Rajaraja I

Rajaraja CholaI ( )aka Arunmozhivallaman; Mummdi Cholan
Rajakesari
Reign	985 C.E. - 1014 C.E.
Predecessor	Uttama Chola
Consort	Lokamahadevi Cholamahadevi Trailokyamahadevi Panchavanmahadevi Abhimanavalli Iladamadeviyar Prithivimahadevi
Father	Sundara Chola

Rajaraja Chola I (Tamil: இராஜராஜ சோழன்) was one of the most prominent kings of the Chola Empire, who ruled between 985 and 1014 CE. He laid the foundation for the growth of the Chola empire, by conquering the kingdoms of southern India and the Chola Empire expanded as far as Sri Lanka in the south, and Kalinga (Orissa) in the northeast. He fought many battles with the Western Chalukyas in the north, the Cheras and Pandyas in the south. He invaded Sri Lanka and started a century-long Chola occupation of the island. His undefeated reign and his son the great Rajendra Chola I's unparalleled military conquests brought considerable strength and power enabling the Chola kingdom to last for more than four centuries. The achievements of Raja Raja and his son Rajendra were savoured and nurtured for a long time by their worthy successors to the Chola throne.

He streamlined the administrative system with the division of the country into various districts and by standardizing revenue collection through systematic land surveys. He built the magnificent Raja Rajeswara temple in Thanjavur and through it enabled wealth distribution amongst his subjects. His successes enabled his son Rajendra Chola I to extend the empire even further.

Popular Prince

Rajaraja was born as Arunmozhi Vallaman', the third child of Parantaka Sundara Chola and Vanavan Maha Devi. After a long apprenticeship of an heir apparent, he ascended the throne after the death of Uttama Chola. During the lifetime of his father Sundara Chola, Arunmozhi had carved a name for himself by his exploits in the battles against the Sinhala and Pandyan armies. Sundara Chola’s eldest son and heir apparent Aditya II was assassinated under unclear circumstances. Uttama, as the only child of Gandar Aditya, wanted the Chola throne as he felt it was his birthright. After the death of Aditya II, Uttama forced Sundara Chola to declare him as their apparent ahead of Arunmozhi. The Thiruvalangadu copper-plate inscriptions say:

"…Though his subjects…entreated Arunmozhi Vallaman, he…did not desire the kingdom for himself even inwardly as long as his paternal uncle coveted[it]…".

Uttama made a compromise with Sundara Chola that Uttama will be succeeded by Arunmozhi and not his own son. The Thiruvalangadu inscription again states:

"Having noticed by the marks (on his body) that Arunmozhi was the very Vishnu, the protector of the three worlds, descended on earth, [Uttama] installed him in the position of yuvaraja (heir apparent) and himself bore the burden of ruling the earth…"

Military Conquests

Southern Wars

The southern kingdoms of Pandyas, Cheras and the Sinhalas were often allied against the Cholas. It was the case when Rajaraja came to the throne. Rajaraja's initial campaigns were against the combined Pandya and Chera armies. There is no evidence of any military campaign undertaken by Rajaraja until the eighth year of his reign. During this period he was engaged in organising and augumenting his army and in preparing for military expeditions.

Kandalur Salai

The first military achievement of Rajaraja’s reign was the campaign in the Kerala country c. 994 CE. Rajaraja’s early inscriptions use the descriptive ‘Kandalur salai kalamarutta’ (காந்தளுர் சாலைக் களமறுத்த). In this campaign Rajaraja is said to have destroyed a fleet in the port of Kandalur, which appears to have been situated in the dominions of the Chera King Bhaskara Ravi Vallaman Thiruvadi (c. 978–1036 CE). Inscriptions found around Thanjavur show that frequent references are made to the conquest of the Chera king and the Pandyas in Malai-nadu (the west coast of South India). Kandalur-Salai, which later inscriptions claim to have belonged to the Chera king, was probably held by the Pandyas when it was conquered by Rajaraja. Some years' fighting apparently was necessary before the conquest could be completed and the conquered country could be sufficiently settled for its administration could be properly organised. In the war against the Pandyas, Rajaraja seized the Pandya king Amarabhujanga and the Chola general captured the port of Virinam. To commemorate these conquests Rajaraja assumed the title Mummudi-Chola, (the Chola king who wears three crowns - the Chera, Chola and Pandya).

Malai Nadu

In a battle against the Cheras sometime before 1008 CE, Rajaraja captured Udagai in the western hill country. Kalingattuparani, a war poem written during the reign of Kulothunga Chola I hints at a slight on the Chola ambassador to the Chera court as the reason for this sacking of Udagai. Rajaraja's son Rajendra was the Chola general leading the army in this battle..

But the actual reason for this seems to have been the local king's possible indifference on what may be termed as infiltration from rogue kingdoms like that of gangas and chalukyas etc with whom the cholas and pallavas were at dispute for long. The reason to believe this is that udagai is a pass that leads straight to the rogue kingdoms. This does make it seem that the practice of using fake identities was prevalent during those days. The inscriptions of cholas and pallavas maintain considerable secrecy on warfare and weapons. Many grants even the fragmented and corrupted ones available to us today are coded discreetly and uses sanskrit script for tamil information and tamil script for sanskrit information.

The Tamil poem Vikkirama Cholan ula mentions the conquest of Malai Nadu and the killing of 18 princes in retaliation of the insult offered to an envoy. RajaRajan's desire to bring the whole Lankan island under Cholan empire was fulfilled later by his son Rajendra Chola I.

Northern Wars

Rajaraja also expanded his conquests in the north and northwest. The regions of Gangapadi (Gangawadi) , Nolambapadi (Nolambawadi), Tadigaipadi came into Chola possession during Rajaraja.

Mural found in the Brihadeesvara temple, Tamil Nadu, 11th century. The claim that this represents Rajaraja Chola (in the background) and his guru Karuvurar is incorrect

Ganga Wars

Before his 14th year c. 998–999 CE, Rajaraja conquered Gangapadi (Gangawadi) and Nurambapadi (Nolambawadi), which formed part of the present Karnataka State. This conquest was facilitated by the fact the Cholas never lost their hold of the Ganga country from the efforts of Sundara Chola. Nolambas who were the feudatories of Ganga could have turned against their overlords and aided the Cholas to conquer the Gangas, who were the chief bulwark against the Chola armies in the northwest.

The invasion of the Ganga country was a success and the entire Ganga country was under the Chola rule for the next century. The easy success against the Gangas was also due to the disappearance of Rashtrakutas c. 973 CE as they were conquered by the western Chalukyas. From this time, the Chalukyas became the main antagonists of Cholas in the northwest.

Western Chalukya Wars

C. 996 CE Satyasraya became the Chalukya king.

(This is the first known authentic record of war between the Cholas led by Raja Raja I and the Chalukyas under Satyashraya. There is mention among some historians of an earlier war between Chalukya king Tailapa-II, father of Satyashraya and Raja Raja I in 992 AD. But there is no confirmation or authentic proof of this occurrence. This war apparently ended in heavy defeat for Tailapa-II who was already defeated 16 times by the Paramara kings. Chola records however, speak of the first war fought by Raja Raja I as not being earlier than 994 AD.)

The circumstances that led to the war with the Chalukya king Satyasraya are not clear. It was a bloody dangerously cruel war.Some literature refer the use of scorched earth techniques like poisoning the food, water tanks and loading trees with deadly venomous snakes by chalukyas against chola occupationary forces. Several other tactics employed by the loathsome deccan dynasties may be regarded as terror tactics.Many inscriptions hint to resort of oppurtunistic,stealth guerilla warfare and ambushes through nights .The mountain clans of deccan especially hated cholas and pallavas as can be seen from the vituperative references made to them in their inscriptions that also refer to venomous propoganda against the enemy. If captured alive, they could be given to strong hill women and their huge meat skinning knives waxed with profusely hot red chilli paste, their bowels cut open and they were to be left in the hot sun waiting for death in sheer pain. The cholan response was to mercilessly decimate anything that came upfront man,woman,child,infant,animal. The pallava predecessors of cholas also confirm these "dastardly acts" of the "kingdoms of age of kali".

An inscription of Rajaraja from c. 1003 CE asserts that he captured Rattapadi by force. Rajendra led the Chola armies against the Western Chalukyas. Rajaraja’s inscriptions indicate that the Chola army elephants wrought havoc on the banks of the river Tungabhadra with great brutality creating a nation of corpses and prosthetic limbs. Raja Raja I claims damages worth "seven and a half lakshas from Irattapadi which was evidently the site of war with Satyashraya resulting in victory for Raja Raja I and payment of damages by the Chalukya king who had fled the battlefield and being confined to places like Kogali and Kadambalige near Chitradurga. Satyashraya, who in any case issued very few inscriptions, acknowledges to be ruling from Kadambalige and visiting Kogali in them, proving the fact that he had been vanquished from the Chalukyan capital of Manyakheta. The disgraced Chalukya king Satyashraya would renege on his promise of agreeing to Chola suzerainty, but would be defeated by Rajendra Chola I when he became king.[***].

A note may be made on the roles of enterprises of ancient times.They occur in many available inscriptions as aiyarattainnuruvar(a company of 1500 employees), nanadesiya ayiratezhunurruvar(an MNC employing 1700 employees),nanadesiyanalpattiennayiravar( an MNC conglomerate employing 48000 employees), etc. These conglomerates which were that day's equivalent of some of the truly visionary enterprises of today .Some of these corporates had more than one lakh employees and were managed and served very efficiently.These enterprises brought resources to accounting with great accuracy and finesse.

Operating On ancient ideology of truth and renunciation these organizations that invested in warmachines, infrastructure, utilities, FMCG and science rendered great service by setting up educational institutions, holding educational seminars and also rolling out services in fair and truthful manner. Operating across the subcontinent and many distant lands, they played a major role in raising embargoes against regimes:"that were representatives of wicked power of age of kali". Even the damages of war were to be paid by the regimes out of the money that they lawfully made otherwise the same would not be accepted by the invader.

Many ancient books like arthasastra of kautilya note how the princes who were elected to throne spent time enough serving in army, navy ,universities,councils and enterprises. Kautilya laso writes how the ones elected to throne spent 16-20 hours of day labouring sincerely on state affairs. The cholan inscriptions themselves testify the efforts of their rulers with many of them undertaken when the rulers visited colleges, councils, enterprises and military establishments.The coronation was to coincide their raising to particular position within the unit. He also informs us that each of these wings had a elected representative to the throne. The diplomatic missions to other countries by ancient kings were to consist mostly of representatives of enterprises.That they played a great role setting up democratic institutions and management is hinted from a chola inscription after capturing of gangavadi which says only those residents of the country who accepted the conquerors management model were retained in the country and the remainder either put to death or shipped as slaves to distant Islands. The persuasive role viz-a-vis military of these mammoth enterprises that controlled state's economy is hinted in many literature and the cholan wars against evil regimes involved these businesses as much as their military.The princes who came to power with the support of these powerful organizations consulted them regularly.

The cholan emperor had seemingly been contemplating on the wars right from the beginning, as "regimes representative of excessive wickedness of age of kali" had been a burden on earth and that strove to establish the LIE as TRUTH. His great Ascetic dedication to the task can be seen from his offering worship to thank lord sivan for victories.

War against Vengi

There is a great misconception about chola relationship with rulers of this small province which was poor both in terms of resources as well as power.In most cases this province was used only as a frontier which offered them military and operational base for their expeditions against the deccan kingdoms and further north. There seems not to be a recognized state in this region during that period. However the corruption free chola policy which was entirely based on truth and renunciation never ever ended up building relationship with kingdoms for the sake of building influence. It has to be noted here that the innumerable wars of theirs were essentially to terminate wicked alliances of age of kali that " wanted to establish lie as truth ". There is no doubt in the fact that there existed no relationship between the cholas and any kingdoms of deccan and the theory is a falseful myth propogated with fabricated literature.

Kalinga conquest

The invasion of the kingdom of Kalinga(Orissa) must have occurred subsequent to the conquest of Vengi. Rajendra Chola, as the commander of the Chola forces invaded and defeated the Andhra king Bhima.

Naval Conquests

Detail of the main gopura (tower) of the Thanjavur Temple

One of the last conquests of Rajaraja was the naval conquest of the ‘old islands of the sea numbering 12,000’, the Maldives.

Indonesia contains around 13,000 islands and contains islands like Bali which in Tamil phonetically resembles 'Palam (Balam) thivu panneerayram'. Many of the islands up to Philippines have Tamil names like Aru, Natuna=middle, Banda=Pandyan, Pahlawan=Pallavan, Zulu=Chola, Ceram=Kerala names.

We have no further details regarding this expedition, however this is a sufficient indication of the abilities of the Chola Navy, which was utilised effectively under Rajendra I. Chola Navy also had played a major role in the invasion of Lanka.

The increasing realisation of the importance of a good Navy and the desire to neutralise the emerging Chera Naval power were probably the reasons for the Kandalur campaign in the early days of Rajaraja’s reign.

Nagapattinam on the Bay of Bengal was the main port of the Cholas and could have been the navy headquarters.

Thanjavur Temple

Main article: Brihadisvara Temple

Rajaraja’s great reign is commemorated by the magnificent Siva temple in Thanjavur, called Raajarajeswaram - the finest monument of this period of South Indian history. The temple is remarkable both for its massive proportions and for its simplicity of design. It is now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, forming part of the Great Living Chola Temples site.

The construction of the temple is said to have been completed on the 275th day of the 25th year of his reign. After its commemoration the great temple and the capital had close business relations with the rest of the country and acted as a centre of both religious and economic activity.

Administration

File:Rajaraja coin.png

Gold Madai coin of Rajaraja I

From the 23rd to the 29th year of Rajaraja’s rule his dominions enjoyed peace and the king apparently devoted his energies to the task of internal administration. The building of the Rajarajesvara temple in Thanjavur and the various endowments and gifts to it must have occupied a prominent place in the king’s mind during these years.

Rajaraja carried out a revenue and settlement during the final years of his reign. Inscriptions found in the Thanjavur temple bear testimony to the accuracy of this operation. Land as small in extent as 1/52,428,800,000 of a ‘veli’ (a land measure) was measured and assessed to revenue. The revenue survey enabled for the confiscation of lands of the defaulting landlords.

Rajaraja also perfected the administrative organization by creating a strong and centralised machinery and by appointing local government authorities. He installed a system of audit and control by which the village assemblies and other public bodies were held to account while not curtailing their autonomy.

Military Organisation

Rajaraja created a powerful standing army and a considerable navy which achieved even greater success under his son Rajendra. The prominence given to the army from the conquest of the Pandyas down to the last year of the king’s reign is significant, and shows the spirit with which he treated his soldiers. A number of regiments are mentioned in the Tanjore inscriptions and it is evident that Rajaraja gave his army its due share in the glory derived from his extensive conquests.

In most of the foregoing names the first portion appears to be the surnames or titles of the king himself or of his son. That these regiments should have been called after the king or his son is indicative of the attachment the Chola king bore towards his army.

It is possible that these royal names were pre-fixed to the designations of these regiments after they had distinguished themselves in some engagement or other. It is worthy of note that there are elephant troops, cavalry and foot soldiers among these regiments. To some of these regiments, the management of certain minor shrines of the temple was entrusted and they were expected to provide for the requirements of the shrine. Others among them took money from the temple on interest, which they agreed to pay in cash. We are not, however, told to what productive purpose they applied this money. At any rate all these transactions show that the king created in them an interest in the temple he built. It is said to be that Chola army had more than two million soldiers.

Officials and Feudatories

Rajendra Chola was made co-regent during the last years of Rajaraja’s rule. He was also the Mahadandanayaka Panchavan Maharaya – supreme commander- of the northern and northwestern dominions.

Paluvettaraiyars from the region of Thiruchirapalli were closely associated with the Cholas from the time of Parantaka I when he married a Paluvettaraiyar princess, were occupying a high position in the Chola administration. They were apparently enjoying full responsibility and administration of the region of Paluvur. One of the names of these feudal chieftains found in inscriptions were Adigal Paluvettaraiyar Kandan Maravan.

Gandaraditya’s son Madurantakan Gandaradityan served in Rajaraja’s court as an important official in the department of temple affairs. He conducted enquiries into temple affairs in various parts of the country, punishing defaulters.

The other names of officials found in the inscriptions are the Bana prince Maravan Narasimhavarman, a general Senapathi Sri Krishnan Raman, the revenue official Irayiravan Pallavarayan and Kuruvan Ulagalandan who organised the country-wide land surveys.

Standardised Inscriptions

Example of a typical lithic inscription of the Chola period

We owe Rajaraja the desire on his part to record his military achievements in every oneimportant events of his life. As far as we know at present Rajaraja was the first king of South India to introduce this innovation into his inscriptions. Before his time powerful kings of the Pallava, Pandya and Chola dynasties had reigned in the South, and some of them had made extensive conquests. But none of them seems to have thought of leaving a record on stone of his military achievements.

The idea of Rajaraja to add a short account of his military achievements at the beginning of every one of his inscriptions was entirely his own. His action in this respect is all the more laudable because his successors evidently followed his example and have left us more or less complete records of their conquests. But for the historical introductions, which are often found at the beginning of the Tamil inscriptions of Chola, kings the lithic records of the Tamil country would be of very little value, and consequently even the little advance that has been made in elucidating the history of Southern India would have been well nigh impossible.

The following is an example of the prologue (known as the Meikeerthi) from an inscription by Rajaraja:

Early Tamil records are dated not in the Saka or any other well-known era but in the regnal year of the king to whose time the grants belong, and palaeography is not always a very safe guide in South-Indian history. With the help of the names of contemporary kings of other dynasties mentioned in the historical introductions of the Tamil inscriptions, it has been possible to fix the approximate dates of most of the Chola kings. Consequently, the service, which Rajaraja has rendered to epigraphists in introducing a brief account of his military achievements at the beginning of his stone inscriptions, cannot be overestimated.

The historical side of Rajaraja’s intellectual nature is further manifested in the order, which he issued to have all the grants made to the Thanjavur temple engraved on stone. Rajaraja not only was particular about recording his achievements, but also was equally diligent in preserving the records of his predecessors. For instance, an inscription of his reign found at Tirumalavadi near Thruchi records an order of the king to the effect that the central shrine of the Vaidyanatha temple at the place should be rebuilt and that, before pulling down the walls, the inscriptions engraved on them should be copied in a book. The records were subsequently re-engraved on the walls from the book after the rebuilding was finished.

Religious Policy

An ardent follower of Siva, Rajaraja was nevertheless tolerant towards other faiths and creeds. He also had several temples for Vishnu constructed. He also encouraged the construction of the Buddhist Chudamani Vihara at the request of the Srivijaya king Sri Maravijayatungavarman. Rajaraja dedicated the proceeds of the revenue from the village of Anaimangalam towards the upkeep of this Vihara. Kundavai Pirattiyar, sister of Rajaraja, built a Jaina temple called Kundavai Devi Jinalaya in a place called Thirumalai in North Arcot District.

Personal Life and Family

Rajaraja was born Arunmozhi Vallaman and was the third child of Parantaka Sundara Chola. His elder brother Aditya II was assassinated c. 969 CE. Rajaraja spent a lot of time in the company of Kundavai, his elder sister and must have much admired her. Kundavai married Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, a Bana prince. Kundavai spent her later life in Tanjore with her younger brother and she even survived him. We may suppose that Rajaraja entertained a high regard for her and that she exercised considerable influence over him and contributed in no small degree to the formation of his character.

Rajaraja had a number of wives, but apparently only a few children. Vanavan Maha Devi, Loka Maha Devi, Chola Maha Devi, Trailokya Maha Devi, Panchavan Maha Devi, Abhimanavalli, Iladama Deviyar (Lata Maha Devi) and Prithivi Maha Devi are names of his wives known from the Tanjore Temple inscriptions. Panchavan Maha Devi assisted Rajaraja in day-to-day decision makings in the rule. Each of them set up a number of images in the Raja-rajesvara temple and made gifts to them. Loka Maha Devi was probably the chief queen. She built the shrine called Uttara-Kailasa in the Panchana-desvara temple at Tiruvaiyaru near Thanjavur and made many gifts to it. The shrine was in existence already in the 21st year of the king’s reign and was then called Loka Maha Devisvara after the queen.

The mother of Rajendra I, the only known son of Rajaraja, was Vanavan Maha Devi, Princess of Velir. Rajaraja must have had at least three daughters of whom the names of two are known: Kundavi, who married the Eastern Chalukya prince Vimal-aditya and the second daughter Madevadigal, who embraced Buddhism and did not marry. Rajaraja died in 1014 CE and was succeeded by Rajendra Chola I.

While there is reliable information about Rajaraja's political and military achievements, there is no authentic description, statue or painting of the king himself.

THE OTHER NAMES OF RAJRAJA CHOLA WITH MEANING:

1.ABAYAKULASEKARAR - One who have lot of groups those who surrendered before him. 2.AZHAGIYA CHOLAR - The most handsome Chola king. 3.RANAMUGA BHEEMAR - Who looks like "the Terrible faced Bheema" in battles [ In Kurshetra War, the socond brother in Pandavas by named Bheema cuts the hands of Duchchadana and drinks the blood from the hollow from the place of hands. He looks terrible with blood from his mouth. 4.RAVIKULAMANICKAM - The king like a Ruby[Manickam] out of the Dynasty[kulam] worshipped The sun [Ravi] 5.Raja Sarvakgnar - The king who dones all the Yagams [ Divine Homa pooja through Agni] 6.Cholendra Simhar - the king like Lion among the Royal Cholas. 7.Uyyak Kondaar - The King who saves and give sanctuary to all the people. 8.Keralanthagar - The King won Kerala. 9.Sanda Parakramar - King having the power of Wind 10.Singalanthagar - The King who won Srilanka 11.Niththa Vinothar - A mysteric Man 12.Nigarili Cholar - The king withour comparable kings 13.Panditha Cholar - The king Who is with Complete Knowledge 14.Pandiya Kulasini - The King Destroys the Panya dynasty 15.Periya Perumal - Equalant to Lord Vishnu 16.Mummudi Cholar - The kings wears the Crowns of Cholas, Cheras, Pandya. [Three Crowns- Three mudi] 17.Moorthivikramaabaranar - The king wears the ornament, engraved Lord Great Shiva. 18.Jananaathar - The lover of People. 19.Jayamkonda Cholar - The king with always Victory 20.Keerthi Paraakramar - The Powerful king in Popularity also. 21.Chola Narayanar - The Saviour of Cholas 22.Sivapathasekarar - The man who having the Palm of Lord Shiva in his Head. 23.Rajakesari Varmar - The name given to cholas One after the next generation.[Another one is Parakesari Varmar]

Historic novels featuring Rajaraja Chola-I

1. Arunmozhi Varman, is the hero of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s historical masterpiece Ponniyin Selvan. The heart of the story revolves around the mysteries surrounding the assassination of Aditya II and the subsequent accession of Uttama to the Chola throne. Kalki imagines Arunmozhi sacrificing his rightful claim to the throne by crowning Uttama during his own coronation.
2. Rajaraja Chola, is the hero of Vembu Vikiraman’s historical masterpiece Nandhipurathu Nayagi. The novel is a continuation of Ponniyin Selvan, which answers many questions that were left unanswered in Ponniyin Selvan.
3. Rajaraja Cholan - Drama, written by Kalaimamani Aru. Ramanathan, called as Kathal Ramanathan. (TKS Group made numerous Stage Shows on this Drama and later it was taken as Movie acted by Shivaji Ganesan). This Drama as a book Published by Prema Pirasuram, Chennai-24. is made as a Study Material in South Indian Universities.
4. Balakumaran has also written the story Udaiyar based on the life of Rajaraja Chola. While Kalki's novel describes his life at his youth at the time of the death of Aditya Karikala, Bala Kumaran deals with Rajaraja Chola's life after he becomes the emperor.
5. In January 2007, Kaviri mainthan - a novel set in the Chola period and a sequel to Ponniyin Selvan was written by Anusha Venkatesh, published by The Avenue Press.
6. Sujatha wrote a novel "Kandalur Vasantha Kumaran Kathai", which deals with the situations leading to his war at the Kandhalur, a sea port.
7. Rajakesari, a new novel written by Gokul Seshadri, happens during the later part of Rajaraja Chola's life. It is a historic thriller, originally published by Varalaaru monthly e-magazine's website. The novel has subsequently been published as a book by Palaniappa Brothers.
8. Cherar Kottai (Part-II of Rajakesari), another novel also by Gokul Seshadri happens during the early part of Rajaraja Chola's life. It fully explains the circumstances under which Rajaraja makes his first and memorable victory over Kanthaloor Chalai - a chera martial arts academy. It is a historic fiction that can be read from Varalaaru monthly e-magazine's website.To read the novel, Click here
9. Kalvettu Sonna Kadaigal Series in Varalaaru.com Magazine

External links

• Raajaraja's Meikeerthi Analysis - by Dr.M.Nalini in Varalaaru.com magazine
• Raajarajeswaram - Part I- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Part 2- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Part 3- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Certain Revelations- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Architecture- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Inscriptions- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Chandeshwara Shrine- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Mural Restorations- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Saantharam Icons- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - Special Characteristics- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - New Revealations- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• Raajarajeswaram - A Travellogue- Brihadeshwara temple or Big Temple, Thanjavur - Period:Chola
• The lost temples of India- A documentary

References

• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (2000). A History of South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195660686-8. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1984). The Cholas. Madras: University of Madras. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Keay, John (2000). India, a History. London: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-638784-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Vasudevan, Geeta (2003). Royal Temple of Rajaraja: An Instrument of Imperial Cola Power. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 0-00-638784-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Kearney, Milo (2003). The Indian Ocean in World History. Routledge. ISBN 0415312779. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• "South Indian Inscriptions Vol.2". Retrieved 2006-05-15.
• "Discovery Channel movie clip about Rajaraja".
• "Inscriptions of Thanjavore Big temple".