Art and Architecture under the Chola Dynasty

Chola Art and Architecture

The temple architecture in the south reached its climax under the Cholas. The Dravida style of temple architecture came into vogue which laid emphasis on the building of storey upon storey above the chief deity room (garbhagriha). The temple had a pillared hall called mandapa with elaborately carved pillars and flat roof which was mostly used as an audience hall and a place for other activities such as ceremonial dances by devadasis. The temle, apart from serving as place of worship, also fuctioned as the hub of social and cultural life. The temple had lofty and elaborate gate called gopurams. Afine example of Dravida style architecture is the 8th century temple of Kailashnatha at Kanchipuram. Similarly, the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjore is another fine specimen of Dravida style. It is pertinent to note that after the fall of Cholas, temple building activity contributed under the Chalukyas of Kalyani and the Hoysalas. The district of Dharwar and the Hoysala capital had larger number of temples such as the magnificent temple of Hoysalesvara which is a fine example of Chalukyan style. 

In case of the Chalukyan style, that is, the Vesara style (which represents a mixed style of Nagara and Dravida), apart from the images of Gods and their attendants Yaksh and Yaskhini, the temples contained finely scuptured panels depicting panorama of life such as scenes of dance, music, love and war. These were mostly built under the patronage of the Chalukyas and are found at Pattadakal near Badami (karnataka). The art of sculpture attained high standard during this period as evident in the giant statue of Gomateswar at Sravan Belgola. The Chola period is noted for the aesthetic and technical finesse of its metal scupture. The dancing figure of Shiva called the Nataraja belongs to this period and is considered to be a bronze masterpiece. 

There was also growth in literature of general parlance languages along with Sanskrit during this period. A number of Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayannars (devotees of Shiva) flourished in the Tamilakham between the 6th and 9th centuries who composed a lot in Tamil and other regional languages. The writings of these saints have been collected into 11 volumes under the name Tirumurais in the early 12th century and were considered to be so sacred that they were deemed the Fifth Veda. Kamban's Ramayana is another classic gem of ths period. Along with Tamil, a vast body of literature was also composed in Kannada with the aid of the patronage of the Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas and the Hoysalas. The famous Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha wrote a book on poetics in Kannada. The famous trnity of Pampa (who composed Vikramarjunavijaya, popularly known as Pampa Bharat), Ponna and Ranna were the three most priced jewels of Kannada poetry. Nanniah, who lived at the court of a Chalukyan king, started the Telugu version of the Mahabharata, which was completed in the 13th century by Tikkanna. 

However, among the elites as a language of learning Sanskrit still retained a position of importance. The important works composed in Sanskrit around this period were:

(I) The Kathasaritasagara, which was a collection of stories,

(II) The Rajtarangini, a vivid account of the kings of Kashmir composed by Kalhana, and 

(III) The Gita Govinda, a piece of devotional literature composed on the theme of love between Radha and Krishna, by Jayadeva in Bengal under the Pala kings.