( this comes because of my school syllabus particularly in tamil). And also I was a slow reader...But after started reading Sivagamiyin Sabatham my perpective changes and Sivagamiyin Sabatham gave me a great start to my reading career. Sivagamiyin Sabatham is so intense story to read, one has to be mentally matured enough to understand it. It gaves me Sleepless nights.

  Soon after finishing Sivagamiyin Sabatham, I started Parthiban Kanavu compared to Sivagamiyin sabatham and Ponniyin Selvan its a small novel. Though Parthiban Kanavu was an sequel to Sivagamiyin Sabatham it was actually written and published before it. Not as complex as Sivagamiyin Sabatham yet an interesting novel .

The order I followed to read these 3 books

      1.Sivagamiyin Sabatham.

      2.Parthiban Kanavu

      3.Ponniyin Selvan

this order maintains the suspense of the all novels and I don't recommand to read Ponniyin Selvan first because you can feel others a bit boring... Infact after reading Ponniyin Selvan we can feel all other great novels seems less interesting....That's the magic

Get Ready for a Roller Coaster Ride

 I am having a all parts hardcover book of  Ponniyin Selvan, its so hard to hold that book but this wasn't a matter for me once I Started reading. I used to read it until 2am and reluctantly goes to sleep and again in the morning without having alarm i wakes up at 6am to continue it( I didn't even study like this for my 12th  board exams). So by the 10th day I completed the whole book( remember I was a slow reader). I was so desperate to finish it. After that I don't know how many times I read that.

Why I like this novel so much because it have balance, have a great plot(with a lot of twist and turns), Character sketch(complex ones) and those dialogues. If we think we got the answer for one twist, on the next page a new twist pops out. Every character have there own reasons.. There is nothing called bad or good characters.. For them they were doing a right thing.. So we get Positivity in all the character.. 

I pushed my friends and family members to read this. I never came across a single person to say they don't like this after reading fully, not even an average rating. This novel is our epic, every Tamilan should at least read it once...its lot better if we read it in tamil..

I searched a lot about book and author when i finished this...It gives me a great pleasure when I think few people out there also felt same like me...After that I completed many Kalki's other novels and short stories. Notably Alai oosai, Solaimalai Ilavarasi, Poimaan Karadhu, Devagiyin Kanavan, thiyaga bhoomi and more....

Main Characters: without spoilers

Vandhiya Devan

  The Author itself called him as the hero of this novel. Only from his perspective we will get to know the other characters of this novel. 

Story travel along with him...Charming, brave, mischievous young guy( Prince without kingdom) often getting into trouble by his hasty actions...The importance of this character is

 that it have flaws which makes him more real. 

The humor sense in him was so entertaining throughout the 

novel makes it lively ..

Arulmozhi Varman

The one who gaves the title for the novel, Ponniyin Selvar of the book. The Great RAJARAJA CHOLA when he was an young prince. Kalki portrayed him as an Ideal man. Handsome, Brave and an favorite prince to all. His introduction scene was like the mass hero intro's in films.

Kundavai Devi

Princess Kundavai was an elder sister to prince Arulmozhi,she had the control over him. Beautiful, Intelligent woman who cares for her family and kingdom. Her ability to deal with people diplomatically
show her as an well civilized woman.

Her judging nature was protrayed by kalki so well that all her 

guessing was right except incase of Nandhini.

Nandhini Devi

 The most complex character(very unlucky) in the novel and the most beautiful woman. Some may find her as a negative character because of her vengeance but for me, she was an interesting character which makes the whole book interesting(my all time favourite character ever). All other character mindset was atleast told onetime by kalki

but not her's. We don't know her mind voice. Beyond her every actions, she had a sad and mysterious past that was hurting since her birth. She never had peace of mind and happiness in her life.

Adhithya Karikalan

 The crown prince of chola dynasty,the eldest brother to Kundavai and Arulmozhi. The Brave, fearless man who lost 

his peace of mind due to his love. Stubborn and Arrogant character 

who was suffering for his past actions.His conversation with Nandhini in the last part will raise our heart beat .

He was the one to send Vandhiya devan to this epic journey.

Poonkuzhali

Strong and brave boatwoman who leads a normal life. She was not a princess or queen but a free girl who can do what ever she likes yet ambitious.

Vanathi

A sensitive young princess of Kodumbalur clan. As she was an orphan, kundavai shows her a lot of affection and love.

Seen mostly left in the dream world.

Kundavai with Vanathi

Manimegalai

Innocent young girl who shows pure love. Her character was highlighted only in the last two parts of the novel.

  She was a younger sister of Prince Kandhamaran of Sambuvaraiyar clan.

Sendhan Amudhan

Introduced as an normal character who was a great devotee of lord shiva. He gets importance in the later parts.

Very kind and soft-spoke young man and also the most fortunate person in the end.

Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi/Thirumalai

An intelligent spy who knows most of the things happening in the kingdom.His combination scenes with vandhiya devan

have top notch comedies.

Vandhiya Devan with Azhwarkkadiyaan

There were so many characters in this novel if i started to write about them, it will takes me a month. 

Unknown Facts of Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Temple unknown Facts

             Thanjavur is famous for many things but among them this one stands out.

PC: Arvind P

Fact - 1:
Everyone know this temple was built by RajaRajaChola I and in 2010 its Millennium was celebrated.

Beyond from the fact its 1000 years old this temple have lots of special things. As I am from thanjavur , I visited this temple so many times that i cannot even count. Every time when I go there it shows me some new things and gives Goosebumps to me.

In my recent visit i came know that this is also called as தென் கைலாசம் (kailash of south) also related to Dakshin Meru.

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    Notice the mountain Shape in the Vimana of the temple . Lord Shiva with Parvathi devi, his sons, Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and all his devotee.

    It is said that King Raja Raja Chola wanted this because people from south can't afford to go  for the kailash in the himalayas.

Fact - 2
 The modern Brihadeeswara temple was not fully Constructed by Cholas.

  The main vimana of the temple, the small shrine to Chandikeswara,the guardian of Shiva’s temples on its north side and the outer  enclosure wall with the nandhi's statues upon it. And also the two entrance Gopuras.

   

     Other shrines were add by different Kings over the period of time.

Pillar added by pandyas

    

  1. After the fall of Cholas Dynasty in 13th century, The Pandya's captured the city and added the Shrine for Goddess Parvathi named as Brahan Nayaki along with the pillar with a man before a nandhi statue to the north side.

 2. During 16th century Thanjavur was ruled by Nayakas dynasty from Vijayanagar Emperor. Their contribution to this temple were the Subramanya Shrine located to the north side to vimana. The major difference between the construction of Cholas and nayakas were, in cholas period the Granite stones were first placed in the position after that they sculptured it. So in this method if any mistakes happen they can't replace it.

  But in Nayakas period they used to sculpture the statues first and then place them . So their shrine looks more detailed and completed.

The subramaniya Shrine
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 And also the nayakas changed the entrance to the main vimana. During cholas period the entrance were in the left side , having the statues of the Prince Rajendra chola I and the King Raja Raja chola I.

See the Statue of Raja raja chola I. the entrance at the middle was in nayakas style,.

3. After the Nayakas, Marathas 

captured the city and they too added
 the Ganesha Shrine, 
the Varahi Amman shrine 
to the South side of the Vimana 
and the Nandhi made up of  single stone.

The cholas period nandhi was replaced by this one. Cholas Nandhi is still kept in the enclosure wall to the south side.

The Marathas were the one to gave the name Brihadeeswara to the temple. The name that was gave by Rajaraja chola was Rajarajeshwaram.